Element contents
Series: Elements in the Problems of God
God and Non-Human Animals
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 March 2025
Summary
This Element explores the relevance of non-human animals to theology. It suggests that while Christian theology has so far been a thoroughly anthropocentric discipline, there are good reasons for treating animals as subjects worthy of theological reflection in their own right. The Element considers animals in the context of Christian ethics, investigates whether the violence and suffering found in evolutionary processes can be reconciled with a good God, and surveys some of the ways key theological doctrines may need to be altered in the light of what contemporary science teaches about human animals and non-humans.
- Type
- Element
- Information
- Series: Elements in the Problems of GodOnline ISBN: 9781009296205Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication: 27 March 2025
References
Adams, C. J., 2012. What about Dominion in Genesis? In York, T. and Alexis-Baker, A., eds. A Faith Embracing All Creatures. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, pp. 1–12.Google Scholar
Adams, M. M., 1999. Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Augustine, , 2010. On the Free Choice of the Will. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Banner, M. C., 1999. Christian Ethics and Contemporary Moral Problems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bekoff, M., and Pierce, J., 2009. Wild Justice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkman, J., 2014. From Theological Speciesism to a Theological Ethology. Journal of Moral Theology, 3 (2), pp. 11–34.Google Scholar
Brown, W. S., Murphy, N. C., and Malony, H. N., eds., 1998. Whatever Happened to the Soul? Minneapolis: Fortress Press.Google Scholar
Calder, T., 2007. Is the Privation Theory of Evil Dead? American Philosophical Quarterly, 44 (4), pp. 371–381.Google Scholar
Case‐Winters, A., 2004. Rethinking the Image of God. Zygon, 39 (4), pp. 813–826.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chisholm, R. M., 1990. The Defeat of Good and Evil. In Adams, M. M. and Adams, R. M., eds. The Problem of Evil. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 53–68.Google Scholar
Clough, D. L., 2012. On Animals: Volume 1 – Systematic Theology. London: T & T Clark International.Google Scholar
Cosmides, L., and Tooby, J., 1992. Cognitive Adaptations for Social Exchange. In Barkow, J. H., Cosmides, L., and Tooby, J., eds. The Adapted Mind. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 163–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coulon, M., Deputte, B. L., Heyman, Y., Baudoin, C., 2009. Individual Recognition in Domestic Cattle (Bos taurus): Evidence from 2D-Images of Heads from Different Breeds. PloS one, 4 (2), e4441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Creegan, N. H., 2013. Animal Suffering and the Problem of Evil. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crummett, D., 2021. Taming Zootheism. Journal of Analytic Theology, 9, pp. 137–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crummett, D., 2022. Human Dominion and Wild Animal Suffering. Religious Studies, 58 (4), pp. 814–830.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunningham, D. S., 2008. Christian Ethics. The End of The Law. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunningham, D. S., 2009. The Way of All Flesh. In Deane-Drummond, C. and Clough, D., eds. Creaturely Theology. London: SCM Press, pp. 100–117.Google Scholar
Darwin, C., 2008. On the Origin of Species. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Waal, F., 2006. Primates and Philosophers. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derrida, J., 2002. The Animal That Therefore I Am (More to Follow). Critical Inquiry, 29 (2), pp. 369–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donovan, J., and Adams, C. J., 2007. Introduction. In Donovan, J. and Adams, C. J., eds. The Feminist Care Tradition in Animal Ethics. A Reader. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 1–20.Google Scholar
Esvelt, K., 2019. When Are We Obligated To Edit Wild Creatures? [online]. Upworthy Science. https://upworthyscience.com/when-are-we-obligated-to-edit-wild-creatures/particle-3 [Accessed 26 October 2024].Google Scholar
Evans, E. P., 1997. The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals. London: Faber and Faber.Google Scholar
Farains, E. J., 2011. Theology and Animals. In Kemmerer, L., ed. Sister, Species. Women, Animals and Social Justice. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, pp. 102–109.Google Scholar
Farris, J. R., 2021. The Soul as Imago Dei: Modernizing Traditional Theological Anthropology. In Arcadi, J. and Turner, J. T., eds. The T&T Clark Handbook of Analytic Theology. London: T&T Clark, pp. 311–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, R., ed., 2012. The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gonzalez, M. A., 2021. Created for God and for Each Other: Our Imago Dei. In Hinsdale, M. A. and Okey, S., eds. T&T Clark Handbook of Theological Anthropology. London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 61–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gould, S. J., 2001. More Things in Heaven and Earth. In Rose, H. and Rose, S. P. R., eds. Alas, Poor Darwin. London: Vintage.Google Scholar
Gregersen, N. H., 2015. Introduction. In Gregersen, N. H., ed. Incarnation. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, pp. 1–21.Google Scholar
Gruen, L., 2007. Empathy and Vegetarian Commitments. In Donovan, J. and Adams, C. J., eds. The Feminist Care Tradition in Animal Ethics. A Reader. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 333–343.Google Scholar
Hauerwas, S., and Wells, S., 2011. The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics. 2nd ed. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hebblethwaite, B., 2004. Philosophical Theology and Christian Doctrine. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Hereth, B., 2019. Animal Gods. In Hereth, B. and Timpe, K., eds. The Lost Sheep in Philosophy of Religion. New York: Taylor & Francis, pp. 183–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hume, C. W., 1956. The Status of Animals in the Christian Religion. London: The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare.Google Scholar
Hume, D., 2008. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenson, R. W., 1999. Systematic Theology. Volume 2. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
King, B. J., 2021. Animals’ Best Friends. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingston, A. R., 1967. Theodicy and Animal Welfare. Theology, 70 (569), pp. 482–488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kittle, S., 2022. God Is (Probably) a Cause among Causes. Theology and Science, 20 (2), pp. 247–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kittle, S., 2024. Science, Determinism, and Free Will. In Harris, M., ed. God and the Book of Nature. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 193–213.Google Scholar
Kojonen, R., 2024. Why Evolution Does Not Make the Problem of Evil Worse. Faith and Philosophy, 39 (3), pp. 388–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lactantius, , 1965. The Minor Works. New York: The Catholic University of America Press.Google Scholar
Lakoff, G., 2014. The All-New Don’t Think of an Elephant! White River Junction: Chelsea Green.Google Scholar
Linzey, A., 1998. Animal Gospel. Christian Faith as Though Animals Mattered. London: Hodder & Stoughton.Google Scholar
Linzey, A., 2001. Vegetarianism as a Biblical Ideal. In Walters, K. S. and Portmess, L., eds. Religious Vegetarianism. Albany: State University of New York Press, pp. 126–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linzey, A., 2009b. Why Animal Suffering Matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linzey, C., 2022. Developing Animal Theology. London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.Google Scholar
Lloyd, M., 1998. Are Animals Fallen? In Linzey, A. and Yamamoto, D., eds. Animals on the Agenda. London: SCM, pp. 147–160.Google Scholar
Long, D. S., and Miles, R., eds., 2023. The Routledge Companion to Christian Ethics. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Lovejoy, A. O., 2009. The Great Chain of Being. London: Transaction Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marino, L., 2022. Bovine Cognition. In Vonk, J. and Shackelford, T. K., eds. Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Cham: Springer, pp. 858–863.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, R., and Barresi, J., 2006. The Rise and Fall of Soul and Self. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, R. P., 2014. Christian Theology and the Status of Animals. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaughlin, R. P., 2019. How Good is Nature? In Linzey, A., ed. The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Animal Ethics. London: Routledge and Taylor & Francis Group, pp. 327–336.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, R. P., 2023. Nonhuman Animals in Christian Theology. St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology. www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/NonhumanAnimalsinChristianTheology.Google Scholar
Mercier, H., and Sperber, D., 2017. The Enigma of Reason. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Messer, N., 2009. Natural Evil After Darwin. In Northcott, M. S. and Berry, R. J., eds. Theology after Darwin. London: Paternoster Publications, pp. 139–154.Google Scholar
Messer, N., 2019. Evolution, Animal Suffering, and Ethics. In Linzey, A., ed. The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Animal Ethics. London: Routledge and Taylor & Francis Group, pp. 337–346.Google Scholar
Miller, D. K., 2010. ʻAnd who is my neighbor?ʼ: Reading animal ethics through the lens of the Good Samaritan. PhD thesis, The University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Murdock, G. K., 2022. Artiodactyl Cognition. In Vonk, J. and Shackelford, T. K., eds. Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Cham: Springer, pp. 446–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, M. J., 2008. Nature Red in Tooth and Claw. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neiman, S., 2002. Evil in Modern Thought: An Alternative History of Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Nullens, P., and Michener, R. T., 2013. The Matrix of Christian Ethics. Downers Grove: IVP.Google Scholar
Parsons, S. F., 2004. Feminist Theology as Dogmatic Theology. In Parsons, S. F., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Feminist Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 114–132.Google Scholar
Pouca, C. V., Tosetto, L., and Brown, C., 2021. A Fish Memory Tale. In Kaufman, A. B., Call, J., and Kaufman, J. C., eds. The Cambridge Handbook of Animal Cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 140–173.Google Scholar
Robertson, R., 2020. The Enlightenment. The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680–1790. London: Allen Lane.Google Scholar
Rolston, H., 1994. Does Nature Need to Be Redeemed? Zygon, 29 (2), pp. 205–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, M., and McArthur, J.-A., 2021. The Animals Are Leaving Us. Brooklyn: Lantern & Media.Google Scholar
Ryder, R. D., 1989. Animal Revolution. Changing Attitudes towards Speciesism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Schneider, J., 2021a. Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Schneider, J., 2021b. Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil: A Rejoinder [online]. Carl F. H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding. https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/2021/04/animal-suffering-and-the-darwinian-problem-of-evil-a-rejoinder/ [Accessed 20 September 2024].Google Scholar
Slootweg, P., 2021. Teeth and Talons Whetted for Slaughter. Divine Attributes and Suffering Animals in Historical Perspective (1600–1961). Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit.Google Scholar
Southgate, C., 2008a. Protological and Eschatological Vegetarianism. In Grumett, D. and Muers, R., eds. Eating and Believing. London: T & T Clark, pp. 247–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southgate, C., 2008b. The Groaning of Creation. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.Google Scholar
Southgate, C., 2011. Re‐reading Genesis, John, and Job. Zygon, 46 (2), pp. 370–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southgate, C., 2014. Divine Glory in a Darwinian World. Zygon, 49 (4), pp. 784–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southgate, C., 2017. Cosmic Evolution and Evil. In Meister, C. V. and Moser, P. K., eds. The Cambridge Companion to the Problem of Evil. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 147–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southgate, C., 2018. ‘Free-Process’ and ‘Only Way’ Arguments. In Rosenberg, S. P., ed. Finding Ourselves After Darwin: Conversations on the Image of God, Original Sin, and the Problem of Evil. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, pp. 293–307.Google Scholar
Southgate, C., 2023. Monotheism and the Suffering of Animals in Nature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steiner, G., 2010. Anthropocentrism and Its Discontents. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Torgerson-White, L., 2022. Animal Emotion in Farmed Animal Welfare Assessment. In Vonk, J. and Shackelford, T. K., eds. Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Cham: Springer, pp. 272–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torrance, T. F., 1981. Divine and Contingent Order. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waddell, H., and Gibbings, R., 1995. Beasts and Saints. London: Darton, Longman and Todd.Google Scholar
Wells, S., Quash, B., and Eklund, R. A., 2017. Introducing Christian Ethics. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Wennberg, R. N., 2003. God, Humans, and Animals. An Invitation to Enlarge Our Moral Universe. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans.Google Scholar
Wildman, W., 2008a. Ground-of-Being Theologies. In Clayton, P. and Simpson, Z., eds. The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 613–632.Google Scholar
Wildman, W., 2008b. Incongruous Goodness, Perilous Beauty, Disconcerting Truth. In Murphy, N. C., Russell, R. J., and Stoeger, W. R., eds. Physics and Cosmology. Cambridge: University of Notre Dame Press, pp. 267–294.Google Scholar
Williams, N. P., 1924. The Ideas of the Fall and Original Sin. London: Longmans, Green.Google Scholar
Wogaman, J. P., 2011. Christian Ethics. 2nd ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.Google Scholar
Wright, A. A., Katz, J. S., and Kelly, D. M., 2022. Same/Different Learning. In Vonk, J. and Shackelford, T. K., eds. Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Cham: Springer, pp. 6200–6210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wynne, C. D. L., and Udell, M. A. R., 2021. Animal Cognition. 3rd ed. London: Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar