Thursday, January 8, 2015

Animal Theology


Animals and theology seems to be an odd combination.  However with Pope Francis' recent comments relating to Pope Paul VI's declaration that "Heaven is open to all creatures," THIS review of The Problem of Animal Pain: A Theodicy for All Creatures Great and Small seems all the more relevant.

There is a paucity of literature on animals and theology, although Creaturely Theology: God, Humans and Other Animals (on amazon HERE)and Christian Theology and the Status of Animals: The Dominant Tradition and Its Alternatives (on amazon HERE) seem to be breaking new ground, as both were published fairly recently.

Of course Andrew Lindzey's Animal Theology from 1995 is a hallmark (on amazon HERE).

My highest recommendation however is for Divinanimality: Animal Theory, Creaturely Theology published recently in 2014.  Link HERE.  Because of my theological commitments and interest in animal ethics it was only natural that I would run into the above literature.