After Noah: Animals and the Liberation of Theology

by Andrew Linzey, Dan Cohn-Sherbok

A comprehensive study of Jewish and Christian teaching about animals, this text argues that the treatment of animals is not only a moral issue, but also a theological and spiritual one. The authors show how Jews and Christians have often failed to promote a compassionate and sensitive regard for animals. The text argues that the way we treat animals is a benchmark of the kind of society we are, and that in recognizing the true, and biblically based, value of animals, we liberate ourselves from the idolatry which is to be found at the heart of much contemporary spirituality. It is addressed to all people of faith who believe that, in devaluing animals, we ultimately devalue ourselves and our own souls.

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

Reviews

[Jill Wipa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bra jämförelser mellan judendomens och kristendomens syn på vår mat, djur och deras rättigheter. Ett ok bidrag till eko-teologin, kan rekommendera den som första bok inför djupare läsning.

Ex från boken:

Instrumentalismen (som även kan kallas cartesianism) baseras på Descartes filosofi. Han ansåg att djur saknar själ och de kan ses som maskiner, senare experiment på djur visade enligt Descartes:

”djurens skrik var i själva verket ljudet av maskinen som gick sönder.” (Lindsey and Cohn-Sherbok 1997, 8-9)

Cartesianismen var kulmen på instrumentalismen, men idéerna är fortfarande del av det västerländska möblemanget, och våra religiösa traditioner vilar på det instrumentalistiska synsättet.

[Joshua Duffy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would liked to have given this one a 3.5/5, or even a 4/5 but Linzey's lack of tackling troubling scriptures in opposition to his argument prohibited me from doing so. That said, I really did enjoy this book and thought it was the best one of his I have read so far. The Jewish portion was excellent; the Christian portion o.k., but good overall. This is definitely a strong book to have knowledge of when defending a position of positive animal theology.