All God's Animals: A Catholic Theological Framework for Animal Ethics

by Christopher Steck

Overview

The book is the first of its kind to draw together in conversation the views of the early Church, contemporary biblical and theological scholarship, and post-conciliar teachings. Steck develops a comprehensive, Catholic theology of animals based on an in-depth exploration of Catholicism's fundamental doctrines—trinitarian theology, Christology, pneumatology, eschatology, and soteriology. All God's Animals makes two central claims. First, we can hope that God will include animals of the present age in the kingdom inaugurated by Christ. Second, because of this inclusion, our responses to animals should be guided by the values of the kingdom.  As Christians await the final liberation of all creation, they are to be witnesses to God’s kingdom by embodying its ideals in their relations with animal life.  Because the kingdom's fullness is yet to come and because our world remains marked by the wounds of sin, however, Christian treatment of animals will at times require acts that are at odds with the kingdom’s ideals (for example, those causing suffering and death). Steck examines each of these ideas and explores all of their complexities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626167155
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Series:	Moral Traditions Series
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Rev. Christopher Steck, SJ, who earned his Ph.D. at Yale, has been a member of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University since 1999.  In addition to his book The Ethical Thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar, he has published many articles dealing with theoretical issues in Catholic moral theology.

Table of Contents

IntroductionAnimals as Fellow Creatures of the Covenant

Chapter 1Tradition: Learning to See Animals

Chapter 2Creation: The Imago Dei and a Covenantal Anthropocentrism

Chapter 3Redemption: The Divine Magis and Animals

Chapter 4Santification: The Spirit's Cosmic Embrace

Chapter 5Ethics: Ministers of the Eschatological Covenant

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

What People are Saying About This

Celia Deane-Drummond

Christopher Steck does more than just invigorate the concept of covenant as a grounding for a convincing Roman Catholic approach to a theology of animals. By drawing extensively on the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar and showing brilliantly that the flaw in Thomas Aquinas’ understanding of exclusivity of redemption to humans was related to his faulty science, he draws together a provocative account of a theology of redemption for animals. Steck's fluent text has given scholars and students alike an important contribution to the growing literature on animal theology and ethics.

David Clough

Steck has written the first substantive theology of animals in a Roman Catholic context, which is an invaluable new contribution to the field. His careful and well-informed argument makes a strong case for Christians to reconsider their practice, especially with regard to current patterns of using animals for food.

Editorial Reviews

The book will be an important touchpoint for scholars following the interchange between animal studies and Christian theology, especially as that conversation pertains to ecological theology.

Theological Studies

The book will be an important touchpoint for scholars following the interchange between animal studies and Christian theology, especially as that conversation pertains to ecological theology.

From the Publisher

Steck has written the first substantive theology of animals in a Roman Catholic context, which is an invaluable new contribution to the field. His careful and well-informed argument makes a strong case for Christians to reconsider their practice, especially with regard to current patterns of using animals for food.

David Clough

Christopher Steck does more than just invigorate the concept of covenant as a grounding foraconvincing Roman Catholic approach to a theology of animals. By drawing extensively on the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar and showing brilliantly that the flaw inThomasAquinas’ understanding of exclusivity of redemptionto humanswas related to his faulty science, he drawstogethera provocative account of a theology of redemption for animals. Steck's fluent text has given scholars and students alike an important contribution to the growing literature on animal theology and ethics.

Celia Deane-Drummond

All God's Animals is a book worth reading. It presents a lot of valuable information on the Catholic perception of animals.

Journal of Animal Ethics