“When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of all things. And they also deepened my sensitivity towards creation itself so that concern for God's creatures and animal rights followed from that. Some people think I'm an animal rights person who just happens, almost incidentally, to be religious. In fact, it's because I believe in God that I'm concerned about God's creatures. The religious impulse is primary.” PeopleThinkingBelievePersonsFactsHappensI BelieveReligiousAnimalRightsCreationCreaturesConcernConcernedAll ThingsSeriesCreatorI Believe InPrimariesImpulseBelieve In GodAnimal RightsTeensSensitivityI Believe In GodReligious Experience Author:Andrew Linzey
“I look forward to the time when the churches come to celebrate and honour the work of animal protection as an imperative arising from their belief in the Creator and in the gospel of the crucified. After all, similarly remarkable things have happened, for example, the growing consensus among churches that the environment should be cared for and protected as a Christian duty--an astonishing turnaround when one considers the prevailing dualism in previous centuries, which expressly discouraged concern for "earthly" matters as distinct from "spiritual" ones.” ShouldLooksMatterChristianSpiritualBeliefChurchAnimalEnvironmentGrowingHappenedCenturyExampleDutyConcernCreatorProtectionCelebrateRemarkableHonourProtectedConsensusDiscouragedImperativesAstonishingPrevailingDualismTurnaround Author:Andrew Linzey
“It took Christians many years to realize that we cannot love God and also keep humans as slaves. It has taken even longer for Christians to realize that we cannot love God and also regard women as second-class humans. Now is the time for Christians to realize that we cannot love God and hate the Creator's nonhuman creatures.” YearsHumansChristianHateRealizingClassTakenCreaturesRegardSlaveCreatorGod Love Book:Animal Gospel Source: Animal Gospel
“Looking back through the mists of time, I recall some distinctly religious experiences in my teens--when I was only fourteen years old to be precise. These experiences opened my mind to the idea of a Creator and that caring for other living things was a Christian duty. My parents were not strongly religious at the time and when I announced at that youthful age that I wanted to be a priest, it not unnaturally provoked some incredulity, even mirth. In the same year, I became a vegetarian, which--for family and friends--was even more vexing.” YearsMindIdeasAgeWantedChristianParentReligiousDutyCreatorCaringPriestsVegetarianTeensRecallsLooking BackPreciseFamily And FriendsLiving ThingsMistFourteenCaring For OthersMirthProvokedReligious ExperienceIncredulity Author:Andrew Linzey
