Wednesday, May 9, 2018

WEEKLY COMMENTARY: Animals and the Bible


Animals do not fit easily within the theology of Scripture.  When a Bible story mentions an animal, it often makes the animal seem unimportant.  Saint Augustine, a great interpreter of the Bible, for instance, told us that human beings have no moral responsibilities toward animals.  For two thousand years the church has lived with a tension between those who emphasize God's care for every living thing, and those who suggest humans are given priority in God's creation.

Perhaps animals are "free-standing" beings, just as we are "free-standing" creatures.  Perhaps animals are not some toy God created for us to play with.  Instead, are humans and animals on an equal par in creation?  That would make it our job to provide care and compassion for all of creation.

In today's world, many humans have been acting on the assumption that they were given priority in God's creation.  Humans have leveled nearly half of the world's forests to make way for agriculture, industry and housing, accounting for crucial habitat loss for 85% of all threatened and endangered species, according to the World Wildlife Fund.  Between 1970 and 2000, populations of endangered species declined by an average of 40%.  In a typical year, 1.5 million birds are captured and sold as food, pets, medicine, clothing, decorations and tourist curios.  Here in the United States, approximately 2.7 million stray and relinquished dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters every year.

Christianity shouldn't take all the blame for this treatment of animals.  Many writers of the Old Testament mention the use of animal sacrifices to God, believing that God would welcome the practice.  Animal sacrifice was being practiced long before Jesus Christ appeared.  Today, some people say that humans have no responsibility for animals, because animals not only lack souls but are really beyond God's concern.  They believe this justifies present-day destruction of the environments of these animals, and the of animals themselves.

As theological thinking has evolved, do we now bear a spiritual as well as biological relationship with other animals on this earth?  Today, many Presbyterians have devoted themselves to caring for abandoned animals, advocating for humane treatment of livestock, and trying to turn the tide of wide-scale species extinction.  Many, of course, also have pet animals at home.

The trouble begins in Genesis 1 and the central role it imagines for humanity.  Human beings, unlike other creatures, are said to be made in the "image and likeness" of God.  What is the "image of God"?  The Bible does not exactly explain this, but it does state that God blesses humanity and commands human beings to "rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground."  (Genesis 1:28)  Does this justify our authority over other creatures?  Does "ruling" over other creatures refer merely to our life-or-death control over them, or does it suggest some benevolent responsibility for their welfare, like that of a kindly monarch?

Jesus himself teaches that "not a sparrow will fall to the ground" without the care and attention of God.  (Matt. 10:29)  If we have failed to notice this fact, it may be because we have been too taken with the idea that we are made in the divine image, and not careful enough to reflect theologically on the nature and responsibility of that particular honor.

Author Philip Sherman, in a recent issue of Presbyterian Life, argues that a greater sense of responsibility for animals has developed in the last 100 years.  "As some animals have transitioned from utilitarian purposes (labor, production, food) to companionship (pets, therapy dogs and cats, and service animals like seeing-eye dogs), a new element has emerged ---- LOVE.  Many Christians today love certain animals, and and give them a special status by calling them "pets".  We remember St. Francis of Assisi and his passion for the care of God's creatures.  Today, we sometimes even link to animals some passages of Scripture about love, with how we are supposed to treat those we love.

Of all the traits thought to be the exclusive possession of human beings, perhaps love and compassion have been the greatest.  The possibility that many animals are capable of deep emotional lives, including grief and gratitude, seems increasingly a given among many in the scientific community.

There are many ethical issues that arise from our contemporary encounters with animals: experimentation on animals, habitat destruction, and the keeping of animals in zoos, are but a few of the issues modern Christians must face.  The deepest debates, of course, are those about killing animals for human food.

Many of us enjoy home-cooked meals of beef, chicken, turkey, pork and fish, just to name a few of the animals whom we happily sacrifice for our own pleasure and survival.  Was it God's intent that these creatures were placed among us simply for our benefit, or are we wrong to appropriate them?

There are some within the Christian tradition who argue that killing animals is simply wrong.  They remind us that Genesis 1 seems to imagine the Earth in an original vegetarian state and that other passages of Scripture look forward to a time when "the wolf will live with the lamb."  (Isa. 11:6) suggesting that the predatory life among animals, at least, will cease.

Whether many Christians accept the vegetarian argument or not, one thing is clear ---- animals are part of the promise God made to us.  They will be our helpmates, and even more, they seem to be part of our survival and salvation on earth.
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These thoughts are brought to you by the CPC Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping that 
you will discover some personal spiritual growth this summer.
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