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Writer's pictureChapman Chen

”We are Obligated as Christians to Protect Animals!”~ Pastor Dr. Tony Campolo. Ed. Dr. Chapman Chen




 

We are obligated as Christians to reach out into the animal kingdom and say you've been abused; you've been misused; you've been many of your species have been driven to extinction; we're here in the name of Jesus to protect you. (Campolo 2017)

 

In his interview (2017) “All of Creation Worships God!” given to Sarx, Pastor Dr. Tony Campolo (1935–2024) says that Christ’s redemptive work encompasses all of creation, not just humanity. Drawing on scripture such as Psalm148 and Romans 8, he emphasizes the interconnectedness of all life and the divine calling to care for animals as part of God’s kingdom. Full Texthttps://www.vegantheology.net/post/we-are-obligated-as-christians-to-protect-animals-~-pastor-dr-tony-campolo-ed-dr-chapman-chen

 

Pastor Campolo was an esteemed American theologian and pastor. A member of the American Baptist Churches USA, he was co-founder of the Red Letter Christians movement. He also served as a professor emeritus at Eastern University. His published works include Red Letter Christians: A Citizen’s Guide to Faith and Politics, advocating for a Christ-centered approach to social justice (2008); How to Rescue the Earth Without Worshiping Nature (1992), which reflects Campolo's concern for the environment and his theological call to care for creation, aligning with his broader animal theology.

 

Campolo, however, is self-contradictory in his animal theology. On the one hand, he points out that “Christians, more than any others, seem to have turned deaf ears to the pleas to save God's creation from what has to be called sinful exploitation” (Campolo 1992, p. 3). On the other hand, he states that “it is not sinful to sacrifice that which is lower on the creation hierarchy of life for that which is higher” (Campolo 1992, p. 181). Campolo’s paradoxical attitude in this regard is largely due to his misinterpretation of human “dominion” in Genesis 1:26, 28 as lordship over other species instead of humans serving the animals.

 

Source:

Tony, Campolo (2017). “All of Creation Worships God!” Sarx, May 18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDGK9DJ6Gq8&t=22s 

 

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