“Humans and Animals are One Family!” ~ Dr. Jane Goodall. By Dr. Chapman Chen

Dr. Jane Goodall (1934–2025), the celebrated British primatologist and vegan advocate for animal rights, passed away on 1 October 2025 at the age of 91. The following day, Ken Ham, founder of the multimillion-dollar fundamentalist NOG Answers in Genesis, uploaded a YouTube video slandering Dr. Goodall for allegedly misleading the younger generation with her “sad legacy” and “anti-God” beliefs — such as her view that humans, chimpanzees, and other animals are one family, and her faith in a great spiritual power most readily felt in nature.

Ken Ham insists that Dr. Goodall’s belief that chimpanzees and humans belong to one family is blasphemous, basing his claim on clichéd, outdated, and human-centric reasoning inherited from old-school theologians such as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, René Descartes, and Martin Luther. This line of reasoning can be summarised in four points: first, animals have no soul; second, only humans — not animals — are made in the image of God and did not evolve from apes; third, animals, including apes and crows, are incapable of rational thought; and fourth, animals are amoral and dangerous. Let us rebut these points one by one.

Full Text: https://www.vegantheology.net/post/humans-and-animals-are-one-family-~-dr-jane-goodall-by-dr-chapman-chen

First, animals have souls.

According to Genesis 1:20–24 and Genesis 2:19, God did indeed give animals a living soul (nephesh chayyah in Hebrew) — the same term used for humans in Genesis 2:7. Yet most English translations dilute this into “living creature” or “living thing.” The Hebrew makes no such distinction: animals and humans alike possess nephesh, the breath of life given by God.

Second, animals also bear the image of God in diverse ways.

Nowhere in Scripture is it stated that animals are not made in God’s image. As David Clough (2012, 102) argues, different species manifest different divine attributes. The lion symbolises God’s majesty and strength (Revelation 5:5); the lamb reveals God’s gentleness and sacrificial love (John 1:29); the dove represents the Holy Spirit’s peace and purity (Matthew 3:16); and the ox embodies faithful service and endurance (Ezekiel 1:10).

The biblical creation narrative also harmonises with evolutionary science. Each “day” of creation in Genesis 1 can be interpreted as representing a vast epoch or stage in the unfolding of life rather than a literal 24-hour period. The world’s leading advocate of Young Earth Creationism, Ken Ham, insists that the earth and universe are only about 6,000 years old — a claim utterly at odds with science and reason. In truth, it is not the chimpanzees who lack rational thought, as Ham alleges, but Ham himself who shows a troubling absence of reason.

Third, animals can reason.

Numerous scientific studies show that apes, crows, and other animals are capable of rational problem-solving. Premack (1994), in “Thought without language: Cognition in a chimpanzee” (Cognition, 50(1–3), 1–19), showed that chimpanzees understand cause–effect relations in physical tasks, such as predicting the results of tool use, demonstrating causal reasoning beyond conditioning. Rakoczy et al. (2014), in “Apes are intuitive statisticians” (Cognition, 131(1), 60–68), found that great apes inferred which container was more likely to contain food based on proportions, suggesting probabilistic reasoning rather than simple association. Taylor et al. (2011), in “New Caledonian crows learn the functional properties of novel tool types” (PLoS ONE, 6(12), e26887), showed that crows generalised causal information to new tool types and avoided ineffective actions, revealing an understanding of object functionality. Boeckle et al. (2020), in “New Caledonian crows plan for specific future tool use” (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 287(1935)), demonstrated that crows selected the correct tool for a future task after a delay, indicating foresight and planning rather than mere reaction.

Fourth, animals can act altruistically.

Research shows that many animals behave compassionately toward their own kind — and even toward humans. Warneken and Tomasello (2006), in Science, 311(5765), 1301–1303, demonstrated that chimpanzees spontaneously help humans and one another without any expectation of reward. Similarly, Bartal, Decety, and Mason (2011), in Science, 334(6061), 1427–1430, showed that rats free their trapped cage-mates even when there is no personal benefit, indicating empathy-driven altruism. Such findings affirm that compassion and moral awareness are not uniquely human traits but are widespread among God’s creatures.

Ken Ham alleges that animals are amoral and dangerous. Yet the most dangerous species on Earth is undoubtedly Homo sapiens. No other creature slaughters its own kind on such a scale, wages wars of extermination, or destroys entire ecosystems for profit. No other species poisons the air, defiles the seas, and drives countless others to extinction.

The Word Becomes Flesh

IMO, Humans and other animals are no doubt brothers and sisters because they all come from the same father-God (cf. Clough 2012, 27) As theologian David Clough (2012, 85) observes, in the incarnation God assumes flesh — “the Word [Logos] became flesh” (John 1:14) — something shared by all sentient creatures, both human and nonhuman. In doing so, God affirms the deep commonality of embodied life and reveals the sacred kinship uniting all who share in flesh.

In summary, Ken Ham’s theology, rooted in outdated anthropocentrism, denies the spiritual depth, rational capacity, and moral beauty of nonhuman animals. By contrast, both Scripture and science testify that animals are ensouled, intelligent, and capable of love — fellow beings within God’s vast, compassionate family.

God as the Great Spiritual Power

In Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey (1999), Goodall writes extensively about her belief in a universal spiritual power that underlies all life. She describes “a great spiritual Power” that she feels “most strongly when immersed in the beauty of nature.” She also explicitly states that she sees no contradiction between belief in God and concepts such as the Tao or Allah, viewing them as diverse expressions of the same divine force. Ken Ham, however, dismisses such a belief as “anti-God.” Yet what is God if not a great spiritual power? "In the beginning... the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Gen. 1:1-2).

Conclusion

Both Scripture and science testify that animals are ensouled, intelligent, and capable of love — fellow beings within God’s vast, compassionate family. Jane Goodall’s legacy reminds us that to love God is also to revere all His creatures. Ham’s exclusionary theology, cloaked in commercial ministry, alienates precisely the souls he claims to save. By attacking a compassionate scientist who honoured creation, Ham exposes the hollowness of his faith.

P.S. Ken Ham is the founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis, a nonprofit based in Kentucky, USA, that generates tens of millions of dollars annually through its Creation Museum, Ark Encounter, books, and homeschool curricula. While legally a Christian ministry, its operations resemble a commercial empire — leading many to see Ham less as a pastor and more as a businessman trading on faith. Ham’s video, discussed above, can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITgypIwR4Dk.