Praying For Pets - Part Two

A NEW CREATION FOR THE ANIMALS, 
OR, DO ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN?

The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

The calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. . . .

They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain;

For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

                                                                  ~ Isaiah 11:6, 9

            Before my forced blogging hiatus as a result of a broken wrist, I was blogging my way through David Clough’s On Animals, Volume 1: Systematic Theology.  Although it has been some time since my last post on the topic, there is but one chapter left and I think it is time to let the last shoe drop.  As you know if you read those previous posts, I cannot recommend this book highly enough; it provides a very thoughtful and wide-ranging discussion of the place of animals – and humans – in Christian theology, considering our modern understanding of animal nature together with a careful reading of scripture and Christian tradition.  For Clough, taking animal welfare seriously is simply a matter of living in accordance with what Christians have always believed.  I am especially grateful for Clough’s emphasis on animal welfare as “a vital theological task,” which touches on nearly every element of what it means to be a Christian, and for the way he consistently urges us to look at and understand animals in new ways, asking us to appreciate their complexity, their individuality, and their place in the world.  Previous posts in this series are A Vital Theological Task, All Creatures of Our God and King, On Humans and Other Animals, The Heart of the Matter, and Do Animals Sin?  There is also a discussion with the author himself, Q&A With David Clough.  This post will look at Part III of Clough’s book, asking whether animals will be redeemed together with humans.

  Taking up first the scope of redemption, Clough begins with John Wesley’s sermon The General Deliverance, in which Wesley seeks to reconcile God’s concern for all His creatures with the animal suffering so evident in the world. Although Wesley believes that only humans are capable of being in communication with and obeying God, he nevertheless concludes that God will redeem allof creation, including the animals, and that they, too, “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into glorious liberty” (quoted on p. 135). Wesley relies on Paul’s statements in Romans 8 that all of creation awaits redemption and the promise in the final chapter of Revelation that God will wipe away every tear, which he notes is not limited to humans.  For Wesley, this conclusion is necessary in recognition of God’s justice, which would not let so much innocent suffering go unrecompensed.  Wesley also hopes that understanding God’s mercy toward animals will encourage Christians to likewise be merciful. 

            Clough contrasts Wesley’s conclusion to those of RenéDescartes, who famously concluded that animals are incapable of thought or feelings, and merely acted on instinct.  Descartes believed that if animals had thoughts, they would have immortal souls, and if some animals had souls, then all must, “and many of them such as oysters and sponges are too imperfect for this to be credible” (quoted on p. 137); in addition, with so many immortal souls, “the coin of individual worth is instantly devalued by a massive flooding of the market” (id.). 

            Clough considers various responses to Descartes, in particular John Hildrop’s statement that what God had reason to create, He has reason to redeem.  Clough notes that the alternative, that some or all non-human animals are created by God, but not intended for life with Him, would mean that many or most of God’s creatures “were intended by God to be the scenery or supporting players for the redemption of the other creatures in which God is really interested” (p. 144).  The preceding chapters in Clough’s book make clear that this is not a plausible reading of scripture.  “[F]or Christian doctrine to be coherent, we cannot afford for creation, reconciliation, and redemption to be disjoint, but instead must see them together as a single divine act of graciousness by God toward all that is” (p. 144).

            Clough also considers early church tradition, as expounded by Irenaeus, Origen and Gregory of Nyssa, holding that all things will be gathered up in Christ. Thus, “considering the place of non-human animals in God’s work of redemption is not a novel concern.  Rather, the hope that the whole of creation will be restored, liberated, and redeemed is present in the Old and New Testaments and in patristic teaching, as well as being represented in more recent theological discussions” (p. 152). 

            Clough ends Part III of his book with a look at the “shape of redeemed living,” considering the passages from Isaiah and other scriptures that tell us of all the animals living peaceably together.  He notes that the “biblical visions of harmony between creatures as characteristic of their redemption are echoed in Christian accounts of the relationship between saints and non-human animals” (p. 157).  He then addresses various objections that have been raised to such a vision, such as whether a leopard can still be a leopard if it does not hunt, or whether there could be “wilderness” in a new creation where God dwells.  Here, Clough argues that we can look forward to substantial transformation in a new creation – this must be so even if it were only humans that needed to live peaceably together.  Therefore we must not limit our vision of what is possible for all creatures.  Moreover, we must maintain a sense of mystery about the new creation and trust God to work things according to His will; not restraining God’s work to what we think is possible.

            Importantly, Clough ends the chapter with the reminder that thinking about the redeemed creation is more than simply speculation about what might be in the future, but it has implications for how we are to live today.  It is consideration of how God intends things to be ordered, and that requires us to order our own lives accordingly.  Clough promises to address this in Volume II, holding out for us a more immediate future hope for good things to come.

            On Animals, Volume I is an important book.  It walks us through basic Christian doctrines to show us that what we have always said we believe about Christianity requires us to include animals in our theological thinking and in living out our faith.  While humans’ flawed understanding of animal nature and of the place of humans in creation as a whole may have excused at least some of the church’s previous disregard for animals, science – and a more complete reading of scripture – tell us we can no longer justify blind anthropocentrism.  The rest of creation, including the animals, exists for its own sake and for the glory of God; not for the benefit of humans.  Followers of the Lamb of God need to be alert to our role as caretakers of God’s good creation and God’s sentient creatures and we need to be mindful of the many ways we impact animal lives – even when it is inconvenient for us.  I look forward eagerly to Volume II, to see how Clough guides through considering our ethical obligations to our fellow creatures. 

I want to close this post with this exhortation from Clough’s conclusion to his fellow theologians:

[W]e live alongside these other animal creatures, employ them for our own purposes with little regard for their well-being, and threaten their environments through our activities, making species extinct through thoughtless neglect or deliberate action.  Christian theologians therefore have a responsibility to be attentive to where other animals belong in their theological work, to resist the simplistic and inaccurate received formulations of human exceptionalism that manifest an inexcusable ignorance of the lives of other creatures and to seek new ways of representing the relations of our animal neighbours with God and ourselves. (p.173)

In short, animals matter; they matter to God and they should matter to us, and it is the job of our Christian teachers and leaders to help us understand this and live accordingly.  “Given that God did not merely establish the world for our own convenience, but wills the flourishing of all God’s creatures, we must ask what this might mean for the appropriateness of Christian uses of other animals for food, clothing, labour, research, entertainment, companions and for our responsibilities to non-human animals that live beyond relationships of domestication” (p. 176). 

            To which I say, “Amen.”

Credits:
Stained glass: Pam Lennard
Angel with a Lamb as a Symbol of Christ's Sacrifice, Melozzo da Forli
Lion and fawn: unknown
Deer: my own photo in my back yard