5.4 Outline (for full topic outline, go to 5.1 “Christianity: Introduction and Outline”)

  1. The Donkey and Balaam, Numbers 22

II. The Snake of Genesis 3

III. Stories of Saints

Conclusion

Sources

Endnotes


(To view all Christianity topics, visit 5.1 Christianity: Introduction and Outline)

Segev, a rescued donkey at Keren Or Sanctuary in Israel. (Photo courtesy of We Animals Media.)


I. The Snake of Genesis 3

(This subsection is the original work of Dr. Kemmerer.)



If snakes were in a popularity contest, among all other animals, they would surely lose. Around the world, snakes are often perceived as animals to be feared or hated . . . . [T]he reality is that most of the antipathies that surround snakes are guided by ignorance or misunderstanding. (Save the Snakes, “Why Snakes?” n.p.)


Snakes of the world suffer greatly because of human fears: Snakes that might harm are often killed, though they might just as well be left alone or relocated; harmless snakes are often killed. Because of human beings, more than half of the world’s snakes are either threatened, near threatened, or we lack data to know their survival status (“World's most Endangered” n.p.). Where snakes are concerned, there is much room for improvement in our relations with God’s creatures. A closer look at the snake of Genesis 3 is a good place to start.


Despite their unwarranted reputation, snakes are critically important animals for our world. Snakes maintain balance in the food web and therefore keep ecosystems healthy. . . . Snakes are truly interesting and amazing animals, which are celebrated or worshiped in cultures around the globe. Yet, due to increased conflict with humans, many snake species are under threat of extinction. (Save the Snakes, “Mission and Purpose,” n.p.)

Ball Python (Photo courtesy of Save the Snakes.)


Early Jewish (Ophite) Gnostics held snakes in high regard (Rasimus 235-263; also “Ophite” n.p.) and Jewish Gnostics have an ancient and strong tradition of reading Genesis 3 without casting a shadow on the snake. Genesis 3 portrays the snake and human beings as neighbors and as neighborly. The narrative paints an image of snakes and humans pausing to chat at the garden fence. The snake is presented as intelligent. Nonetheless, the snake of Genesis 3 has someway ended up with a remarkably bad reputation. 


In referring to or retelling the snake story of Genesis, the Christian (And Jewish) focus has long been on the snake’s presumed deliberate and successful efforts to bring Eve and Adam to disobey God, thereby causing the Fall of Man. This reading has been so commonly accepted that, when Jewish scriptures were adopted into Christianity, the new religion identified the snake with Satan, or even considered the snake to be Satan (Hendel n.p.). But a fresh read of the snake narrative does not support this traditional view, and instead reveals much to admire in this long and slender creature of God.

Green Tree Python (Photo courtesy of Save the Snakes.)


As noted, Genesis 3 portrays the snake and human beings as neighbors and as neighborly. In the conversation between Eve and the snake, the snake is described using the Hebrew word “'arum.” Forms of this word appear elsewhere in scriptures, for example, to describe the intelligence of one no less than David (1 Samuel 23:22), where the word is translated with positive connotations as “cunning.” It also appears in Job, translated as “crafty,” where human intelligence is weighed against the knowledge of God. Of course, humans come up short, and as with the Samuel passage, there is nothing of shame or negativity in the term—all things fall short when compared with God. The point of the passage is to remind humanity to be humble and focus on God, no matter how intelligent we might think we are.


'Arum also shows up in Proverbs seven times and is translated in a positive light as “prudent” and “clever”:


Proverbs 12:16:

Fools show their anger at once,

but the prudent ignore an insult,


Proverbs 12:23

One who is clever conceals knowledge,

but the mind of a fool broadcasts folly.



Proverbs 13:16

The clever do all things intelligently,

but the fool displays folly.



Proverbs 14:8, 15, and 18:

It is the wisdom of the clever to understand where they go,

but the folly of fools misleads. . . .

The simple believe everything,

but the clever consider their steps. . . .

The simple are adorned with folly,

but the clever are crowned with knowledge.



Proverbs 22:3 (repeated in 27:12)

The clever see danger and hide;

but the simple go on, and suffer for it.



In each of these instances, 'arum indicates intelligence with strongly positive connotations. Why would the use of this term in Genesis 3 be negative while all other scriptural applications of this term are positive?

Choti Singh (of Save the Snakes) with a wolf snake. (Photo courtesy of Save the Snakes.)



A closer look at scriptures affirms that there is no reason to shun the snake of Genesis 3, and that the author viewed this intelligent individual in a positive light. The dialogue centers on God’s rules regarding from which trees humans may eat, and the consequences of eating forbidden fruit. When Eve reports that God has prohibited the consumption of any fruit from a specific tree, lest they die (Genesis 3:3), the snake corrects her: “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4–5). True to the term “'arum,” the snake clearly has more knowledge than Eve or Adam.


The Genesis snake narrative tells readers that Eve understood her neighbor to be a good source of information. She believes what the snake has said and she desires to know good and evil, so she samples the forbidden fruit, simultaneously offering the fruit to Adam:

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)


Scriptures tell us that the snake knew and spoke the truth: After eating the forbidden fruit, the “eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Genesis 3:7).

Bush Viper (Photo courtesy of Save the Snakes.)


In knowing good and evil, Adam and Eve become aware of their nakedness, and so the Creator notes that they have eaten of the forbidden fruit. When questioned by God, Adam blames God for providing a woman, and Eve for sharing the fruit: “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12). In turn, Eve blames the snake: “The serpent tricked me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:13).


But scriptures make clear that the snake did not trick Eve. Critically, the snake did not even tell Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. The snake simply knew and spoke the truth: By eating the forbidden fruit, humanity gained knowledge, thereby becoming a little more like the Creator (Genesis 3:5). Rather than place responsibility where it belongs, squarely on the shoulders of Eve and of Adam (each of whom chose to taste of the forbidden fruit), readers have preferred to rest blame on the snake (and Eve), but not Adam (or God for bringing Eve and the snake into the picture).


Snakes are beautiful and mysterious animals who have an unearned negative reputation. Some people have even come to fear these stunning animals, but they have more reasons to fear us than we do to fear them. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, “This List Will Change,” n.p.)

Rembrandt Van Rijn, “The Fall of Man” (ca 1510). (Image courtesy of 1st Art Gallery.)


Apparently, the first human beings desired greater knowledge, which scriptures tell us comes with a price, but the snake of Genesis 3 does nothing more than correct human ignorance/error with regard to the forbidden fruit. While the snake reveals information that ultimately results in Eve and Adam choosing to disobey God, it is not customary (in law or ethics) to blame those who provide information for any resultant illegal or immoral acts committed by those who receive this information. For example, if one person tells another that there is gold in a nearby home, and the informed person then breaks in and steals the gold, the informant has committed no crime.


Importantly, there is no indication in Genesis that the snake has evil intent: There is no indication that the snake intends to lead humanity astray or that the snake wants his neighbors, the humans, to choose one way or the other. The serpent simply has understanding that humanity does not have, and shares that understanding. Adults who choose to do wrong based on information acquired are singularly responsible for personal wrongdoing. In fact, any community that makes a habit of failing to hold individuals accountable for personal decisions is likely to have a problem with law and order.

Kelly Donithan, Ph.D (of Save the Snakes), holding an Amazon whipsnake. (Photo courtesy of Save the Snakes.)


In this story, God cursed all who were involved. God punishes man with thorns and prickles on the lands where he toils to produce food, and woman with both increased pains in childbirth and subordination to husbands. As for the snake, God says,

Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel (Genesis 3:14-15).



Interestingly, punishments given by God indicate that the first human beings were akin to ignorant and gullible children in comparison with the snake, and that perhaps God intended human beings to remain in this state of ignorance and innocence. In light of who humans have proven to be—in light of what we have done with our intelligence and how this has brought about climate change, unending warfare, extinctions, and factory farming—the wisdom of the Creator is everywhere apparent. (For more on these harms, see the book “Vegan Ethics: AMORE—Five Critical Reasons to Choose Vegan.”) How can Christians best turn their faith and practice to reshape the world to bring peace (for and between all creatures), as God intended and as anticipated in scriptures?

Choti Singh (of Save the Snakes) protecting snakes and people by relocating a prairie rattlesnake. (Photo courtesy of Save the Snakes.)


Importantly, God’s curse exposes a state of enmity between snakes and humanity as a change: The snake and Eve are initially depicted as amiable, speaking together like neighbors in a community garden. Inasmuch as enmity between humans and snakes is a change, it is contrary to the Creator’s intent, and this passage certainly does not require enmity between snakes and humanity any more than it requires men to dominate women or women to suffer in childbirth. Kindness and compassion are, however, moral expectations, and in several places scriptures inform of a return to inter-species harmony:

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,

and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.

They will not hurt or destroy

on all my holy mountain. (Isaiah 11:8-9)


A careful read of Genesis 3 reveals snakes as intelligent and thinking individuals, which of course they are: Did not the Creator endow every living creature with the necessary intelligence to survive and thrive across time? The Genesis 3 narrative affirms the importance of obedience to God, and in doing so, reminds of the initial peace between human beings and snakes, which scriptures indicate will one day be restored. This seems particularly important in a world with more and more humans and fewer and fewer snakes.


Snakes, while feared around the world, are also revered and celebrated . . . . However, snakes are seriously under threat. Some snake species have become threatened due to habitat destruction, urban development, disease, persecution, unsustainable trade and through the introduction of invasive species. Many snake species are endangered and some species are on the brink of extinction. As a society, . . . we can at least respect their right to exist without harm and appreciate their vital role in maintaining Earth’s biodiversity. (Save the Snakes, “Why Snakes?” n.p.)

Hiral Naik (of Save the Snakes) moving a puff adder to safety. (Photo courtesy of Save the Snakes.)


God has enough love for every being. Yes, every being. (Sarah Withrow King, Master of Theological Studies from Palmer Theological Seminary, founder of CreatureKind, Animals are not Ours, 24.)



II. The Donkey and Balaam of Numbers 22

(This section is the original work of Dr. Kemmerer.)


Every act of cruelty towards any creature is “contrary to human dignity.” (Pope Francis, “Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ of the Holy Father Francis on Care for Our Common Home,” n.p)


In Numbers 22, Balak (king of Moab and enemy of the Jewish people) commissions Balaam (a non-Jewish seer or prophet) to curse the Israelites, who are camped nearby. Along the way, the donkey on which Balaam is seated sees an angel with sword drawn, which her rider cannot see. Consequently, when the donkey swerves around the angel, her irritated rider strikes her and turns her back onto the path. The angel relocates, standing between two walls, directly in the middle of the path. The donkey swerves, but in negotiating the tight space, scrapes Balaam’s foot against one of the walls. He again strikes her. Finally, the angel stands so that the donkey cannot pass, and the donkey lies down, feeling the sting of Balaam’s staff for a third time.


After Balaam’s third strike, “the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey,” and the donkey spoke to Balaam: “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” (Numbers 22:28). Balaam offers a threatening response rooted in pride: “Because you have made a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!” (Numbers 22:29). Again, speaking through the donkey, God challenges Balaam’s cruelty and his vicious threat, reminding him of the donkey’s goodness and of his long-term relationship with the donkey, which Balaam seems to have forgotten: “Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way?” (Numbers 22:30).



Faced with the obvious truth, Balaam backs down and replies, “No.” God then allows Balaam to see the angel, and the angel speaks directly to Balaam (in solidarity with God and the donkey), challenging Balaam’s cruel dominance:

The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me, and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let it live.” (Numbers 22: 32–33)

Gustav Jaeger, “Balaam and the Angel” (1836). (Image courtesy of Wikimedia.)


While admonishing Balaam for his cruelty to the donkey, the angel informs him that, were it not for the donkey, the man would have been struck dead: The angel’s concern for the life and wellbeing of the innocent donkey ended up protecting Balaam. Hearing this, Balaam abandons his mission to curse the Israelites and, like the donkey, speaks the words that God has put in his mouth, blessing the Israelites.


In this narrative, Balaam is the “bad guy,” a human being who is abusive toward a donkey he is riding, even threatening the donkey’s life. Balaam fails to recognize the donkey as a person, as an individual with whom he has a long-term relationship. In contrast, the donkey is an agent of God and represents all that is good and wise.


Scriptures teach that God is sole proprietor of all that has been created and that God cares for every living being. Numbers 22 highlights God’s sensitivity, attentiveness, and closeness to anymals, simultaneously teaching that unkindness and violence toward anymals is unacceptable to God. In Numbers 22, God affirms that human beings are expected to be kind to other living creatures (“Beit Midrash,” n.p.).

Donkeys are still exploited for labor in many nations, including Israel. (Photo taken in Jerusalem in 2019, courtesy of Iva Rajović and Unsplash.)



Shayne was confiscated by the Israeli police after his previous “owner” was caught abusing him when he was laboring pulling a cart. Though he has terrible scars on his nose from the abuse he received as a working donkey, Shayne is a sweet and gentle soul. (Lucy’s UK Donkey Foundation, “Shayne,” n.p.)


Numbers 22 calls humanity to reflect on relations with anymals, especially those with whom we establish personal relations, those who fall under our power. The narrative informs that when we establish such relations we accrue responsibilities, that these responsibilities grow across time, that living creatures are God’s and not ours, that the Creator remains personally invested in each living being, and that God expects human beings to show compassion, kindness, and mercy toward anymals.


This narrative also shows that God works through anymals, and in so doing, sometimes speaks to human beings. Numbers 22 warns those who would bully or otherwise harm anymals, let alone kill them, that anymals are protected by God. And this includes domesticated, working, farmed anymals—even those whom we think must obey us, including those who appear willful and disobedient. Numbers 22 provides “a moving and eloquent plea on behalf of beasts of burden everywhere” (Regenstein, Replenish, 24).


(For more on God’s ownership of creation, see 5.3.II.B “Creator” and for more on duties assigned to humanity by God, see 5.3.II.A.6 “Duties Assigned by God.”).

Visitor sharing time with donkeys at Godavari Donkey Sanctuary outside of Kathmandu. (Photo courtesy of We Animals Media.)



Donkeys are gregarious, inquisitive, affectionate, and very social. In their natural habitat, they travel in tight-knit herds, but around the world, they’re forced to do hard labor, exploited for entertainment, and killed for their body parts. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, “PETA Is Helping Donkeys,” n.p.)




III. Stories of Saints



Hagiographies, which record the lives of saints, show that Catholic saints have found little to separate humans from the rest of nature (Polk 185) and have often lived in mixed-species religious communities. Like humans themselves, anymals are portrayed as unique individuals (as spiritually gifted, spiritually challenged, devout, willful), each one an individual created by God. Narratives also tell of anymals who assist saints and of saints who protect and serve anymals, as ordained in Genesis 2. “Many accounts from the lives of saints” reveal important inter-species relationships and “a close connection between humans and the natural world” (Hobgood-Oster n.p.).

Jesus appears in the form of a stag to St. Eustace, before his conversion (when he was still hunting and killing anymals), initiating conversion. (Image courtesy of University of California, Irvine)

St. Anthony of Egypt, also known as St. Anthony the Great or the Father of Monks, with his companion, a pig. (Image courtesy of Random Times.)


Moreover, when our hearts are authentically open to universal communion, this sense of fraternity excludes nothing and no one. (Pope Francis, “Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ of the Holy Father Francis on Care for Our Common Home,” n.p)


St. Godric shared company with a cow, seeing to her needs. The cow willingly complied with the saint’s gentle requests, but one day a boy happened by who began to “harry and prod” the cow such that she became “incensed” (Waddell 78). Finally, she caught the boy “between her horns” and charged off “in a great heat of indignation” (Waddell 78). The saint commented that the cow had administered “well-deserved punishment,” that she had rightly terrified the insensitive lad, who had behaved toward the cow with “boldness and presumption” (Waddell 78). This narrative teaches that God’s creatures are owed respect and kindness and that they rightly rebel when treated disrespectfully.

St. Francis was particularly fond of a fish he swam with, whom he called Antonella. When another priest cooked her up for dinner, the prayers of St. Francis restored her to life. (Image courtesy of ListVerse.)


Most famously, St. Francis felt kinship with “animals, plants, the sea and the stars,” acknowledging in his daily life the bonds that link all creatures as kin and that link all creatures to God; when he heard a flock of larks singing, he paused to join them in praising God (Englebert 133, 134, and 184). Perhaps the most famous St. Francis story is that of taming the wolf of Gubbio, who was eating human beings. Terrified of the wolf, locals ventured out only when armed and even then in fear and dread. When Saint Francis came to help, he headed straight for the wolf’s den, unarmed. The wolf lay down at the feet of St. Francis, who said to the wolf “you have . . . committed horrible crimes by destroying God’s creatures without any mercy” (Brown 88-89) He created a “peace pact” between the wolf and the villagers: The wolf agreed never to “hurt any animal or man” (Brown 89). (Canines are scavengers and like many humans, are omnivores who do not need to eat anymal products.) In turn, the people promised that neither they nor their dogs would harass the wolf; instead they would be sure that the wolf had plenty to eat and did not need to kill. The townspeople fed the wolf “courteously” until her passing, two years later, at which time they sincerely mourned the loss of their noble friend (Brown 91). The words of St. Francis ring true for humanity today: When we choose to eat other creatures, we commit “horrible crimes by destroying God’s creatures without any mercy” (Brown 89).

“St. Francis Tames the Wolf of Gubbio” (Image courtesy of Blogs.NTU.edu.)



You are called to care for creation not only as responsible citizens, but also as followers of Christ! (Pope Francis quoted by Daniel Politi, The Slatest, n.p.)



Anymals often assisted saints in ways that humans cannot, and sometimes step up to the plate when humans fail to do so. Saint Blaise and Paul the Hermit were fed by birds. Saint Giles was nursed by a lactating hind, whom he protected from hunters (who shot the saint by mistake) (Hobgood-Oster n.p.). A spider built a web to hide and protect Felix, a bishop and saint, from persecutors (Hobgood-Oster n.p.). An eagle sheltered St. Medard from a rainstorm with her great wings. Celtic St. Brendan and his crew were aided at sea by a whale, who made of her body an island shelter, and were hosted for a week by birds (Zarin 29, 56-61). Crocodiles ferried St. Pachome and Abbot Helenus across a river (Waddell 18). A wild ass helped Abbot Helenus carry a heavy load, and an ox helped a hermit in the desert to water his garden (by which both were then fed) (Waddell 19, 3). Dogs were protectors, companions, and faithful friends to Saint Philip and Saint Rochand; a cat was Julian of Norwich’s companion in her long isolation (Gumbly n.p.).

Julian of Norwich and her cat companion, icon painted by Brother Robert Lentz. (Image courtesy of Sisters of the Incarnation.)



Hagiographies also record anymals and humans living together as monastics, revealing that those closest to God are patient and loving toward anymals, with whom they share the spiritual journey. The fox who was with Saint Moling found discipleship challenging and soon consumed a monastery hen. Having been admonished, the penitent fox snatched a hen from a nearby nunnery to replace the one consumed. The patient St. Moling instructed the fox to return the hen “unharmed” and to live peacefully, “like the rest of the animals” (Waddell 108). The fox who lived with Saint Ciaran was also challenged by discipleship—the hagiographies of St. Moling and St. Ciaran are similar in this respect (Waddell 107-9)—slinking away to the wildlands to chew on a Bible, only to be pursued by hounds, which forced him back to St. Ciaran for penance (Sellner, Wisdom, 81). But the fox again abandoned his vows, this time wandering off to chew the saint’s shoe. Father Ciaran sent brother badger to bring brother fox back to his discipleship, noting that such thievery “becomes not monks” (Waddell 104-05). Remaining in community until the end of their days, St. Ciaran and his five anymal disciples shared many adventures (Waddell 106), all of which speak to interspecies kinship and community, as outlined in scriptures.

St Ciaran with a fox and a deer. (Photo courtesy of Catholic Concern for Animals.)

A fox, rescued from a fur farm in Poland, new to sanctuary life, looking cautiously out from a den. (Photo courtesy of We Animals Media.)



[A] brother called Molua approached the saint while he was writing, and said, “Please bless this implement that I am holding.” Stretching out his holy hand a little, with the pen still in it, he made the sign of the cross over it without looking up from the book that he was copying. Now when Molua had gone away with the blessed implement, Columcille said as if an afterthought, “What was the implement that I blessed for our brother?” “A knife,” said Diarmait, his faithful attendant, “for slaughtering bulls and cattle.” “I trust in my Lord,” the saint replied, “that the implement I blessed will do no harm to people or animals. . . .” [Molua] went out beyond the enclosure of the monastery intending to kill a bullock. Three times he tried, pressing hard, but he could not pierce the skin. [The] monks melted down the iron knife and coated all the implements of the monastery with it, and after that none of these could do any harm, since the saint’s blessing remained. (Edward Sellner, Ph.D., Professor of Pastoral Theology and Spirituality at St. Catherine University, writing about St. Columba/Columcille, Celtic Saints, 37-38)



St. Jerome viewed a donkey and a lion as part of his community, though he failed to understand the nature of the lion, showing that he had much to learn about God’s creatures. After St. Jerome pulled thorns from a lion’s paw, the lion chose to stay at the monastery and kept a close eye to protect the cloister donkey. One day the donkey went missing and St. Jerome concluded that the lion had devoured the donkey, but he did not accuse the lion and “make him wretched” (Waddell 34). Instead, the saint instructed the brothers to treat the lion “as before, and offer him his food,” but to make a harness so that the lion might do the donkey’s labor (Waddell 34). The innocent lion searched tirelessly for his “comrade,” ultimately finding the donkey among thieves; the thieves fled when they saw the lion approach, abandoning their string of camels. The lion brought them all back to the monastery and on seeing the camels, St. Jerome instructed his fellow Christians to “take the loads off these our guests” and feed them (Waddell 34-35): Like the lion and donkey, camels were treated as human beings, in this case they were honored guests.

Sharing life at the monastery: The saint studying, the donkey bringing in firewood, the lion standing guard, Medieval Manuscript. (Image courtesy of British Library.)



Ciaran recognized all animals as his brothers and sisters. The boar realized that Ciaran was a friend and not a foe and so he helped Ciaran to build his cell, tearing down strong branches with his teeth and bringing them to Ciaran. When the cell was finished the boar stayed with Ciaran and soon many other animals joined them, including a wolf, a fox, a badger, a deer and many birds. Ciaran called them all the first brother monks of his little monastery. (St. Ciaran, Catholic Concern for Animals, n.p.)




In a north island monastery, monks lived peacefully with seabirds who built nests “beside the altar. No man presume[d] to molest them or touch the eggs” (Waddell 93). When a chick fell into a rock crevice, St. Bartholomew noticed the distressed mother duck and followed her out to the rocks to rescue her duckling (Waddell 93).


Agape, the love of each one of us for the other, from the closest to the furthest, is in fact the only way that Jesus has given us to find the way of salvation and of the Beatitudes. (Pope Francis, “Quotes,” n.p.)


Saving animals pursued by hunters “is a common storyline” for saints (Sellner, Celtic Saints, 94). St. Maedoc was in prayer when a stag came dashing into his hermitage in search of protection. He threw the corner of his cloak over the stag’s antlers, and the hunting hounds ran past, leaving the deer in peace (Sellner, Wisdom, 169). Saint Kevin of Glendalough protected a hunted boar: “As soon as the boar perceived the dogs near him, he set off down the slope of the glen to seek Kevin’s protection” and of course “Kevin protected the boar” (Sellner, Celtic Saints, 77). Saint Godric also harbored a hunted stag, who arrived at his forest hermitage “shivering and exhausted” (Waddell 90). When the hunters showed up to ask about the stag, the saint “would not be the betrayer of his guest”; the stag thereafter became a regular visitor at Saint Godric’s hermitage (Waddell 91). Contemporary Christians who disrupt hunts to protect anymals are following a long tradition of expressing compassion for the hunted and a longing for peace.

St. Giles, shot by a hunter’s arrow, while offering safe haven to a hunted deer. (Image courtesy of Water Stratford.)


If anyone in his service had caught a bird or little beast in a snare or a trap or a noose, as soon as [Saint Godric] found it he would snatch it from their hands and let it go free in the fields or the glades of the wood. . . . So, too, hares and other beasts fleeing from the huntsmen he would take in, and house them in his hut: and when the ravagers, their hope frustrated, would be gone, he would send them away to their familiar haunts. (Helen Waddell, Beasts and Saints, 1934, p. 87-88; also Sellner, Celtic Saints, 71)

Saint Melangell (604), Welsh patron saint of animals. When the Prince of Powys was rabbit hunting, he pursued a rabbit into a thicket where he found Melangell, “with the hare lying under the fold of her garments, praying. The baying hounds also came under her calming influence. The exasperated prince gave up the chase and, impressed by her piety and courage, presented her with his lands to be a sanctuary for animals. He gave up hunting.” (Image and quote courtesy of Animal Interfaith Alliance.)


Sometimes anymals step in where humans fail in compassion or service to those in need. St. Keneth Cenydd (or Kenneth Cennydd, or in French, Kinède) of Wales, abandoned by humanity as “misshapen,” was taken in by anymals, who became his family and community. He was housed and protected by gulls in his infancy, with a lactating deer providing milk. Baby Keneth “lived happily in his nest. When the wind blew, the birds protected him with their outspread wings, and he grew strong, fed by the milk they brought him every day” (Zarin 49). When grown, he built a hut by the sea, remaining in his anymal community. Stories of this deformed youth living with anymals spread and a holy man came to visit, taking it upon himself to heal Keneth’s body. But Keneth explained that his “infirmity” was the source of his blessing: “Without it, [I] would not have come to live as [I] did with the creatures of the sea and the sky, and because of it [I] could be as one with those most beloved by God” (Zarin 54). Keneth asks the holy man to restore his “infirmity” (his natural body), and he lives happily in the forest with anymals for the rest of his days.

Jen Delyth, “Saint Cenyd.” (Image courtesy of Jen Delyth.)


I Corinthians 1:2

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Kevin with a blackbird and a deer. (Image courtesy of Glendalough Hermitage Centre.)


Conclusion


The presence and voices of anymals in scriptures have much to teach about rightful relations with anymals. Anymals share in the unfolding of events; they show initiative and intelligence. Anymals work with God, show moral fortitude, and provide guidance to humanity.


Genesis 3 depicts the two humans and a snake as neighborly, pausing to chat in their beautiful garden home. The snake, who is shown to be intelligent and honest, attempts to help human beings by sharing knowledge. Numbers 22 indicates that we are to serve and protect creation on behalf of the Creator, as the Creator would do, and that God has a sustained interest in the well-being of all living creatures, as taught in other portions of scripture. Numbers 22, while showing that God protects the Israelites from an imminent curse, also indicates that a donkey can be more attuned to God than a human being.


Hagiographies tell of Christian saints (Catholic tradition) who established and maintained inter-species communities, demonstrating kinship and peace across species, where they were both helped by and helpful to anymals. Hagiographies remind that saints help anymals in distress, including hunted anymals who seek to escape death at the hands of humanity. Their example is important because we are all “called to be saints” (Webb 29).

St Anthony Abbot with anymals, including a pig he cured who became his constant companion. (Courtesy of Allcreatures.org.)


Featured Sources

Kemmerer, Lisa. Animals and Christianity. (Amazon, 2022. http://lisakemmerer.com/publications.html.)

“Saints Who Love Animals.” Catholic Concern for Animals. https://catholic-animals.com/saints-who-loved-animals/

Sellner, Edward. Celtic Saints and Animal Stories: A Spiritual Kinship. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2020. Also Sellner, Edward. Wisdom of the Celtic Saints. Notre Dame: Ave Maria, 1993.

Waddell, Helen, trans. Beasts and Saints. London: Constable, 1934.

Ryder, Richard. “Saints Against Hunting.” AllCreaturs.org. https://www.all-creatures.org/articles/an-tpr-saints-against-hunting.html.

“As Summer Begins, Ministry and INPA Remind Public that Snakes are Protected.” Gov.il: Departments: News: Ministry of Environmental Protection. Oct. 6, 2020. https://www.gov.il/en/departments/news/snake_capture.

Morgan, Diane. Snakes in Myth, Magic, and History: The Story of a Human Obsession. ‎ Praeger, 2008.