Does God Love Animals?

[vetuste_ennemi]

My wife has just been watching a film version of Black Beauty, which fact inspires this question. Can those of you who believe that the Bible is a sound basis for moral values explain to me why He is so fond of their being killed and burnt in order to please Him? And why He drowned most of them in the flood? Can you cite any passages which show that God loves His animal creation?

[VHG]

Rather sexist to assume a god is a he!

Not that there is one.

[Iluvspikey]

It's not God killing them and burning them, it's man, and superstition that sacrifices 'work' think about it. EG. Say a tsunami happens - people thought the world was drowning they sacrifice a goat - the tsunami is over anyway. Sickness in a tribal village will kill the old and young and the weak, survival of the fittest - kill a couple of chickens to ward off the 'evil spirits' the sickness is gone having already done it's worst - but they thought it was the sacrifice. It's just another way of looking at it.

[rojash]

"Take your son, your only son – yes, Isaac, whom you love so much – and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you." (Genesis 22:1-18)

Abraham takes his own son up on a mountain and builds an altar upon which to burn him. He even lies to his son and has him help build the altar. Then Abraham ties his son to the altar and puts a knife to his throat. He then hears God tell him this was just a test of his faith. However, God still wanted to smell some burnt flesh so he tells Abraham to burn a ram.

[wildwood]

^^ As it is written, not only does he not love animals, it seems he is also a cruel masochist.

[modeller]

According to the bible and most religions God does not love animals but neither does he love humans, the way he is prepared to slaughter anyone who he does not favour.
Having said that, God does not exist but if he did I believe he would value every organism which he has supposedly created. Which logically would include all the bacteria and viruses and they would also end up in heaven.

[seadogg]

I guess if this God loved animals he would be busy smiting the beggars who are so cruel to them. Not much sign of that !

[Prudie]

I feel 95% of the world don't love animals. I expect you mean the Black Beauty that was narrated by Sean Bean, I've never understood why this book became such a classic, horrible story.

[goodlife]

The evidence that Jehovah is the true and living God of the universe, the plea of ignorance cannot be admitted in its full latitude except for idiots. The atheists cannot plead ignorance. The agnostics cannot plead ignorance. The evildoers cannot plead ignorance. The idolaters cannot plead ignorance. For if they are willing to exercise their faculties and employ their minds in diligent search, men have within their reach the means of coming to know God.( Eph. 4:18)

[naomi24]

Goodlife, for heaven's sake put a sock in it and answer the question - if you can. Your preaching is impressing no one except possibly your cohorts.

[wildwood]

I know that we are not supposed to trivialise other's answers goodlife, but what on earth has your passage got to do with anything, let alone the question?

[atalanta]

I know Noah's Ark has taken a bashing lately, but when Noah chose two (or seven) of each type of animal, god must have realised that zillions more were going to be drowned.

[atalanta]

You prove to me that humans have souls, and I'll prove to you that animals don't.

[chakka35]

Actually, VHG, the Judeo/Christian 'God' is definitely a he. He was invented by the Jews (originally as a minor god of southern Israel know as JWYH) and the Jews were strictly male-chauvinistic. Women were officially second-class citizens and could never have been considered as gods. Also JWYH had a wife whose name escapes me for the moment.

So having been created as a male he could no more be considered female than could Sherlock Holmes or James Bond.

[vetuste_ennemi]

Thanks for all your comments. I was hoping that some Christians would have a go at defending their God's record, or at least come up with something in the ".. not a sparrow falls from heaven" or "thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads.." vein. Not to be. Goodlife's answer was superb, but (as ever) we're all left wondering what the question was. An opportunity missed by our Islamic friends. I can remember a bit of sacrifice in the third of the Koran I read, but nothing to match biblical scales of slaughter. Apparently the Hadiths have a number of anecdotes which shows a far tenderer disposition of the prophet towards animals than he showed to people sceptical of his divine revelation claims.

[Caligirl7]

All animals everywhere belong to God. "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills" (Ps. 50:10). "All things were created by him [Christ], and for him" (Col. 1:16). We cannot own what belongs to God; we're only caretakers. In Genesis 1 Christ gave us dominion over animals, not ownership.

In Genesis, we see that Adam and Eve were the caretakers of Eden, stewards of God's creations (Gen. 2:15). Their "dominion" was not to be tyrannical or dictatorial. In fact at that time both humans and animals ate herbs and fruits as food exclusively (Gen.1:29)

As a consequence of sin, humans now have permission to kill animals. But the question is: When is it acceptable to take an animal's life? For food and self-defense.

Animal sacrifices were commanded after sin. These animal sacrifices pointed to Christ's sacrifice and were intended to show us the horror of sin. When Jesus was crucified, He ended these animal sacrifices (Matt. 27:50, 51).
When is it acceptable to cause animals to suffer? Maybe for discipline, and surgery to save their life.

In my opinion any person who willfully abuses animals because he has them in his power is both a coward and a tyrant.

And yes God does love His creation including animals. Jesus made reference to the fact that God notices when a sparrow dies. (Mt 10:28-31; see also Lk 12:4-7). Also The psalmist proclaimed the luck of the sparrow and the generosity of God by writing that even the lowly sparrow was invited to make her home in the Lord's temple (Psa 84:3). =)

[mibn2cweus]

^ Ba-a-a-a-ah > http://www.adventistreview.org/2005-1538/story3.html