ANIMALS &
SCRIPTURE
What does the Bible teach us about
God's love for Animals?
COMMISSIONED TO BUILD THE ARK
GATHERING THEM TWO BY TWO
A NEW BEGINNING
The creation story of Genesis suggests that God's love
and care extend to all Creatures. Would not God's very act of
creating the earth, as well as the plants and animals, imply an
unwritten covenant that the Creator will not suddenly stop
loving or caring for them?
The story of Noah's ark leaves little doubt in my mind that God
wants all creatures to be saved, not just the humans. For me,
the ark is a wonderful symbol of God's desire to save the whole
family of creation. The story suggests to me that it is not
God's plan to save humankind apart from the other creatures.
We are all in the same boat, so to speak. As St. Paul writes to
the Romans (8:22), "All creation is groaning" for its liberation.
After the waters of the flood go away, God makes a covenant
with all living creatures. The covenant is not simply between God
and the humans, but also, as the Bible says, with "all the birds,
and the various tame and wild animals....Never again shall all
bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood"
(Genesis 9:10-11,)
God's putting a rainbow in the sky emphasizes the point one
more time. God tells Noah: "This is the sign of the covenant
I have established between me and all mortal creatures that
are on earth" (9:17). Isn't it interesting that God takes much
more care than we humans to include the animals and other
creatures in the plan of salvation?
The story of Jonah teaches us the "all-inclusive nature" of
God's saving love. The amazing mind-set of the Jonah story is
that animals participate in God's saving intentions. The Book of
Jonah almost reads like a children's story: There's a furious
storm at sea. The sailors throw Jonah into the raging water. A
big fish swallows the prophet and spits him out on the shore.
Jonah has been trying to run far away from the task God has
assigned him, namely, to preach to the city of Nineveh.
Like his fellow Jews, Jonah despises the people of Nineveh.
Jonah does not like the fact that God's saving love includes
the likes of them.
The story is really a parable of God's all-embracing love.
Significantly, even the animals are included in God's saving
plan. When Jonah proclaims that Nineveh will be destroyed
because of its sins, the king of Nineveh is very responsive:
He announces a fast, which includes not only humans
but animals as well: "Neither man nor beast, neither cattle
nor sheep, shall taste anything," orders the king. "They shall
not eat, nor shall they drink water. Man and beast shall
be covered with sackcloth" (3:7-8).
Much to Jonah's disappointment, God's mercy is very
inclusive and reaches far beyond the Chosen People. God
spares the city from calamity because of its repentance. And
the last line of the Book of Jonah clearly reveals that God's
saving love extends to all living creatures, not just to humans:
"Should I not be concerned," God asks Jonah, "over Nineveh, the
great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty
thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right hand
from their left, not to mention the many cattle?" (4:11).
In the Book of Psalms, we find prayers in which other
creatures are called upon to praise God along with the humans,
suggesting that creatures are meant to share our prayerful
journey into the presence of God. These are very inclusive kinds
of prayer. Listen to Psalm 148. It is a Hymn of All Creation to
the Almighty Creator: "Praise the Lord from the heavens....
Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars....
Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all depths;
Fire and hail, snow and mist, storm winds that fulfill his word;
You mountains and all you hills, you fruit trees and all you cedars;
You wild beasts and all tame animals....Let the kings of the earth
and all peoples....Young men too, and maidens, old men and boys,
Praise the name of the Lord..." (v. 1-13).
A similar hymn of praise to God is sung by the three youths
in the fiery furnace in the Book of Daniel (Chapter 3). In the
midst of their distress, they invite the whole family of creation
to praise the one Lord of all. Just to give a little sampling
of this long hymn, the three youths sing: "Sun and moon,
bless the Lord....Every shower and dew, bless the Lord....All
you winds, bless the Lord....All you birds of the air, bless
the Lord....All you beasts, wild and tame,
bless the Lord" (v. 52-81).
Do not biblical prayers of this kind suggest that all of us
creatures are meant to walk side by side in one common journey
to God? Do these prayers not imply that all creatures are
included in God's saving plan?
St. Francis gave us a similar style of prayer. It seems
obvious that, when he wrote his "Canticle of the Creatures"
(sometimes called "Canticle of Brother Sun"), he based its
style of prayer on such passages of Scripture
as I just cited.
But he added a special personal touch: He gave the titles
of "Brother" and "Sister" to the various creatures, as if
to emphasize all the more his heart-warming insight
that we all form one family of creation under one loving
Creator in heaven. "Sister" and "Brother" are familial terms.
Francis had the amazing intuition that we are not meant
to come to God alone, as if in proud isolation from our
brother and sister creatures. Rather, we are to form one
family with them—and to lift up one symphony of
praise to our common Creator.
All praise be yours, my Lord,
through all that you have made.
And first my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day....
How beautiful is he, how radiant in
all his splendor!
Of you, Most High,
he bears the likeness.
All praise be yours, my Lord,
through Sister Moon and Stars;
In the heavens you have made them,
bright and precious and fair.
All praise be yours, my Lord,
through Brothers Wind and Air....
All praise be yours, my Lord,
through Sister Water,
So useful, lowly, precious and fair.
All praise be yours, my Lord,
through Brother Fire,
through whom you brighten up the night....
All praise be yours, my Lord,
through Sister Earth, our mother,
Who feeds us...and produces various fruits
With colored flowers and herbs...
Praise and bless my Lord,
and give him thanks,
And serve him with great humility. -- St. Francis of Assisi
Turning to the Gospels, we see how reverently and closely
Christ worked with creatures
One thing is clear: The Eternal Word did not hold himself
aloof from our created world in his efforts to save it, but
literally entered the family of creation at the Incarnation. God
made this world his home, thus giving all creatures a
whole new dignity.
Jesus interacted very naturally and respectfully with the
created world, whether on the lakeshore or in the desert or
on a mountainside or crossing a wheat field or the Sea of
Galilee. In his preaching of the good news of God's saving
love, Jesus easily used images of the birds of the air and the
lilies of the field, also foxes, pearls, salt, fig trees,
mustard seeds and lost sheep, to name a few.
Jesus used created things in his saving work—wet clay on the
eyes of the blind man to bring healing (John 9:6-7). He used
the products of wheat and grape—bread and wine—to convey
his very presence in the Eucharist.
Finally, after his resurrection, Jesus seemed to leave another
hint, near the end of Mark's Gospel, that the whole family of
creation is included in God's saving love. After his death and
resurrection, he tells his disciples: "Go into the whole world
and proclaim the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). Mark
doesn't say "to every human being," but "to every creature"!
In the final book of the Bible—the Book of Revelation—
the inspired writer presents to us a heavenly vision in which
all creatures are standing before the throne of God.
Obviously, that glorious gathering is not composed exclusively
of saved humanity: "Then I heard every creature in heaven and
on earth and under the earth and in the sea, everything in the
universe, cry out: ‘To the one who sits on the throne and to
the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever'"
(Revelation 5:13). In this picture of heaven all creatures
are present and praising God together.
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