In the bustling third-century metropolis of Alexandria, theological scholars gathered in sunlit halls to debate how a follower of the new Gospel ought to live. Among them was Clement of Alexandria, an intellectual pioneer striving to weave philosophical rigor into Christian life. In his celebrated ethical guide, The Instructor, Clement looked back at the first generation of disciples to find models of ideal conduct. When his attention turned to the dinner table, he recorded a striking biographical detail that modern readers often overlook. The Apostle Matthew, Clement wrote, sustained himself entirely on seeds, nuts, and vegetables, consistently refusing the flesh of slaughtered beasts.
Clement held up Matthew as an example of pure Christian temperance. The purpose of eating was to sustain bodily life, whereas surrounding oneself with rich banquets merely burdened the soul. Clement warned that heavy meats inflamed bodily passions, dulling the intellect and clouding spiritual contemplation. The earth offered an abundant harvest of wholesome provisions, including roots, olives, garden herbs, fresh fruits, and dry grains. A person who filled their bowl with the honest gifts of the soil walked in harmony with divine creation.
Across the Mediterranean in Roman Carthage, Tertullian approached the dinner plate with equal intensity. He penned rigorous treatises on fasting and dietetics, reminding his readers that human wrongdoing began with an inability to respect the simple fruits of the garden. Tertullian argued that flesh diets arose only after the ancient Deluge as a concession to human weakness. True spiritual fortitude required believers to rise above those concessions through deliberate self-restraint. By setting aside meat and rich gravies, a Christian proved master over animal appetites.
This devotion to a fleshless diet echoed through the writings and habits of several early Church Fathers. Origen, a brilliant student of Clement, pursued an austere lifestyle rooted in deep personal discipline. Decades later, John Chrysostom, who became Patriarch of Constantinople, championed radical simplicity from the pulpit. Chrysostom lived on modest plant foods, fiercely condemning the luxurious gluttony of imperial aristocrats. He saw the slaughter of creatures for elaborate feasts as an ugly display of worldly vanity.
When the age of persecution waned, this dietary asceticism migrated into the monastic movement. Hermits and monks seeking communion with God retreated into the deserts of Egypt and Syria, deliberately leaving behind the butcher stalls of imperial cities. They harvested wild greens, gathered nuts, baked flat barley loaves, and carried water from desert springs.
The monastic guidelines crafted by early leaders reflected this deep commitment to simplicity. The Rule of Saint Benedict explicitly banned four-footed meat for healthy monks, reserving rich broths only for the critically infirm. In the rugged valleys of Wales, Saint David established monasteries where brothers sustained their labor on bread, herbs, salt, and water.
Over the centuries, the mainstream Western tradition gradually softened these rigorous habits into temporary seasonal fasts. The memory of the apostles and early theologians dining quietly on greens and legumes faded into the background of ecclesiastical history. Yet the ancient texts preserve an enduring witness to a gentler table. In the historical record of Matthew cracking nuts and gathering seeds, early Christianity left behind an enduring vision of peace, simplicity, and reverence for the living world.
Bibliographic Information
- Title: The Vegetable Passion
- Subtitle: A History of the Vegetarian State of Mind
- Author: Janet Barkas
- Publisher: Charles Scribner’s Sons (New York)
- Publication Year: 1975
- Edition: First Edition
- ISBN: 0-684-13925-1
- Historical Period Covered: Pre-history (Miocene Epoch, ~20 million years before present) to the mid-20th century (1970s)
- Main Subject Areas: History of vegetarianism, social history of dietetics, psychology of food choices, animal rights, comparative anatomy, religious dietary laws, biographical history of notable vegetarians.