By Michael Skriver
Dr. Carl Anders Skriver has been a leading figure in the vegetarian movement during the last 60 plus years. Born on December 8, 1903 – 110 years ago – his view of the world changed forever at the age of 17 after reading texts on the teachings of Gautama Buddha. As a consequence he was no longer able to contemplate the killing and eating of animals. He studied classical Indology for his doctorate in philosophy (The Idea of Creation in Vedic Literature).
On encouragement of his Buddhist friend Hans Much, Professor of Medicine, he then studied theology. Another challenge was posed by the question: Was the love of Buddha greater, and much more inclusive, than the compassion of Jesus? Surprisingly, the result of serious historic research was: no. Some of the original teachings of the historical Jesus and first Christianity were radically different from the currently accepted doctrines of the churches.
His book: The Churches’ Betrayal of the Animals (first edition 1967, now being translated into English) became a bestseller. Thirty years after his death, it remains popular today.
Numerous articles of his were published in vegetarian magazines over many decades. He published a number of books on this and related subjects. He was a co-founder of the German Vegetarian Council (Deutscher Vegetarier-Rat) in 1956, Vice President of the International Vegetarian Union (IVU), and a life member of the British Vegan Society.
One other book of his has been translated into English so far and was published by Keith Akers: The Forgotten Beginnings of Creation and Christianity, 175 pages, Vegetarian Press, Denver, 1990.
Michael Skriver, Cape Town
pmskriver@gmail.com
[Read more about The Forgotten Beginnings of Creation and Christianity (in English) here. You can buy a new copy from The American Vegan Society (p. 28 of their catalog), or order a used copy from Abebooks or from Amazon.]
So when could we expect to see this Skriver book?
It will be a while before you see The Churches’ Betrayal of the Animals. This is mostly because of the difficulty of translation. There is a rough draft of the first part of the book in English. However, another of Skriver’s books, The Forgotten Beginnings of Creation and Christianity is available from the American Vegan Society, published in 1990, as was mentioned above.
A translation of this book is most urgently needed. What is the prerequisite of a good translation of a textbook like this one? Firstly, the translater has to be able to understand fully the German text he is translating, if possible also to be familiar with the subject presented. Secondly his English has to be perfect. It appears that we will only be able to find this combination if we are willing and capable of financing a professional person for this task. Lack of interested sponsors is the only reason why this book is still not available in English. I am willing and able to do the copy reading, however, I have not the time and energy to correct nearly each and every sentence in front of me. Michael Skriver, son of C.A.