Killing Animals—Permitted by God? The Role of Christian Ethics in (Not) Protecting the Lives of Animals

Abstract

Many Christians believe that they have a divine permission to kill animals for food, fur and other human uses. The objective of this chapter is to take issue with this common notion by critically looking at the way theological concepts like “the Will of God” and “the Word of God” are traditionally interpreted. The first part of this chapter, “The Will of God,” presents an apt and sophisticated understanding of this difficult and widely misunderstood theological term. The second part, “The Word of God,” starts from the premise that divine commands and divine permissions in the Bible, including God’s changeable view on eating meat, are to be interpreted in relation to their particular and therefore limited historical contexts. The third part of the chapter is called “The Importance of Philosophical Ethics” and reasserts the Christian conviction that ethical reflections in philosophy are of continuing importance to Christian ethics. The harm done to animals by inflicting pain on them is compared to the harm done by killing them. The fourth and final part of this chapter, “The Necessity of a Reorientation,” is a concise plea for a radical change of human perception and conduct: both academic theological ethics and the moral teaching of the Christian churches ought to be characterized by a presumption against the permissibility of taking the life of an animal, particularly, but not exclusively, a sentient one.