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There may be traumas from which no finite mind could ever recover. But there is almost no evidence at all that any such evil has ever befallen any creature. (p. 129, emphasis added)
When a human suffers, we can think of how at least some suffering may be good for him or her. Perhaps suffering is the best way to develop virtues like perseverance and compassion.
But what about animals? Don’t some animals undergo terrible pain? And yet, one would think that they don’t and can’t have such moral virtues – or even if they can, that they are not intelligent enough to appreciate the value of their own suffering. How could a good God allow the to suffer terribly, while being doomed to never understanding the value of it, assuming there is some?
In his recent book The Problem of Animal Pain: A Theodicy For All Creatures Great And Small, Dr. Trent Dougherty argues that a Christian should think that this will change. Christianity says that saved humans get a huge upgrade. Why not something similar for at least many animals? Near the start of his book, he says:
I will defend the thesis that a class of animals… will not only be resurrected… but will be deified in much the same way that humans will be. …they will become full-fledged persons… who can look back on their lives… then they will accept, though with no loss of the sense of the gravity of their suffering. that they were an important part of something infinitely valuable, and that in addition to being justly, lavishly rewarded for it, they will embrace their role in creation. In this embrace, evil is defeated. (p. 3)
Are you convinced? Let us know in the comments or by audio feedback.
You can also listen to this episode on Stitcher or iTunes (please subscribe, rate, and review us in either or both – directions here). It is also available on Youtube (scroll down – you can subscribe here). If you would like to upload audio feedback for possible inclusion in a future episode of this podcast, put the audio file here.
Links for this episode:
- The Problem of Animal Pain: A Theodicy For All Creatures Great And Small (kindle)
- Michael Murray, Nature Red in Tooth and Claw: Theism and the Problem of Animal Suffering (kindle)
- podcast 59 – Dr. Carl Mosser on salvation as deification
- Oh God
- Bruce Almighty
- Peter van Inwagen, The Problem of Evil (kindle)
- the principle of plentitude
- This week’s thinking music is “The Portal” by Little Glass Men.
Bonus: An animal who wants to be eaten, from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy BBC series (from the book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe):
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Enjoyed this podcast very much, not least because I’m a big animal lover (and a non-practicing vegetarian rendered perpetually guilt ridden by the very different arguments of Gary Francione and Peter Singer).
I’m sympathetic with Trent’s argument and particularly intrigued by the suggestion that we may now only encounter animals in embryonic form which leaves open the possibility that resurrected animals may behave like the rabbits in Watership Down or the menagerie in the Little Bear children’s books.
Perhaps my biggest dissatisfaction with Trent’s current articulation of the argument (at least in the interview) is that resurrection for animals is reduced to compensation for ills endured. If I believe the likelihood that my beloved dogs will be resurrected increases in proportion to the degree of suffering they endure in this life, it would seem I will have a good reason to mistreat them in this life to increase the likelihood that God will resurrect them in the next.
I’d prefer to think that God will resurrects individual animals simply because he loves those specific creatures and that the compensation for ills endured in this life is but a by-product of their resurrection.
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