faulker05

WHALES ARE NOT TREES: CREATION CARE AND ANIMALS, PART ONE God intends our care of the creation to reflect our love for the Creator.                                                        ~    Dr. John R. W. Stott    In the last several decades a theological movement variously known as “creation care,” “green theology,” “ecotheology,” or similar terms has taken hold in the church.   Theologians writing from this perspective have done yeoman’s work, arguing for a re-imagining of our understanding of “dominion,” away from an idea of unfettered power and toward and idea of “stewardship,” that is, responsible care and management, of the earth and its resources. [1]   Several recent authors address...

Looking for More? Just a little PSA (or is it shameless self-promotion?) to invite you to check out the Dominion In The Image Of God Facebook page.  I do post links and comments there during the week that do not make it onto the blog.  There is a link on the left side of this page.  Hope to see you there!

IS DOMINION A DIRTY WORD? “To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”                                                                  ~ Revelation 1:5-6             With the rise of the Creation Care movement, about which I will be writing in coming posts, there has been a move to use the word “stewardship” instead of “dominion” as a way of re-envisioning our relationship with the rest of creation.   It serves as helpful corrective to the way that “dominion” has been distorted ...

I just wanted to make this addendum to my most recent post. Proving Bruni's point that more and more people are becoming interested in who animals are and how they experience the world, even Parade magazine has done a story on the subject. Ten Ways Farm Animals Are Like Your Cat.  Your move, church.

HELLO? CHURCH? ARE YOU THERE? “When we reflect upon the most shocking barbarities, and see the brutal rage exercised [against animals] by the most worthless of men, without controul of Law, and without reproof from the Pulpit, we are almost tempted to draw this inference, that Cruelty cannot be a sin.”                                                                   ~ Humphrey Primatt             Once again I have put my planned post into cold storage so that I can write about something in the news that I think requires people of faith to sit up and take notice.   It is a column by Frank Bruni that appeared...

ASK THE ANIMALS AND THEY WILL TELL YOU, PART FOUR: FARM ANIMALS AND SENTIENCE When a man’s love of finery clouds his moral judgment, that is vanity. When he lets a demanding palate make his moral choices, that is gluttony. When he ascribes divine will to his own whims, that is pride. And when he gets angry at being reminded of animal suffering that his own daily choices might help avoid, that is moral cowardice.                                                                                       ~ Matthew Scully           ...