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Christianity & Animals
The
Reverend Professor Andrew Linzey
The
Reverend Professor Andrew Linzey, PhD, DD, is an Anglican
priest, a theologian, a writer, and is internationally
known as an authority on Christianity and animals.
He
is a member of the Faculty of Theology in the University
of Oxford, and holds the world’s first academic
post in Ethics, Theology and Animal Welfare — the Bede
Jarret Senior Research Fellowship at Blackfriars Hall, University
of Oxford. From 1987 to 1992, he was Director of Studies
of the Centre for the Study of Theology in the University
of Essex, England, and from 1992 to 1996, he was Special
Professor in Theology at the University of Nottingham, England.
In 1998, he was Visiting Professor at the Koret School of
Veterinary Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
He is currently Honorary Professor at the University of Birmingham,
England, and Special Professor at Saint Xavier University,
Chicago.
He
has written more than 180 articles, and authored or edited
twenty books on theology and ethics, including seminal
works on animals: Animal
Rights: A Christian Perspective (London: SCM Press,
1976); Christianity and the Rights of Animals (London:
SPCK and New York: Crossroad, 1987 and 1989); (edited with
Tom Regan), Animals and Christianity: A Book of Readings (London:
SPCK and New York: Crossroad, 1989 and 1990); (edited with P.A.B.
Clarke) Political Theory and Animal Rights (London:
Pluto Press, 1990); Animal Theology (London: SCM
Press and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1994 and
1996); (co-authored with Dan Cohn-Sherbok) After Noah:
Animals and the Liberation of Theology (London: Mowbray,
now Continuum, 1997); (co-edited with Dorothy Yamamoto) Animals
on the Agenda: Questions about Animals for Theology and
Ethics (London: SCM Press and Chicago: University of
Illinois Press, 1998 and 1999); Animal Gospel: Christian
Faith as If Animals Mattered (London: Hodder and Stougton,
and Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press,
1999 and 2000), and Animal Rites: Liturgies of Animal
Care (London: SCM Press and Cleveland: Ohio: The Pilgrim
Press, 1999 and 2001). He is also co-editor of the Dictionary
of Ethics, Theology and Society published by Routledge
in 1995, and editor of The Animal World Encyclopaedia published
by Kingsley Media in 2005.
He
has lectured and broadcast extensively in Europe and the
United States. His Animal
Theology has been translated into Italian,
Spanish and Japanese. In 1990, he was awarded the Peaceable
Kingdom Medal for outstanding work in the field of theology
and animals. In June 2001, he was awarded a DD (Doctor
of Divinity) degree by the Archbishop of Canterbury in
recognition of 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”. This
is the highest award that the Archbishop can bestow on
a theologian and the first time it has been awarded for
work in animal rights.
This
website comprises a selection of Professor Linzey’s
articles, addresses and sermons on the theological and
ethical aspects of animal rights. They aim to provide
an introduction to the various biblical, historical and
theological aspects of Christian thought about animals.
Professor Linzey welcomes comments, queries and responses.
He
can be contacted directly by email.
Overview: The Gospel for Every Creature
Why God’s love for creation is inclusive of animals and how the best in the Christian tradition has always recognised this.
Animals and the Bible
How to read the Bible in an animal-friendly way, including exegesis of biblical texts centred on the themes of creation, communion, responsibility, compassion and redemption.
Animals and the Apocryphal Bible
An analysis of ten little-known apocryphal texts which reveal positive approaches to animals by early Christians.
The Theos-Rights of Animals
The Christian case for animal rights based on God’s own right as Creator to have creation treated with respect.
The Special Claim of the Vulnerable
Frances Power Cobbe and the Christian motivation for her pioneering work against animal cruelty.
Christ-like Suffering
A tribute to the compassionate and heroic, Christ-like ministry of Vicki Moore.
A Christian Assessment of Animal Experimentation
Why utilitarian justifications for animal tests are morally and theologically inadequate.
Created Not Invented
A theological critique of attempts to patent animals, and why God’s creatures can never be just commodities.
Science Without Morality
A critique of the failure of the churches to oppose animal tests that also lead to human experimentation.
The Ethical Case Against Fur Farming
A pioneering statement signed by more than sixty ethicists, philosophers and theologians world-wide against fur-farming.
No More Animal Sacrifices
Why calls for a return to animal sacrifice are christologically unenlightened and should be resisted.
The Abuse That is Zoophilia
Why attempts to justify sexual relations with animals are misconceived.
The Ethics of Hunting
While we are provided with detailed explanations of hunting...not one insight is offered into the social and political history of animal protection and its contemporary significance.
An Open Letter to Bishops on Hunting
I have read carefully the contributions made by the bishops in the Lords, and I believe that there are important theological and ethical considerations that have yet to be articulated.
Toward Living in Peace
Why vegetarianism is the best moral option for Christians.
Animals and the Churches
The first comprehensive guide to the resolutions and statements by churches world-wide on animal protection.
And All Made For Us?
A critique of the recent Evangelical Statement on the Care of Creation.
Toward a Prophetic Church for Animals
A four-part strategy to help Christians confront church indifference to animal protection.
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