Good News for
All Creation
Stephen R. Kaufman and
Nathan Braun
Vegetarian Advocates Press, 2002
Reviewed by Richard H. Schwartz,
Ph.D.
When my book Judaism and Vegetarianism
was first published in 1982, I encouraged Christian
vegetarians to build on my books arguments
to write a book on Christianity and vegetarianism.
Initially I had little success, and some even told
me that a vegetarian case could not be based on
Christian teachings. Fortunately, many have disproved
this contention, and there has been a flood of books
connecting Christianity and vegetarianism by many
writers, including Reverends Andrew Linzey, Regina
Hyland, and Gary Kowalski, and Keith Akers and Steven
Webb.
Good News for All Creation is a worthy
addition to these books. Stephen Kaufman and Nathan
Braun very clearly and succinctly give all the reasons
why Christians should be vegetarians. Their case
can be summarized in their statement: "By attempting
to show the greatest possible respect for Creation,
we believe, we magnify and glorify the Creator,
we participate in Gods sanctification of all
life, and we assist Gods reconciling all Creation
to a peaceful, vegetarian world. Because meat eating
contributes to environmental degradation and harms
creatures whose spark of life, we believe, comes
from God, every meal in which we abstain from flesh
becomes a prayerful expression of love and respect
for God."
Both authors practice what they preach,
as indicated by their active involvement and leadership
in the Christian
Vegetarian Association (CVA) (Mr. Braun is the
founder and Dr. Kaufman, a physician, is the organization's
medical director) and their many efforts to reach
out to others with their message.
Among the many valuable features
in the book are a chapter that discusses how vegetarians
can respond to challenges they face in a meat-eating
society and appendices that offer advice for dealing
with non-vegetarian family and friends, suggest
strategies for promoting vegetarianism within the
Christian community, summarize nutritional basics
(including how vegetarians can get adequate protein,
calcium, iron, vitamins, and other nutrients) and
provide information on groups, books, magazines,
Internet sites, and other resources relevant to
Christianity and vegetarianism.
As a non-Christian who found this
book very interesting, informative, and well-argued
and documented, I strongly recommend it to both
Christians and non-Christians.
The book can be ordered from the
Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA) (www.christianveg.com).
Richard H. Schwartz is author of Judaism
and Vegetarianism and Judaism and Global Survival.
He has over 100 articles related
to vegetarianism.