Creatures of the Same God: Explorations in Animal Theology

by Andrew Linzey

I don't know why you're spending all your time on this. They’re only animals―for heaven's sake!” That was the reaction of one of Andrew Linzey's fellow students at King’s College, London, when he was studying theology in the 1970s. Since then, the now Rev. Dr. Andrew Linzey has been arguing that animals aren't only anything, but rather that they matter to God, and should do so to us. In this collection of essays, Linzey counters with his customary wit, erudition, and insight, some contemporary (and perhaps surprising) challenges to animal rights―from ecotheologians, the Church, and politicians. He contends that far from the sometimes shallow judgments of those who think animals unworthy of theological consideration, the Christian tradition has a wellspring of sources and resources available to taking animals seriously. Instead of being marginal to the Christian experience, Linzey concludes, animals can take their rightful place alongside human beings as creatures of the same God.

Genres: Animals, Theology, Nature, Christian, Religion

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jenny Esots · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read several times when trying to articulate animal rights from a theological perspective.
The author has written many landmark works, including this one on the topic of advocating for the voiceless. He writes how when he started on writing on this topic in theology a few decades ago everybody thought he was crazy.
This book is more than theological arguments on animals as fellow sentient beings, it also touches on the ethical and political arguments.
Another author in the same vein is David Clough - also well worth seeking out.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not knowledgeable about theology, so I found the early chapters of this book difficult to understand. The later chapters, though, were very helpful to me in understanding how Christianity has viewed animals and, according to Linzey, how it should view them. There is also a list of resources at the end of the chapters which appears to include the more influential writings on the subject.

[Jermaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book as it provides different views on why we Christians need to care about animals. It is important for Christians and also churches to raise their concerns on animals. We humans are not the only creation loved by God, God loves all His creations. Read this book and widen our theological views.

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The work of Andrew Linzey should be required reading for anyone who fancies himself a Christian and wonders what is the proper relationship between humans and the "lesser" sentient creatures with whom we share the planet. For anyone who has already read seminal works of Andrew Linzey's like Animal Theology and Animal Gospel this book is highly recommended. For everyone else, start with one of those or the more philosophical work Why Animal Suffering Matters. This is a collection of essays on various topics and as such is not as cohesive of a read as those other books. That said, these essays are still well worth reading, even if this reader did find one essay a little too technical in a theological sense to really get anything out of.

[Earl L Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking

This book was very unsettling for me. It challenged my theological/cultural understanding of the place of animals in the order of things. Although I am not as informed as I should be about man`s treatment of animals, I know enough to be ashamed of my treatment of feeling beings. I agree with so much of what this author says that I must take a long look at what I have learned and how I respond to it.