The St. Johns herald., 1895-01-10
QUEER CHRISTIANS.
| Peculiar Sect Located in Phji-
 adelphia.
They HengtousIy Refrain from Eating 5Teat-SOme Of Their Beliefs and the Conditions of Church
 Membership.

It has often been remarked as curious by residents in the northern portion of Philadelphia that the block bounded by Broad street, Park avenue, Berks street and Montgomery avenue con- tains the smallest church and the largest one in Philadelphia. For those fronting on Broad street is the Baptist temple, with it's seating capacity or five thousand, and immediately behind it, fronting on Park avenue, IS the lit tie. quaint, gray stone edifice belong ing to the Bible Christian church. with a seating capacity of probably not one hundred. Quaint it is indeed inside as well as out, as described by the Times. The walls are of wood, some of them plainly whitewashed and hung with the usual illuminated texts, and in place. of the luxuriously cushioned :sopera" chairs now introduced into churches. narrow wooden benches, painted gray, are provided for the worshipers. and are perfectly in keep ing with the boarded floor, uncovered save for strip of carpet down the aisle. Though the church is really the Bible Christian it is much better known as the ''Vegetarian," because vege- tarianism is exacted of it's members. This peculiarity Of creed is the reason for it's lack of growth and the conse- uuent smallness of the edifice. Its creed includes the belief that the laws of health require abstinence from meat or flesh of all kinds and strict ad- herence to farinaceous and vegetable foods. It is claimed by the vegetarians, with the support of scientists to some degree. that some diseases would have had no existence among human beings but for their partaking of the flesh of animals, which, being impregnated with disease microbes, introduced the Ills of the animal kingdom into the human family.
 The Bible Christians believe also that the words to be found in the first chapter of Genesis, spoken by God to l Adam and Eve-''Behold, have given you every herb bearing seed which ia upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit ot tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat''-imply distinct command to partake only of vegetable foods, and that this commandment was kept until after the flood. From humanitarian standpoint they are opposed to the wholesale slaughter of animals as cruel. ''You may have noticed, said member of the church in speaking o1 it's creed, that the same laws of nat ural affection which we acknowledge also govern the action of animals They love, grieve, joy and suffer II their degree the same as we do in ours They possess many of the higher at tributes of our nature, such as faithful ness, courage and devotion. This be ing so we do not feel at liberty to de sfrov their lives at random, and thougf we do not absolutely claim the exist ence of future life for them, yet tho reference of St. John in the Apocalypse to the four-footed beasts about tho throne remains to be interpreted II some way and seems to point to some thing of the sort" With the exception of vegeterianism the Bible Christian church differs from other Christian churches but slightly. The condition
 of membership in this church-absti hence from meats and intoxicating liquors of all llinds-are severe enougl to prevent many from joining it, an' the membership is at present only be
 tween fifty and sixty. Of this numbe
 some live in Frankfort, and they are s
 soa+tared thatitis seldom they all mee
 together. At their entertainments, whel
 the serving of refreshments is included
 the uninitated would be amazed to SC
 what a diversity of tastes can be suite
 and what wide range of choice is re
 vealed in the delicate and skillful prer
 aration of vegetable and farinaceou
 productions.