What Does the Bible Say About the Treatment of Animals?
Genesis, the first Book of the Bible, states almost immediately that man is to have "dominion over" all animals. In perusing the rest of the Bible, you'll see that it has an aspect of caretaking, with many guidelines on the proper treatment of animals, like a stewardship.
Significance
Genesis 1 tells us that God created man in his own image breathed the "breath of life" into the man's form. Thus, people were created in a fundamentally different method than animals were and should hold supremacy over them.
Function
Throughout the Bible, animals work for humans. For example, oxen pull plows and people travel by riding camels, horses, donkeys and mules. The Bible views animals as unintelligent creatures. For instance, Psalms 32:9, in the New International Reader's Version, notes, "Don't be like the horse or the mule. They can't understand anything. They have to be controlled by bits and bridles." This verse implies man has the right to coerce horses and mules to obey him. Several passages in the Old Testament condone ownership of animals. For instance, Deuteronomy 22:1-4 says that people must return anything they find that belongs to another person, including animals. This shows that animals are property, like any other possession.
Effects
In Genesis 9, for the first time we see that God allows humans to eat animals. After specifying beast, fowl, and fish, He tells Noah, "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you." Whether eating animals was allowed before this is unknown and some people speculate whether all people before this Biblical moment were vegetarians. Throughout the Bible, people are meat eaters and meat suppliers. Many people in the Bible are shepherds. Jesus' apostles were fishermen, and in Mark 6:35-44, Jesus miraculously feeds thousands of people with bread and fish. In fact, the New Testament shows Jesus eating meat or talking about meat eating as perfectly acceptable several times since he eats the Passover meal, which would have included lamb, he creates a miracle by providing the disciples with an enormous amount of fish to catch and he tells a parable of the prodigal son upon whose return, the father allows the servants to kill and eat a fatted calf. In John 21, after Jesus' resurrection, he cooks fish and gives the apostles fish to eat. In addition, the commandments prohibit murder of other humans, but not killing of animals.
Features
Adam and Eve wore animal skins for clothing. In Exodus 25 and 26, people used animal skins and hair when building the tabernacle, at God's stated requirement. People also routinely sacrificed animals as part of their religious ceremonies, although Jesus does later abolish this practice.
Considerations
Because animal welfare is addressed many times in the Old Testament, Judaism prohibits cruelty to animals and teaches compassion for them along with proper treatment. Proverbs 12:10 in the King James Version says, "The righteous person regards the life of his beast." Even one of the commandments states that animals must be allowed to rest on the Sabbath. The Old Testament laws however, may be just as concerned with animals for pragmatic reasons as for reasons of kindness. People needed to keep their animals alive and healthy as long as possible to provide work, wool and good food.
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