Animal issues

• Post Noah’s Flood

  God makes a covenant with humans & animals (Genesis 9)
• Bible references support that animals have value other than their use by humans
• Current Christian thinking - Roman Catholic (RC)

  • Animals are God’s creatures and should be treated with kindness
  • Legitimate to use animals for food and clothing
  • It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly
  • Affection should be directed to persons, not animals
• Current Christian thinking - Church of England (CofE)

  • Creation is a web of inter-dependent relationships bound together in a covenant with God
  • Human beings have a responsibility to treat creation with reverence, respect, and gratitude
  • Redemptive purpose of God in Jesus Christ extends to the whole of creation
• Violation of God's right occurs when the natural life of his creatures is perverted
• Pope Francis criticizes a distorted anthropocentrism and emphasizes respecting the goodness of every creature
• Historical Christian view on the value & status of animals

  • Genesis 1:27/8 states only humans are in the image of God and given dominion over the earth
  • Animals used for sacrifices to God in the Old Testament, implying using them for human purposes is fine
  • Aquinas has been influential in shaping Christian thinking
• It is implied Jesus would have eaten meat at the annual Passover meal
• Proverbs 12:10 states 'a good man takes care of his animals'
• Reverend Professor Andrew Linzey: '“For most of its history the Christian tradition has not thought that God cares much—if at all—for other creatures. The result is unsurprising: Christians have not cared much either….But how likely is it that a God who creates millions, if not billions, of species only cares for one of them.”'
• Humans are given permission to eat meat after Noah’s Flood (Genesis 9)
• Jesus: '“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight” (Luke 12:6)'
• Pope Francis: '“Laudato Si’ – on care for our common home” proposes an “ecological conversion” and fostering a spirit of generous care for all creatures'
• Contemporary theologian Reverend Professor Andrew Linzey believes in the theos-rights (god-rights) of animals and that animals have souls
• Andrew Linzey's theology of animal rights

  Derives from looking at creation from God's point of view rather than humanity's
• Animal Liberation is fundamentally based on human wisdom, not on religion or the Bible
• The Bible says we should follow it, not human wisdom
• Commercial exploitation of animals flourishes because it makes money
• Andrew Linzey questions if the great multinationals that gobble up millions of animals every year can be turned around
• Andrew Linzey is one of the very few outspoken voices within the Christian community speaking out clearly about the horrors of factory farming
• Some fundamentalist Christians regard animals as having no intrinsic value
• Linzey's belief about God's love

  • It is intended not just for human beings but for all creatures
  • Christians should treat every sentient animal according to its intrinsic God-given worth, and not according to its usefulness to human beings
  • Christians who do this will achieve a far greater spiritual appreciation of the worth of creation
• Andrew Linzey suggests changing from institutionalized systems of exploitation to non-exploitative ones with God's help
• The Bible teaches that men have dominion over animals
• Andrew Linzey focuses on fasting and getting rid of sinful appetite
• Charles Carmosy, RC Prof of Ethics at a USA university, agrees with Linzey's views
• Conflicts can arise between the Bible and the views of Animal Liberation
• Andrew Linzey's "five articles of faith"


  • Stand for Jesus is to stand for animals as God's creatures
  • Stand for active compassion for the weak
  • Stand for the Christ-like innocence of animals
  • Stand for a ministry of reconciliation to the whole of creation
  • Stand for God's justice and the final release of all creation from bondage to decay
• Charles Carmosy agrees with Linzey's views on factory farming
• Andrew Linzey concludes that the engine driving all fields of animal abuse is capitalism
• Last paragraph focuses on fasting & getting rid of sinful appetites: 'What is he trying to say?'
• les Carmosy (RC Prof of Ethics at USA’n university): 'is agreeing with Linzey’s views'
• Christian views on using animals in scientific procedures & cloning

  Mary Seller states that cloning, like all science, must be used responsibly. Cloning humans is not desirable, but cloning sheep has its uses
• How is Genesis 1 v. 28 understood – dominion/rulers or stewards?
• Christian views on animal testing

  There should be a balance between caring & experimenting
• If we care about justice

  We should be putting our values into action just as if we were campaigning for poor marginalised people
• Andrew Linzey: 'Factor in animal worth/suffering when you are decision making not just human factors. No to cloning. Alternatives to animal & human testing'
• Christian views on using animals in scientific procedures & cloning


  RC: Medical & scientific experimentation on animals is morally acceptable if it remains within reasonable limits & contributes to caring for or saving human lives
• Christian views on using animals in scientific procedures & cloning

  CofE: Animals may be used in scientific procedures for the benefit of people, but minimising the pain, suffering, distress, or lasting harm that animals may have to undergo shows that they regard them as having intrinsic value
• The spiritual perspectives on the issue of xenotransplantation are: Humility before The Creator, an awareness of limited knowledge, and a responsibility not only to The Creator but to creation itself.