by Vesa Hautala

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Human dominion over animals

This post is the second part of a series about animals in the Bible from an effective altruist perspective. This part deals with texts in the book of Genesis that are about the original relationship between humans and animals. It argues that while the Genesis account of the pre-Fall state presents God as giving humans dominion over animals, this dominion should be understood as originally nonviolent in nature, and humans should use it in a way that reflects God’s rule over the creation. This implies we ought to take animal interests seriously. You can read the first part of the series here.

In the Garden of Eden

The foundational Biblical passage on the relationship between humans and animals is the creation account in Genesis 1. Humanity is created in the image and likeness of God. Right after this follows God’s blessing on the newly created humans and his instruction on humankind’s place in the creation, which includes dominion over animals: “Have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth”. (Gen. 1:28)

The creation account in Genesis portrays the original state as non-violent. God gives humans and animals plants for sustenance, with the implication that eating animal organisms does not take place. In the original state, death and suffering are not necessary to sustain human or animal life. The command for humans to subdue the earth in Gen. 1:28 does not imply violence, because there is supposedly no resistance from the part of nature. In the Genesis account, adversity from nature arises only after the fall, and animals will fear humans only after the flood (Gen. 3:17–19, 9:2). The cosmos is originally in harmony and without strife. Every created being is responding to the needs of other beings without force, such that creation is a blessed network of sharing good.

Human dominion over animals is linked to being created in the image and likeness of God. Humanity’s relationship to the earth and animals is meant to be in some important sense similar to God’s relationship to creation and humankind. This strongly implies that the original relationship of humans to animals is benevolent and non-exploitative, even though there is a clear hierarchy where humans are placed above animals. Seen from the perspective of the lost Paradise, all human violence towards animals (and vice versa) is an aberration.

The creation account establishes that nonviolence towards animals is a good thing. Human dominion over animals actually includes showing the characteristics of God towards animals. These are good reasons to consider promoting animal welfare as a morally commendable and even to some extent obligatory thing to do based on Scripture. If we were to  only consider the creation account in isolation from other passages, this would seem to suggest that killing or exploiting animals is against God’s created order. But because the ideal state portrayed in Genesis 1 does not last, texts dealing with the fallen world do not maintain this ethical norm.

After the Flood

Genesis chapter 3 describes how humans disobey God’s commandments and are cast out of the Garden of Eden. Toil and suffering enter the creation. Humans expand their capacity for evil until the point where “the earth was filled with violence.” (Gen. 6:11) God destroys the unrepentant world with a flood, but spares the righteous Noah and his family and with them a breeding pair of every land animal.

The blessing of Gen. 1:28–30 is repeated in Gen. 9 when God blesses Noah and his sons. The world has been destroyed by the flood, so a new beginning is needed. The relationship between humankind and animals is now different from what it was in the Garden of Eden. Animals will fear humans, and humans may eat animals. “The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal … Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything”. (Gen. 9:2,3)

This passage establishes that eating animals is not in itself morally prohibited. This is a stance incompatible with an absolute moral demand for vegetarianism or veganism. But this is a permission, not a commandment, and it only deals with eating animals in general. Therefore it does not completely rule out ethical considerations regarding eating animals in different particular situations. The passage itself provides restrictions by prohibiting the eating of blood, and later Mosaic laws forbid the eating of most animal species, so this passage cannot be construed as saying any kind of meat-eating is automatically morally acceptable. Still, it is important to note that all further bans on eating certain kinds of animals in the Bible deal with ritual purity and abstaining from idolatry, rather than animal welfare or rights.

Special place of humans in God’s plan

Humans have a special spiritual place in God’s plan. The Bible does not speak of animals sinning, and accordingly only humans are said to receive forgiveness of sin and the Holy Spirit. Animals clearly suffer as a consequence of human sins, but are not directly targets of God’s work of salvation in the same way that humans are. This speaks to a clear difference between humans and animals, but again it does not negate the independent value of animals. Angels are also not subject to God’s plan of salvation the same way that humans are, but this does not mean they are worthless compared to humans.

Conclusions

It is clear that in the Bible humans are special and more important than animals. Humans have special status in creation, because they are created in the image and likeness of God and given dominion over animals. Later God gives humans permission to eat animals, which puts human life and welfare above the lives of animals. God’s plan of salvation is also centred on humans.

However, it would be a mistake to conclude that humans are free to treat animals any way they want. In the first part of this series we saw that God cares for animals. Human dominion over animals is linked to humans being created in the likeness of God, so humanity’s relationship to animals should mirror God’s loving relationship to his creation. Human authority over animals is thus a reason to consider how to use this authority in a way that is pleasing to God. In a later part of the series I will examine explicit ethical instruction concerning the treatment of animals in the Bible.