The Christian Call to Compassion**

Most Christians believe that the Bible is the word of God. In Genesis, God gives the first humans "dominion" over the Earth and nonhuman animals. But what does that mean in our relationships with animals today? In this workshop, we explore Jesus' call for compassion and mercy and how both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures call on humans to be good stewards of the Earth and all its inhabitants.

Sample Passages Related to Animals

Genesis 1:1-31: "Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.' And it was so."
Isaiah 11:6-9: "They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."
Ecclesiastes 3:19: Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal."
John 10:11-16: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

Sample Passages About a Just and Merciful Life

Micah 6:8: "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Matthew 5:7: "Blessed are the merciful: for they will be shown mercy."
Matthew 25:31-46: "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"
Luke 6:36: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

Animals' Rights In an essay called, "Animals and Moral Theology (2)" from the book Animals’ Rights―a Symposium, edited by David Patterson and Richard Ryder, Canon Eric Turnbull discusses the Biblical imperative to carefully consider the implications of cruelty to animals:

In the many problems that challenge human conduct today we need guidance, guidance which gives a grounding that is authoritative and yet not authoritarian, for the principles being applied. Such guidance must be based on a radical treatment which displays the roots of the problem at issue, seeking a course between rigid legalism on the one hand and woolly-thinking individualism on the other …

Genesis provides us with two sets of facts. First about God; that his activity in creation continues as long as creation lasts: that he is not bound or limited by creation but rather works in it, and through it uses the universe to tell us about himself. The second set of facts is about man: that he is a creature intended to have communion with the Creator and, given a distinctive role in God's creative purpose, a stewardship. The verses in Genesis about man's dominion have so often been wrested out of context. Before we confess our belief in man, Genesis says first affirm our trust in God: this alone is the context of man's dominion, which rests on our ability to participate in the continuous act of creation.

Download the complete essay here.

**Note: This workshop highlights the Christian Biblical imperative for mercy and kindness to animals, but it can be easily adapted to any faith or excluded if the majority of course participants are not members of a faith community.

In Dominion, Mathew Scully makes a compelling case for Christians to scrutinize the routine abuses of animals and call for change. Order Dominion through Amazon today.

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