God, Humans, and Animals

This is a book about animals and the moral life. The kinds of questions it raises are profound and consequential: Do animals have moral standing? Do human beings have moral obligations to animals? If so, how extensive and weighty are those obligations? Robert Wennberg finds it troubling that society at large seems to care more about such concerns than the Christian community does, and he invites people of faith not only to think more deeply about ethical concerns for animals but also to enter into a richer, more sensitive moral life in general.

Over the course of his thought-provoking discussion, Wennberg educates readers about some of the history of ethical concern for animals and the nature of that concern. He also invites serious reflection on the moral issues raised by the existence of animals in our world, while granting readers considerable latitude in reaching their own conclusions. Wennberg arrives at his own conclusions through careful interaction with church history, Christian theology, the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, and the best philosophical thought on the moral status of animals. Two compelling case studies — of factory farming and painful animal research are also included.

All in all, "God, Humans, and Animals" offers a complete, balanced, and convincing argument for the moral recognition of animals. Most readers will be challenged — and some may be changed — by this provocative study.

From the Preface

"In arguing for the moral recognition of animals with whom we share this planet, I am arguing for something that ought to receive a more receptive hearing among Christians (and religious believers in general) than among secularists - the reverse of what is presently the case. After all, f or those religious believers who have a doctrine of creation, animals are not simply here on this planet. Rather, they are here because of the good purposes of God. They themselves have been declared "good" by their Creator. This establishes a presumption that there is in the animal kingdom that which merits respect and appropriate treatment. Therefore, the task of discovering what that appropriate treatment might be and what form that respect is to take is an important and worthy enterprise. It is that task to which this book is devoted.

In enlarging our moral vision so that it embraces animals, we are not simply imposing on ourselves and on others one more unwelcome set of moral burdens. Gaining an enlarged moral vision is not like that. Rather, it is to see old things with a new appreciative eye, to come to hold dear and valuable what was once viewed indifferently, and it is this new "holding dear" that lightens the load and makes new burdens anything but burdensome. After all, in caring for what God cares for there should be joy. So this book is not only an invitation to enlarge our moral universe, it is also an invitation to new joys."

Table of Contents
Preface
1 Animal Advocacy and the Christian Tradition: The Lay of the Land 1
2 Animal Advocacy and Environmentalism Contrasted 29
3 Animal Advocacy, Women, and Feminist Theory 59
4 What Are Animals Like? 84
5 Animals and the World of Moral Theory 119
6 More on Animals and the World of Moral Theory 152
7 Respecting Animal Life 180
8 A Special Moral Status for Humans 200
9 A Case Study: Factory Farming 224
10 A Case Study: Painful Animal Research 254
11 Christianity, the Bible, and Animal Concern 285
12 Animal Suffering and the Problem of Evil 309
Bibliography 342
Index 355