Vorrede über die Sing-Arbeit (1747)

AUTHOR: Beissel, Johann Conrad

FULL TITLE: “Eine sehr deutliche Beschreibung wie sich dieses hohe und wichtige Werk dieser unserer geistlichen Sing-Arbeit erboren, und was der Nutzen von der ganzen Sach sey. Gegeben von einem Friedsamen und nach der stillen Ewigkeit wallenden Pilger.” Das Gesäng der einsamen und verlassenen Turtel-Taube nemlich der christlichen Kirche.

PUBLICATION: Ephrata: Drucks der Bruderschaft, 1747. An English translation of selected passages is available in Julius Sachse, Music of the Ephrata Cloister: Also Conrad Beissel's Treatise on Music as Set Forth in a Preface to the "Turtel Taube" of 1747. Lancaster: Printed for the Author, 1903. See 66-69. https://archive.org/details/musicofephratacl00sach/mode/2up

Johann Conrad Beissel's “Vorrede über die Sing-Arbeit” [“Preface on the Practice of Singing”] offers significant early and explicit advocacy for a vegan diet that excludes all animal products: meat and dairy, obviously, but also eggs and honey. While Beissel describes the instrumental use of animals as an unjust practice in itself, his advocacy of veganism is centered on spiritual advancement, specifically through the practice of spiritual singing.

KEYWORDS: diet, food, animals, spirituality

SUMMARY (Ridvan Askin, edited Deborah Madsen):

NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, translations quoted below are Julius Sachse's.

The “Vorrede” -- “Preface on the Practice of Singing” (RA's translation), “Beissel's Unique Instructions on the Voice” (JS's translation) -- is a short treatise on the proper practice of spiritual singing. Beissel advocates for a vegan diet as a necessary precondition, as only a diet free from animal products can contribute to the cleansing and purification of the body and an “angelic, heavenly, pure and clear, voice” (n. pag.). He first states that “it is certain that all meat dishes” are detrimental, and then goes on to enumerate the negative influence of a number of animal products (which he thinks we acquire “with much injustice” [mit viel Unrecht (trans. RA)], a phrase that Sachse renders as “improperly.” Thus, milk “causes heaviness and uneasiness,” cheese “produces heat and begets desire for other and forbidden things,” butter “makes [one] indolent and dull, and satiates to such an extent that one no longer feels the need of singing or praying,” eggs “arouse numerous capricious cravings,” and honey “brings bright eyes and a cheerful spirit, but not a clear voice.” He recommends wheat and buckwheat for baking and cooking, as well as potatoes, beet, and “other tubers,” but not beans. The latter are said “to satiate too much” and “to arouse impure desires.” As for drinking, only fresh well water contributes to the purification of the body. Soup (with bread) made from such water is also allowed. This vegan diet is part of what Beissel does not hesitate to call “spiritual warfare” (geistliche[r] Kampff).

For Beissel, while he also seems to think that using animals for human purposes is simply unjust per se, a vegan diet is crucial in the context of the spiritual practice of singing. The ideal would actually be to consume no food at all. As Beissel puts it elsewhere: “Above all I must see to it that my life increasingly becomes like the innocent life of Jesus Christ. I must accept spiritual and physical nothingness as the mother and nurse of all other virtues. I must flee from eating and drinking as if they were an abominable beast which steps on and crushes all Christian virtue in me, and its place uplifts and practices twisted thoughts and intentions, robs and destroys the divine oil of love, and makes the heart proud, arrogant, and haughty. I must thus take serious care not to become sullied by this beast” (Mystical Proverbs and Poems, qtd. in Peter Erb, ed. Johann Conrad Beissel and the Ephrata Community. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1985. 87). Thus, for Beissel, veganism spiritualizes and makes one spirit-like. This is why fasting and a vegan diet, in addition to celibacy, are of considerable importance for Beissel and the Ephrata community.

Last updated on January 9th, 2024

SNSF project 100015_204481

@VLS@veganism.social | VeganLiteraryStudies | @veganliterarystudies |