Many people who have thought about God have not thought about animals, or about the relationship between the two. But among those who have are some of the most celebrated religious thinkers, including Michel de Montaigne, Thomas Tryon, John Wesley, John Ruskin, Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, and Paul Tillich. This volume comprises 24 scholarly studies that detail challenges to the dominant anthropocentrism of most religious traditions. The editors have brought together Jewish, Unitarian, Christian, transcendentalist, Muslim, Hindu, Dissenting, deist, and Quaker voices, each offering a unique theological perspective that counters the neglect of the nonhuman.
Animal Theologians is divided into three parts starting with the pioneers who first saw a relationship between animals and divinity, those who contributed to the expansion of social sensibility to animals, and ending with the work of contemporary theologians. The essays in this volume use contextual and historical background to describe what led animal theologians to their beliefs, and then pave way for further developments in this expanding field. This volume is an act of reclaiming different religious traditions for animals by recovering lost voices.
"About the Editors and the Contributors Introduction: ""Before Animal Theology"" Andrew Linzey and Clair Linzey Part 1: Prophets and Pioneers Chapter 1.1: Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655): Vegetarianism and the Beatific Vision Justin Begley Chapter 1.2: Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592): Elephant Theologians Kathleen Long Chapter 1.3: Thomas Tryon (1634 - 1703): A Theology of Animal Enslavement Adam Bridgen Chapter 1.4: John Wesley (1703 - 1791): The Tension between Theological Hope and Biological Reality Ryan Patrick McLaughlin Chapter 1.5: Humphry Primatt (1735-1777): Animal Protection and its Revolutionary Contexts Adam Bridgen Chapter 1.6: William Bartram (1739 - 1823): A Quaker-Inspired Animal Advocacy Michael J. Gilmour Chapter 1.7: Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862): Capturing the ""Anima"" in Animals Wesley T. Mott Part 2: Social Sensibility Chapter 2.1: John Ruskin (1819 - 1900): ""Beholding Birds"": A Visual Case against Vivisection Linda Johnson Chapter 2.2: Frances Power Cobbe (1822 - 1904): Theology, Science, and the Anti-Vivisection Movement Chien-hui Li Chapter 2.3: Frank Buckland (1826 - 1880) and Henry Parry Liddon (1829 - 1890): Vivisection in Oxford Serenhedd James Chapter 2.4: Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910): Literature and the Lives of Animals Alice Crary Chapter 2.5: Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1844 - 1911): Writer and Reformer Robyn Hederman Chapter 2.6: Muhammad 'Abduh (1849 - 1905): The Transvaal Fatwa, and the Fate of Animals Nuri Friedlander Chapter 2.7: Josiah Oldfield (1863 - 1953): ""You can't trust a fellow who lives on nuts"": Vegetarianism and the Order of the Golden Age in nineteenth-century Britain A. W. H. Bates Chapter 2.8: Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935): Biblical Ethics as the Basis of Rav Kook's A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace Idan Breier Chapter 2.9: Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869 - 1948): In the Service of All that Lives: The Vision of Engaged Nonviolent Animal Care Kenneth R. Valpey (Krishna Kshetra Swami) Part 3: Deeper Probing Chapter 3.1: Albert Schweitzer (1875 - 1965): The Life of Reverence Carl Tobias Frayne Chapter 3.2: Martin Buber (1878 - 1965): Encountering Animals: A Prelude to the Animal Question Ryan Brand Chapter 3.3: Paul Tillich (1886 - 1965): The Method of Correlation and the Possibility of an Animal Ethic Abbey Smith Chapter 3.4: Charles Hartshorne (1897 - 2000): Animals in Process Thought Daniel A. Dombrowski Chapter 3.5: C. S. Lewis (1898 - 1963): Rethinking Dominion: C. S. Lewis and the Sleek, Purring Panther Michael J. Gilmour Chapter 3.6: Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904 - 1991): 'Myriads of cows and fowls ... ready to take revenge' Beruriah Wiegand Chapter 3.7: Jürgen Moltmann (1926 -): Creation and Sabbath Theology Ryan Patrick McLaughlin Chapter 3.8: Andrew Linzey (1952 -): Animal Theology Ryan Patrick McLaughlin Index"
Andrew Linzey is director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and has been a member of the Faculty of Theology in the University of Oxford for twenty-eight years. He is a visiting professor of animal theology at the University of Winchester. He is the author or editor of more than thirty books, including Animal Theology (1994), Why Animal Suffering Matters (OUP, 2009), and The Palgrave Handbook of Practical Animal Ethics (2018). Clair Linzey is the deputy director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and professor of animal theology at the Graduate Theological Foundation. She is co-editor of the Journal of Animal Ethics and co-editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series. She is the author of Developing Animal Theology (2021) and has co-edited eight other books with Andrew Linzey.
Reviews for Animal Theologians
This insightful anthology is a treasure trove of often hidden gems. This parade of writings, from the early pioneers to the most current thought leaders, offers a library of resources for all who wish to deepen their understanding of animal theology. Andrew Linzey and Clair Linzey have given us a wonderful gift. * Paul J. Kirbas, President and Paul Tillich Professor of Theology and Culture, Graduate Theological Foundation * A broad-ranging engagement with seminal figures in the history of animal theology, this book is required reading for anyone seriously engaged in constructive theological reflection in the areas of animal theology and ethics. * James Helmer, Associate Professor of Theological Ethics, Xavier University *
