Zoology (Animals in the New Testament)

Animals have played significant roles in defining and shaping early Christianity. The fish served as a symbol for the Church from an early period, and Christian attitudes to the sacrifice and consumption of animals helped identify themselves in contrast to other peoples. Despite its relatively smaller size compared with the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, animals are a significant feature throughout the New Testament too. Memorable examples might include the zoological imagery utilized within Jesus’s teaching in the Gospels; the Lamb, Lion, and Beast of Revelation; and Peter’s animal vision in Acts. These texts have been tackled by scholars using a range of different methods. Historical-critical studies have either attempted to identify specific species in the New Testament or have charted changing attitudes to animals in early Christianity. Scholars have also taken a more theological approach to find within the Bible a justification for a Christian animal ethic or a theology of animal welfare. The application of ecological reading methods to the New Testament has also drawn on the references to animals to promote the environmental credentials of the Bible. Most recently, the New Testament has been read in conjunction with critical animal studies which have highlighted the various (and sometimes problematic) ways in which ‘the animal’ has been constructed or interpreted in the text.