Fr. Terry Martin: Caring About Animals is NOT Optional! Dr. Chapman Chen

In a 2023 YouTube video, Fr Terry, the Catholic parish priest of Worthing and Lancing, offers a compassionate Christian response to animals within the framework of “human dominion.” While dominion is often interpreted as human superiority over animals and nature, he challenges this view by framing dominion through the lens of Jesus' life—defined not by domination, but by self-sacrificial love and service.

1. God Loves ALL Creation

Fr Terry begins by affirming that God created all beings—human and non-human—out of love, and that God hates nothing He has made. In the Genesis creation story, before the fall, humans and animals coexisted peacefully on a plant-based diet, each created to thrive without exploitation. Significantly, God never says one species exists for another. Fr Terry stresses that these stories must be read as they are—without twisting them to fit human agendas—and always through the redemptive lens of Jesus Christ.

2. Thomas Aquinas’ Anthropocentric Legacy

Dominion, then, must be interpreted in light of Christ’s compassion and humility. The historical distortion of dominion as a license to exploit stems largely from figures like Thomas Aquinas, who—drawing on Aristotle—taught that animals were made for human use, lacked rational souls, and were essentially machines. This anthropocentric legacy deeply shaped Western Christian attitudes toward animals, embedding the notion of superiority that continues to fuel ecological crises.

3. Giving Animals Special Moral Attention is NOT Optional

Against this backdrop, Fr Terry argues that Christians are called to embody Jesus’ compassion, extending it not only to the vulnerable among humans but also to animals. He contends that giving animals special moral attention is not optional or sentimental, but intrinsic to Christian discipleship. Animals, too, are part of God's creation and contribute to the building of God’s kingdom on Earth. Fr Terry suggests that they are not mere resources, but companions—“children of God” created for love and worthy of respect.

4. Commodification of Animals = Offering Them up to Idols

This reframing has profound implications: cruelty to animals becomes incompatible with Christian virtue. The Peaceable Kingdom envisioned in Isaiah, where predator and prey lie together in harmony, serves as a theological model for how creation should be. Fr Terry challenges the normalization of violence embedded in modern animal agriculture, naming it a betrayal of God’s intent. For him, the commodification of animals is akin to offering them up to idols of profit and consumerism.

5. A Christian Revolution!

Fr Terry suggests that Christians must undergo a radical transformation—what he calls a “Christian revolution,” i.e., in the serving spirit of Jesus Christ, “our…stewardship… of creation must be about self-sacrificial love, not greed or consumerist exploitation or power over the weak and the voiceless.” This aligns with the eschatological vision of Christ bringing peace not just among humans but across all creation. Paul’s writings in Romans and Colossians are cited as support for this holistic reconciliation.

6. Animals Deserve Compassion Whether or Not They Have “Souls”

Fr Terry ultimately insists that animals deserve compassion whether or not they have “souls” in the traditional theological sense. If they do, they are kin in God’s kingdom; if not, then this life is all they have, and they deserve joy and kindness now. Either way, Christians are morally and spiritually obligated to treat them as God would—with love, dignity, and mercy. #VeganChrist #VeganGod #vegantheology #VeganChurch

Text link: https://www.vegantheology.net/post/fr-terry-martin-caring-about-animals-is-not-optional-dr-chapman-chen

Source: Fr Terry: A Christian Response To Animals In A World Of Human Dominion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQncdiRLZ7k&list=LL&index=7

Note: Fr Terry Martin is a priest of the RC diocese of Arundel & Brighton in the south-east of England. After graduation from the Royal College of Music, he trained for the priesthood in England and Rome. He is currently parish priest of Worthing & Lancing. Daily 10am mass (not Wednesday) in Worthing Church. The link to webcam is https://www.churchservices.tv/worthingparish