Animal Rights And Animal Laws In The Bible

What characterizes the proper ethical treatment of animals as outlined in the Old Testament? Animals play an important role in the Old Testament, and in particular the Pentateuch. Ritual sacrifices were a part of the ancient traditions, and there are rules written into the laws that pertain to this practice as well as the religious approach to animals and nature. In the oft quoted passage from Genesis the call is to not only be fruitful and multiply, but to reign over the earth and subdue it along with the animals that God created. The author explores the fallout of an anthropocentric way of approaching nature that he claims is a misreading of Genesis. Taken out of context this can seem as though ethics is arbitrary in the pursuit of such dominion, but in reality the Pentateuch shows a rather rigid set of laws revealing the careful treatment of animals as sacred beings necessary for the flourishing of human life on earth.

"In this book, the author considers whether there are biblical texts that ascribe an implicit form of legal personhood as well as genuine legal rights to animals and, if so, which rights, to which animals in particular-domesticated, wild, both- and for what purpose? He also explores how the evidence of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) might contribute to contemporary debate about animal rights in the academy, in the courts, in the public square and in religious communities. Given the increasing interest in the status of animals in the Americas, Europe and across the world, the strides forward made in recent years by animal rights advocates in any number of countries and sub-national constituencies, and the fact that experts in the biblical field have mainly ignored the question of animal rights, while non-specialists in law or philosophy who argue on behalf of animals have tended to read the Hebrew Bible superficially and in an overly generalizing manner, an exploration of what the Hebrew Bible has to contribute to the question of animal rights is both timely and necessary"--

"In this book, the author considers whether there are biblical texts that ascribe an implicit form of legal personhood as well as genuine legal rights to animals and, if so, which rights, to which animals in particular-domesticated, wild, both- and for what purpose? He also explores how the evidence of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) might contribute to contemporary debate about animal rights in the academy, in the courts, in the public square and in religious communities. Given the increasing interest in the status of animals in the Americas, Europe and across the world, the strides forward made in recent years by animal rights advocates in any number of countries and sub-national constituencies, and the fact that experts in the biblical field have mainly ignored the question of animal rights, while non-specialists in law or philosophy who argue on behalf of animals have tended to read the Hebrew Bible superficially and in an overly generalizing manner, an exploration of what the Hebrew Bible has to contribute to the question of animal rights is both timely and necessary"--

Our treatment of animals is a gospel issue, Andrew Linzey contends, because those individuals and institutions that could have become the voice of God's most vulnerable creatures have instead justified cruelty and oppression. He offers an inspiring personal account of the gospel truths that have sustained his commitment to the cause of animals for more than twenty-five years.

An anthology of 41 articles from classical and contemporary sources, by rabbis, doctors, veterinarians, conservationists, philosophers, historians and activists on vegetarianism, ritual slaughter, animal research and its implications for modern health.

Animal law has become a topic of growing importance internationally, with animal welfare and animal rights often assuming center stage in contemporary debates about the legal status of animals. While nonspecialists routinely decontextualize ancient texts to support or deny rights to animals, experts in fields such as classics, biblical studies, Assyriology, Egyptology, rabbinics, and late antique Christianity have only just begun to engage the topic of animals and the law in their respective areas. This volume consists of original studies by scholars from a range of Mediterranean and West Asian fields on a variety of topics at the intersection of animals and the law in antiquity. Contributors include Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer, Beth Berkowitz, Andrew McGowan, F. S. Naiden, Saul M. Olyan, Seth Richardson, Jordan D. Rosenblum, Andreas Schüle, Miira Tuominen, and Daniel Ullucci. The volume is essential reading for scholars and students of both the ancient world and contemporary law.

Many commentators and users of the Bible have, over the centuries and up to the present day, used the Bible to argue that animals have no rights, that they were put on this earth for our use, and that we have no obligations to them. In his cogent, honest, and fully researched and referenced work, The Dominion of Love, Norm Phelps attempts to encourage all who revere the Bible as holy scripture to open their hearts to the suffering that we inflict upon our nonhuman neighbors. He shows that the right of animals not to be imprisoned, harmed, and killed for our benefit flows naturally from the Bible's message of love and compassion and argues that this is the message of the Bible's most important passages dealing with our relationship to animals. He further responds to the defenses of animal exploitation that are often made based on the Bible. Beautifully written, The Dominion of Love is an essential addition to a growing body of literature that argues for a compassionate and non-exploitative reading of Holy Scripture.

When we consider modern American animal advocacy, we often think of veganism, no-kill shelters, Internet campaigns against trophy hunting, or celebrities declaring that they would "rather go naked" than wear fur. Contemporary critics readily dismiss animal protectionism as a modern secular movement that privileges animals over people. Yet the movement's roots are deeply tied to the nation's history of religious revivalism and social reform. In The Gospel of Kindness, Janet M. Davis explores the broad cultural and social influence of the American animal welfare movement at home and overseas from the Second Great Awakening to the Second World War. Dedicated primarily to laboring animals at its inception in an animal-powered world, the movement eventually included virtually all areas of human and animal interaction. Embracing animals as brethren through biblical concepts of stewardship, a diverse coalition of temperance groups, teachers, Protestant missionaries, religious leaders, civil rights activists, policy makers, and anti-imperialists forged an expansive transnational "gospel of kindness," which defined animal mercy as a signature American value. Their interpretation of this "gospel" extended beyond the New Testament to preach kindness as a secular and spiritual truth. As a cultural product of antebellum revivalism, reform, and the rights revolution of the Civil War era, animal kindness became a barometer of free moral agency, higher civilization, and assimilation. Yet given the cultural, economic, racial, and ethnic diversity of the United States, its empire, and other countries of contact, standards of kindness and cruelty were culturally contingent and potentially controversial. Diverse constituents defended specific animal practices, such as cockfighting, bullfighting, songbird consumption, and kosher slaughter, as inviolate cultural traditions that reinforced their right to self-determination. Ultimately, American animal advocacy became a powerful humanitarian ideal, a touchstone of inclusion and national belonging at home and abroad that endures to this day.