Description: Christians of all traditions have often puzzled with the question ""Do dogs go to heaven?"" Drawing on Catholic teaching, and on his long pastoral experience as a parish priest, Terry Martin expands that concept to consider wider issues around all animals, domesticated and free-living, and why they are here. Within a context of Christian faith, he seeks to understand the place of animals in God's complex creation and the relationship that human beings have (for good or ill) with those animals. More than that, he looks at the big questions which so many ask about who, under God, animals are and what meaning, if any, animal lives have from a Catholic Christian perspective.
Brief description: Andrew Linzey has been described as "the greatest living writer on theology and animals" by Bishop John Austin Baker. He is the director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and a member of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oxford. He has written or edited more than twenty books, including Animal Theology, Creatures of the Same God, and Why Animal Suffering Matters. He is also the author of Animal Rites: Liturgies of Animal Care and the coeditor of Animals and Christianity: A Book of Readings, both published by Wipf and Stock.
Check out my profile video on Oxford Animal Ethics!Review Quotes: "Let us welcome Fr. Martin to the tragically small club of serious Catholic authors who are taking these important issues seriously. And let us also hope and pray that many who read this book join us in taking these important issues seriously."
--Charles C. Camosy, professor of medical humanities, Creighton University School of Medicine
"This is a delightfully written book and provides encouraging answers for those worried by the usual questions: Do animals have rights? Do they have souls? Will we see them in heaven? I happen to believe that the early saints and Jesus himself were far more concerned about the spiritual link between animals and humans than some later writers have realised."
--Richard D. Ryder, author of Animal Revolution: Changing Attitudes towards Speciesism
"This admirable book deals with an often-neglected subject--how to consider the animal creation in the light of faith. It treats of complicated ideas in accessible ways--especially with anecdotes from the author's pastoral ministry and of his delightful canine companions. The author's research is impressive and yet does not obscure the message. Each chapter ends with a quotation from Laudato Si' and a prayer, encouraging reflection--and prayerful reflection often leads to action!"
--Deborah Jones, former CEO, Catholic Concern for Animals
"Informed by the author's rich human and animal connections, by his priestly and pastoral ministry, Animals in Heaven? advances a new manifesto for compassion in man's dealings with our fellow species.
Humbly yet persuasively, Fr. Terry Martin shows the unity of sacred theology and profound human purpose in cherishing our brothers and sisters in Creation. This admirable work deserves our full attention, and over time to take its place alongside that of Peter Singer and Richard Ryder."
--Duncan McNair, founder and CEO of Save the Asian Elephant