Southern Baptist Convention
The official position of the Southern Baptist Convention is one of biblical inerrancy; however, the church is split internally among moderates and conservatives.
Number of Members: 16.4 million
Governing Body: Southern Baptist Convention, consists of “church messengers” (lay) and officers, convenes every year in early June.
| Official Statements on Animals |
"The Creator has ordained that humans exercise morally responsible dominion stewardship over the earth and all its creatures (Genesis 1:26) and calls us to love our neighbor (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:31)."
-- from Southern Baptist Convention Resolution "On Human Species-Altering Technologies," June 2006
"God created men and women in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27), placing them in value above the rest of creation and commanding them to exercise caring stewardship and dominion over the earth and environment (Genesis 1:28; cf. Psalm 8). . . . Some in our culture have rejected God the Father in favor of deifying 'Mother Earth,'. . .and elevated animal and plant life to the place of equal--or greater--value with human life."
-- from Southern Baptist Convention Resolution "On Environmentalism and Evangelicals," June 2006
| Contemporary References on Animals |
Southern Baptists believe that the Bible is the living Word of God; therefore, the Bible forms the touchstone for all Southern Baptist teachings on the environment and other animals. Because of this belief in Biblical inerrancy, how one interprets the scriptures plays a crucial role in determining how humans ought to behave toward the rest of the creation.
In the book of Genesis, for instance, it is written that humans alone are created in God's image, and that we are to have "dominion" over all other beings (Gen. 1:26). But "dominion" does not mean that humans are given license to do as we please. Instead, we are to act as wise stewards, caring for the creation on behalf of all beings (Gen. 2:15). In the end, "the Earth is the Lord's and all that is in it" (Ps. 24:1), and Southern Baptists believe that those who have been saved, in particular, will be called to account by God for our treatment of His creation and the other beings He has created.
Other Southern Baptist teachings on nature and other animals that are referenced below include the importance of animals in opening people's hearts to the divine; the similarity between our care for other animals and God's care for us; the intrinsic value of all parts of the creation, and God's concern for each part; the similarity of humans to other animals as beings created by God; and our special duty to protect other animals who cannot protect themselves.
Other animals help open people's hearts to God:
"Nature is rife with wonderful examples of new birth--all mysterious and yet wonderful. Take the lowly caterpillar. His lot seems an empty and useless one, threatened by man, beast and fowl. But one day he climbs up into a bush and nature throws a fiber robe around him. He goes to sleep. In a few short weeks there is movement within the fibrous coat, and out of that cocoon emerges a beautiful, resplendent winged creature. He soars over the old pitfalls that used to entrap him, and like a winged angel flies from one fragrant flower to another. . . . The world of nature is filled with beautiful analogies of the spiritual birth. They all speak eloquently to man, who by nature is given to evil, telling him that there is a higher, more triumphant manner of life for him."
-- from Rev. Billy Graham's message on "The New Birth," The Hour of Decision radio broadcast, 1955
Our caring for other animals is similar to God's caring for people:
"One day I was walking along the road with my little boy, who was then five years of age, and we stepped on an ant hill. We killed a lot of ants and wounded a lot of others, and I said to Ned, 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could go down there and help those ants rebuild their house and bury their dead, take care of their wounded?' He said, 'But, Daddy, we are too big. We can't get down there and help those ants.' I thought for a moment. 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could become an ant and live in an ant world?' And that is what God did. God Almighty decided to become a man and that is who Jesus Christ was."
--from Rev. Billy Graham's sermon on "Why God Allows Suffering and War," Houston Crusade, 1965
Creation is good on its own, apart from human use, so loss of any part of it causes God sadness:
"[God] reveals that His creation is valuable to Him, apart from humanity, by referring to other aspects of creation as 'good' before He created human beings (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). ... [T]his care for creation survives the Fall. In Genesis 9:8-17, NIV God tells Noah that He was establishing a covenant 'with you' and 'with every living creature.' ... God's concern for and 'valuing' of the creation has an eschatological dimension as well. God's redemption in Christ involves nature as well as humankind. ... The creation is important enough to God that God looks upon it as part of those things to be redeemed by the sacrifice, the death, the resurrection, the ascension and the second advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (The Earth Is the Lord's, p.22)
--Richard D. Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and former executive director of the Southern Baptist Convention Christian Life Commission.
"In the biblical understanding of things, God has created everything. ... We also must note the variety and complexity of God's creating work. He made many different kinds of creatures, each on its own day, and each after its kind. Each was a creation of God, and evidently each was an important part of His creating work. It was only when He completed the entire process that God looked upon His creation and pronounced it very good. ... Thus it is good that the creation has its fullness and richness. So each part of the creation, each type, each 'kind' in the biblical terminology, is important in making the creation all that it is. Eliminating any one of these kinds consequently is a loss that God regrets. On a continuing basis, numerous species are becoming extinct. It may seem a small matter to us when some obscure species, such as the snail darter, of which numerous similar species exist, passes out of existence. Yet in God's sight the creation has, at least to some degree, become a bit impoverished as a result." (The Earth Is the Lord's, pp.37-38)
--Millard J. Erickson, distinguished professor of theology, Western Seminary, Portland, Ore. and former vice president and dean of Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minn.
Humans are the only creatures made in God's image, and hence are first in importance of all the creation; however, this dominance of humans is tempered by our God-given duty to be wise stewards, and by the God-given rights of other beings:
"God has placed human beings first in creation. ... [But] this strong teaching of human preeminence and dominion in the created order is balanced by God's announcement that He put human beings in the creation 'to dress it and to keep it' (Gen. 2:15, KJV). The verb 'dress' (avadh) means 'to work, to till' and keep (shamar) means 'to keep, guard, protect.' Other passages detail God's expectations that human beings carefully manage land (Lev. 25:1-5), wildlife (Deut. 22:6), and domestic animals (Deut. 25:4).
These passages tell us that creation belongs to God. As stewards of His property, we are responsible for protecting His creation. We come first. We must remember, however, that while human life demands reverence, all life deserves respect. We have the right to use animals and plants for human good. We do not have the right to disregard living things or to treat them as inanimate objects. We have the right to domesticate and raise cattle and to use them for human food. We do not have the right to act in a callous, cruel, or cavalier manner toward any living creature. We have a right as painlessly as possible to use animals in research to better human health. I don't believe we have the right to use animals or to cause them discomfort merely to improve cosmetics." (The Earth Is the Lord's, p. 23)
--Richard D. Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and former executive director of the Southern Baptist Convention Christian Life Commission.
"We must recognize the rights of other members of the creation besides the humans. All creatures are God's creatures, are objects of His love, and valuable to Him. God placed us on earth not only to utilize these creations for our sake but to manage the universe for the sake of its various inhabitants. We are not the only ones who have divinely bestowed rights. Of course, a human is more valuable than is a member of another species. ... Humans' rights take precedence over similar rights of other creatures, but not all rights of humans take precedence over all rights of other creatures. Destroying animal life, not to sustain human life, but merely for human amusement, is not right." (The Earth Is the Lord's, p.86)
--Millard J. Erickson, distinguished professor of theology, Western Seminary, Portland, Ore. and former vice president and dean of Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minn.
"[T]he Bible views animal and plant life as belonging to God and given to humankind to use as a resource in God's service and for His glory. The Genesis account of creation makes this clear, as do numerous other passages. ... God in his Word expresses concern for animal life: 'Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn' (Deut. 25:4, KJV)." (The Earth Is the Lord's, p.130)
--William M. Pinson Jr., distinguished visiting professor in Christian Ethics, Baylor University; executive director emeritus of the Executive Committee of the Baptist General Convention of Texas; and former president of the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Mill Valley, Calif.
"Being told to have dominion over the earth does not mean we are to be the lords of the earth; we have only one Lord. It does not mean we are to go about the earth pillaging and torching the earth; we are to subdue the earth. To have dominion literally means to bring the earth under control for the sake of all of us, including the animal kingdom. It means not to conquer the earth but to care for and to cultivate the earth." (The Earth Is the Lord's, p.154)
--Jack N. Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano, Texas, and former President of the Southern Baptist Convention (2002-2004)
Humans were created by God, like every other creature, and therefore we should have sympathy for other created beings:
"[T]he Bible lists the creation of the human being in the same passage with the creation of the other beings. One thing is distinct about the account--it says God created the other creatures 'after their kind,' whereas God made the human in His own image. ... Thus, some points of similarity as well as points of difference evidently occur between the human and the other creatures. Interestingly, the creation of the human does not even involve a separate day of creation, but occurs on the sixth day--the same day as the animals. This means that in some sense we are kin with the rest of the creation. One does not have to hold that we are evolved from them to believe this. It merely means that, like them, we also are creatures and the same Creator has created us. ... If we fully realize this, we know that the empathy we feel or should feel for the other human beings also will, to a lesser extent, extend to the rest of the creation as well." (The Earth Is the Lord's, p.45)
--Millard J. Erickson, distinguished professor of Theology, Western Seminary in Portland, Ore. and former vice president and dean, Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minn.
Humans have a special duty to protect other animals who cannot protect themselves:
"During the Persian Gulf War, I felt sad as I watched on television the struggling birds coated with the oil in the Gulf. Every Christian's heart must understand and be sensitive to the struggle for life. My heart ached as I watched these birds, because the life of this world is the only life these creatures will know. We must be sensitive to protection for those who cannot protect themselves. We also must be sensitive to productivity as we fulfill the responsibility God gives us on this earth as we wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus. ... We are stewards of God's creation, and we are responsible and accountable for our stewardship of what He has entrusted to our watchcare" (The Earth Is the Lord's, pp.29-30)
--Morris H. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
Those who have been saved have a special responsibility to protect creation, and will be called to account by God for their stewardship efforts (or lack thereof):
"God also has given people dominion over all that He has made. ... We are His stewards. The Psalms say that all animals--domestic and wild, as well as fish and fowl--are under the dominion of the human race which God has made and into whose hands God has entrusted His creation. Nothing is left out. All of this universe is to be under humanity's dominion and humanity's responsibility. A saved individual is even more responsible and, therefore, must give an account." (The Earth Is the Lord's, pp.162-163)
--Robert E. Naylor, president emeritus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas
"Stewards are accountable. ... [A]s stewards, we will be held accountable before God for our stewardship of planet earth. Will it be poor or good stewardship? As stewards, humans are accountable to God, the owner, for whether we prudently use or wantonly abuse His creation." (The Earth Is the Lord's, p.199)
--Lamar E. Cooper Sr., executive vice president and provost of Criswell College in Dallas, Texas
FURTHER RESOURCES
King, Joe. 1991. Animals: God's Faithful Servants. El Paso: SunDance Press. (The author is a Southern Baptist minister and veterinarian; see www.animalsouls.com)
Land, Richard D. and Louis A. Moore, eds. 1992. The Earth Is the Lord's: Christians and the Environment. Nashville: Broadman Press. (contains revised versions of presentations from the 24th annual seminar of the Southern Baptist Convention Christian Life Commission)
Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative, www.baptistcreationcare.org
We Get It! website on responsible stewardship, www.we-get-it.org (The We Get It! declaration has been officially endorsed by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention)
