Creatures of the Same God: Explorations in Animal Theology [Kindle Edition]

Andrew Linzey (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"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.

About the Author

The Rev. Dr. Andrew Linzey has written extensively on the issue of animals and Christianity in nearly 200 articles and in such classic works as Christianity and the Rights of Animals and Animal Theology. He has lectured at many universities in the both the U.K. and U.S., and is the founder of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. In 2001, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity by the Archbishop of Canterbury for his "unique and massive pioneering work in the area of the theology of creation with particular reference to the rights and welfare of God s sentient creatures."

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 336 KB
• Print Length: 161 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1590561422
• Publisher: Lantern Books (June 15, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003JTHJYO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #356,091 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #82 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Nature & Ecology > Animal Rights

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Customer Reviews

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars succinct essays on a Biblical view of animals, January 23, 2011

By 

Janet Presswood - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Creatures of the Same God: Explorations in Animal Theology (Paperback)

This book refines 30-some years of Oxford Professor Andrew Linzey's writings on the proper Christian perspective towards animals. The enormous benefit of this small volume of nine essays over other outstanding works -- such as Matthew Scully's "Dominion" or Robert Wennberg's "God, Humans, and Animals" -- is its ability to present all the essential arguments with brevity. As an evangelical Christian, I felt very comfortable with Prof. Linzey's Biblically-referenced theology. Yet his writing is so fluid and his rationale so logical that all readers will value this work. A couple of his main points: "made in God's image" means humans have the capacity for self-sacrifice and to exercise "dominion" over the weak, defenseless, and vulnerable, just as Christ has demonstrated dominion over His creation. Animals were not created for mankind, but all of creation was created for God's glory; God, not human beings, is the measure of all things. Prof. Linzey, once having established a solid theological basis for human kindness towards animals, goes on to describe the logical ramifications -- a need to change our personal practices and public policies, and for Christ's Church to break its silence on the subject. Linzey's "Why Animal Suffering Matters" is set up better for use in a Bible Study. His compilation with Tom Regan, "Animals and Christianity: A Book of Readings" makes a nice companion volume.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Title Says It All, January 19, 2011

By 

Matthew DeLuca (Tulsa, OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creatures of the Same God: Explorations in Animal Theology (Paperback)

The Title Says It all: Creatures of the same God. The word "creature", meaning in essence, "someone who was created" applies to all of us. We are ALL creatures of the same God, becaue we were all created by the same God.

God is about love. God IS love. And where there is love, things such as murder, cruelty....egotism, and indifference, are not present.

So when those who operate kill 'shelters' murder animals, they are not living God's will.

When those in slaughterhouses, slit the throat of a cow, they are not living God's will.

When those who abuse, abandon or neglect animals, commit their atrocities, they also are not living God's will.

The sole way to live God's will, is to see God in EVERY individual living soul, 2 legged or 4 legged, and to treat them like the fellow Child of God that they are....equally as much as we human animals are.

To do otherwise is to betray God, and all of his beautiful four legged Children, who God loves equally as much as he loves us, His two legged Children.

My thanks to Andrew Linzey, a true Man of God, and a true friend to his Brothers and Sisters in fur.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars eye opener, November 8, 2011

By 

spider 5 - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Creatures of the Same God: Explorations in Animal Theology (Paperback)

I was surprised at how informative this book has been.I have been vegetarian for year (because of the terrible treatment of these sentient beings on huge farms). I have read much on animal rights but the actual spirituality of our fellow inhabitants was a new concept and one which opened new highways. I plan to read more on this subject. I also bought an earlier book by the same author and this too was helpful.