On God and Dogs: A Christian Theology of Compassion for Animals

by Stephen H. Webb

Book Overview

Many of us keep pet animals; we rely on them for companionship and unconditional love. For some people their closest relationships may be with their pets. In the wake of the animal rights movement, some ethicists have started to re-examine this relationship, and to question the rights of humans to "own" other sentient beings in this way.

In this engaging and thought-provoking book, Stephen Webb brings a Christian perspective to bear on the subject of our responsibility to animals, looked at through the lens of our relations with pets--especially dogs. Webb argues that the emotional bond with companion animals should play a central role in the way we think about animals in general, and--against the more extreme animal liberationists--defends the intermingling of the human and animal worlds. He tries to imagine what it would be like to treat animals as a gift from God, and indeed argues that not only are animals a gift for us, but they give to us; we need to attend to their giving and return their gifts appropriately. Throughout the book he insists that what Christians call grace is present in our relations with animals just as it is with other humans. Grace is the inclusive and expansive power of God's love to create and sustain relationships of real mutuality and reciprocity, and Webb unfolds the implications of the recognition that animals too participate in God's abundant grace.
Webb's thesis affirms and persuasively defends many of the things that pet lovers feel instinctively--that their relationships with their companion animals are meaningful and important, and that their pets have value and worth in themselves in the eyes of God. His book will appeal to a broad audience of thoughtful Christians and animal lovers.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019511650X
• ISBN13: 9780195116502
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

God and God's creation

I have read a whole lot of books in the realm of animals and theology and this is by far one of the best. In terms of theology, it is extremely well-grounded. This is not some pop theology book but a serious work of theology from a serious academic. At the same time, it is very accessible to those with limited theological training. You do not need a graduate degree to read this book, and I think that is its great strength. This is an incredible cogent and well argued book that demands that both people who eat and do not eat animals examine. Highly recommended.

Extremely Insightful

I have read virtually everything I can find dealing with theology and animals, because of my strong interest in both, and I find this is the most insightful book in print. Webb offers profound wisdom in his thinking about human/animal relations from a Judeo-Christian perspective, and his analysis of other writers' thoughts is very cogent. This is a serious and challenging book, but it is so well-written that it should be readily accessible to wide audiences.Steve

What Animal Lovers Always Knew

I loved this book, especially the section devoted to after-life of animals. I ride endurance horses, (long distance competitive riding) and KNOW what a bond with an animal is. My champion endurance horse and I completed over 3000 miles together before a blood disease claimed his life in January. I've never felt separation like that before. As I have said many times since then, "There are a lot of people I would have rather buried that day than my best friend, my horse" The author captures many of these solid and two-way relationships. My own pastor has a hard time relating to the grace of God shown between humans and their animals. Animal lovers knew it all along!