
St. Augustine anthropocentrically opines that since animals lacks reason, they are “by the just appointment of the Creator subjected to us to kill or keep alive for our own uses” (Augustine, The City of Gold, Vol. I, Book 1, Section 20). Likewise, St. Thomas Aquinas asserts that “love thy neighbour” does not cover animals because they are irrational (The Summa Theologiæ of St. Thomas Aquinas, 2nd Part of the 2nd Part, Qt. 25, Art. 3). And numerous theologians after these two guys have followed in their footsteps. Job, who had first-hand experience with God, however, thought otherwise. He's adamant that animals, whether terrestrial, aquatic, or avian, teach us more divine truths, and more about divine handiwork and sovereignty, than anybody else:-
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:7-10 NIV)
Who teaches us more than the animals of the earth And makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’ (Job 35:11 NASB)
In other words, from Job’s perspective, animals are not only not inferior to us, but actually smarter than us.
Job’s view is corroborated by recent scientific research. Here’re some salient examples. A study by Donald M. Broom et. al. titled "Cognitive Ability and Awareness in Domestic Animals and Decisions about Obligations to Animals", published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science in 2009, concludes that pigs can perform better than some children on some tasks involving memory, learning, and problem-solving. Caenorhabditis elegans, a worm with only 302 brain cells, can learn and remember (Ardiel and Rankin 2010). In a study by Inoue and Matsuzawa (2007), young chimpanzees outperformed human adults in tasks requiring the recall of sequentially presented numbers. In a study by Weir, Chappell, and Kacelnik (2002), a New Caledonian crow could spontaneously construct hooks out of wire to use as tools.
We, therefore, have no justification to abuse, exploit, rape, or murder animals, as most humans—like Augustine and Aquinas—do, thinking that animals are dumb and numb.
Full Text: https://www.vegantheology.net/post/the-animals-will-teach-you-job-12-7-by-dr-chapman-chen
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