Abstract
In the vivid storm-cloud speech, God explains to Job that the creation is vast and full of wondrous life. Job is reminded that he is a minor participant in a larger cosmic dance inaugurated and sustained by the Deity. This dance involves many animals, dazzling creatures that humanity did not create and does not control. God asks Job a series of timeless rhetorical questions that undermine any inclination towards anthropocentrism: “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes its nest on high?” (Job 39:26–27).
The current issue of Interpretation explores animals in all of their complexity and beauty, with particular attention to animals in the Bible and how Christian tradition has understood the natural world. These essays also address the involvement of animals in the worship life of contemporary churches.
In the first essay, Ken Stone presses readers of Scripture to adopt Psalm 104 as an essential hermeneutical lens through which to interpret other passages. Psalm 104 “lacks altogether the human exceptionalism” found in the creation stories of Genesis, where humanity has a more privileged position. In pursuing this topic, Stone explores how “animal studies” are reshaping perspectives on humanity’s relationship with the larger creation, and his essay demonstrates the transformative effect of thoughtful inquiries on this topic in biblical studies.
Barry Huff investigates the animal imagery in Job and how it can reshape understandings of humanity as the pinnacle of creation. In the storm-cloud speech God lists an array of creatures, many of them considered unclean in the book of Leviticus, and their remarkable capacities. Huff gives a vivid tour of the imagery in this theophanic speech, explaining that it “encourages human beings to treat the most stigmatized and marginalized animals, ecosystems, and people with compassion and reverence.”
As one of the more prophetic and well-known voices on the topic of animals, Elizabeth Johnson offers a provocative essay on the capacity of animals to praise God without human mediation. She examines a variety of biblical passages to support this claim and also voices in Christian tradition, including the latest encyclical from Pope Francis. Her essay makes a convincing case that many creatures engage in celebratory behavior that can be identified as praise and worship.
Finally, Amelie A. Wilmer takes the reader to the parish level and the increasing popularity of animal blessing ceremonies. As an Episcopal priest, Wilmer provides a helpful overview of how such Christian figures as Francis of Assisi have elevated the animal world, and she follows this with an honest exploration of animal blessing ceremonies in contemporary churches. Wilmer considers the positive aspects of these rituals as well as the risks. Like the other essays in this timely issue, Wilmer wrestles with the unfortunate neglect of the animal world among many believers in earlier generations and the healthy implications of incorporating animals more fully into the Christian life.