What is the Biblical basis for mankind being morally required to treat animals well?
score:7
It's true that the Bible says that man has "dominion" over the animals:
And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28, ESV)
But there are many, many passages in the Bible regarding the treatment of animals. Here are some examples from the Old Testament:
- Exodus 20:10: Animals are not to work on the Sabbath, just like people
- Exodus 23:5: Relieve overburdened animals, even if you hate their owner
- Exodus 23:11: Allow animals to graze fallow fields
- Deuteronomy 11:15: Some interpret this verse to mean that humans should feed their pets and livestock before they eat themselves, though that's a rather tenuous interpretation.
- Deuteronomy 25:4: Allow animals to eat while working
- Proverbs 12:10: The righteous have regard for their animals' lives
Some also see significance in the fact that heroes like Jacob (Gen. 29), Moses (Ex. 3), and David (1 Sam. 17) were shepherds, while a hunter like Esau (Gen. 25) is not exactly a model citizen. Similarly, Rebecca is rewarded for treating animals well (Gen. 24:19). Abraham is rewarded after he separates his herd from his nephew's to relieve overgrazing (Gen. 13). We need to be cautious not to take such examples too far, however, because they could be mere coincidence, or reflections of the importance of animals to agrarian economies, rather than indications of God's moral standards.
In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of God's regard for animals, as in Matthew 6:26 (cf. Luke 12:6–7):
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? [ESV]
Jesus also speaks favorably of rescuing livestock that falls into a pit on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:11).
That said, as the quote above from Jesus makes clear, animals are considered inferior to people in the Bible. There are many places where God sanctions the eating of meat, for example, and animals are extensively used for ritual sacrifices and labor. But the Bible does not condone reckless abuse of animals, specifically forbidding a number of types of animal mistreatment.
Upvote:0
The bible says that God wants us to be like him
Leviticus 11:44a NIV I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.
The bible also shows that God cares about animals. God was concerned for not only the people of Nineveh, but also its animals.
Jonah 4:11 NIV And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?
Therefore, there should be a caring of animals within the children of God.
Upvote:3
The other answer seems to largely explain it, and I was going to comment to add this but could not for want of rep.
Genesis 9:3-4 states that:
Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. (NRSVA)
This seems to often be cited as a prohibition against animal cruelty (for instance, in this Boston College discussion of the Talmud -- see the top portion involving the Noahide Laws), if not at least an act that might appear needlessly cruel.
More post
- 📝 Who was Theophilus?
- 📝 Can a priest act on a confession of molestation?
- 📝 The Protestant perspective concerning the Four Hors*m*n
- 📝 Was Jesus a man of few words, according to Catholic Church?
- 📝 What is the evidence that the bones found under St. Peter's Basilica are actually St. Peter's bones?
- 📝 Why does John 1 say "the Word was with God" and not "scripture was with God"?
- 📝 What are the main reasons of EOC for why the Protoevangelium of James was not to be included in the canon?
- 📝 How did Luther explain 1 Cor. 7:14?
- 📝 Are there Christians who believe Jesus was an ideology and not a person?
- 📝 Was removing one's shoes a special sign of respect?
- 📝 Would the Anglican Church consider themselves Protestant?
- 📝 How does washing your face and anointing your head hide that you are fasting?
- 📝 For Trinitarians, why is it important to posit Jesus's human nature continued existence post ascension?
- 📝 What arguments were made against William Carey's missions efforts?
- 📝 Why the wrongness of "Our Father" translation wasn't spotted earlier?
- 📝 Matthew/Luke Generations missing between Rahab and David
- 📝 Any traditional Vigil celebration on Holy Thursday?
- 📝 What are the main biblical interpretations used to defend the point of view that Nicodemus had inferior faith?
- 📝 Is the presence of evil necessary for good to be expressed?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, does the depositum fidei include the proper interpretation of scriptures about Jesus?
- 📝 How do one know that the Bible is absolutely true and is not a "make believe" fiction?
- 📝 Why were early Mormon leaders so critical of traditional Christianity?
- 📝 What did Paul mean when he called Jesus the "firstborn from the dead"?
- 📝 Is there a name for believing but not obeying?
- 📝 Do any church fathers interpret Luke 18:17 as teaching the necessity of infant baptism?
- 📝 Is modern technology part of the Divine Intention?
- 📝 Is "the law of faith" in Romans 3:27 the same as "the law of the Spirit" in Romans 8:2? If not, are they still linked?
- 📝 How do Trinitarians explain that the Logos is a person?
- 📝 Can a human coherently claim to be "God the father"?
- 📝 What is/are the Hebrew/Aramaic word(s) for "devil" in The Passion of the Christ movie?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for mankind being morally required to treat animals well?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for Jesus being God incarnate?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the Holy Spirit being God?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for it being acceptable to bring doubts to God?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for idolatry being "things" we put higher than God?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the concept of being "slain in the spirit" and what exactly is it?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for Jesus Christ being a created being according to Jehovah’s Witnesses?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for Mary being given immense authority in heaven?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for Peter being the leader of the apostles?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for God being omnipresent?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for death being the last point for repentance?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for Jeremiah and John the Baptist being born without original sin?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the "one" in "the Trinitarian God is one being in three persons"?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the logos in John 1:1-3 not being Jesus (yet)?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the claim that abortion is morally acceptable (when there are no complicating factors)?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for it being wrong for couples to live together “chastely” before marriage?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for Christians being instructed to tithe (10%) of their income to the modern day 'church'?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the logos being only the means for creation?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for man being created perfect, or for man not being created perfect?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for women being created in the image of God?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for Mary being the Tree of Life?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the belief that Trinitarian belief is “not” required for salvation?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for those in heaven being able to pray for the living?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the husband being the main/(sole) provider?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for believing that the Feast Days / Appointed Festivals / Holy Convocations are still morally binding for Christians today?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for in the catholic theology of a priest being in "persona christi"?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for believing that the Feast Days / Appointed Festivals / Holy Convocations are NOT morally binding for Christians today?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for Jesus being able to redeem the Jewish people in his second coming?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for only Men being created in the image of God?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the doctrine of the Trinity?