The Bible Christian Church was a Christian vegetarian sect founded by

William Cowherd William Cowherd (1763 – 24 March 1816) was a Christian minister serving a congregation in the City of Salford, England, immediately west of Manchester, and one of the philosophical forerunners of the Vegetarian Society founded in 1847.; Gregor ...

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

in 1809. To join the church, members had to sign a pledge that committed them to a vegetarian diet and abstention from alcohol. Followers of Cowherd's ideas were commonly known as Bible Christians or "Cowherdites." Cowherd was one of the philosophical forerunners of the

Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom is a British registered charity which was established on 30 September 1847 to promote vegetarianism. History In the 19th century a number of groups in Britain actively promoted and followed meat ...

founded in 1847.; Gregory, James (2007) ''Of Victorians and Vegetarians''. London: I. B. Tauris pp. 30–35. Bible Christians put great emphasis on independence of mind and freedom of belief, stating that they did not presume "to exercise any dominion over the faith or conscience of men." They believed in

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to ac ...

and had a

Pelagian Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the original sin did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius ( – AD), an ascetic and philosopher from t ...

approach. They argued that religion when properly understood reveals the same truth to all men. There was no emphasis on

original sin Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 ...

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

. Man was not saved by faith alone but by his actions and the value of his life as a whole. Vegetarianism formed part of this belief.

Salford and Manchester Bible Christians

William Cowherd founded the Bible Christian Church following a split from the

Swedenborgians The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) is any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed as a new religious group, influenced by the writings of scientist and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). Swedenborgian or ...

. Their first chapel was known as Christ Church and located in King Street,

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

. The church later moved to new premises in Cross Lane. Further chapels were also established in

Hulme Hulme () is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage. Historically in Lancashire, the name Hulme is derived from the Old Norse word ...

and Every Street,

Ancoats Ancoats is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is located next to the Northern Quarter, the northern part of Manchester city centre. Historically in Lancashire, Ancoats became a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and has ...

. One distinctive feature of the Bible Christians was a belief in a meat-free "vegetable diet", known today as

ovo-lacto vegetarianism Lacto-ovo vegetarianism or ovo-lacto vegetarianism is a type of vegetarianism which forbids animal flesh but allows the consumption of animal products such as dairy and eggs. Unlike pescetarianism, it does not include fish or other seafood. A t ...

, as a form of

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture * Temperance (group), Canadian dan ...

. In 1816 William Cowherd died and

Joseph Brotherton Joseph Brotherton (22 May 1783 – 7 January 1857) was a reforming British politician, Nonconformist minister and pioneering vegetarian. He has been described as the first vegetarian member of parliament. Biography He was born in Whittingt ...

was appointed his successor. Brotherton held the position for 40 years until his death in 1857. By 1932, unable to attract enough vegetarian members, the English Bible Christians merged into the Pendleton Unitarians.

Philadelphia Bible Christians

The church's message was later preached in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, as about 40 members under the leadership of the Reverend William Metcalfe and the Reverend James Clark crossed the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

in 1817 and formed the Philadelphia Bible Christian Church. These members subsequently provided a nucleus for the American vegetarian movement.

References

External links

Vegetarian roots: The extraordinary tale of William Cowherd
by Karen Millington, BBC (17 December 2012) {{Vegetarianism Religious organizations established in 1809 Christian denominations established in the 19th century Former Christian denominations Christian vegetarianism 1809 establishments in England

Salford and Manchester Bible Christians

Philadelphia Bible Christians

References

Further reading

External links