Elizabeth Rosenberger 20'
(book)
“The Lawful treatment of Animals” was written by Thomas Aquinas with the goal to use Catholic teachings
and scriptures to determine “Whether it is Unlawful to Kill Any Living Thing”(Aquinas). In Thomas Aquinas’s
early life he attended the Benedict House for five years studying many scholars and theologians, primarily Aristotle.
Thomas Aquinas’s writing about “The Lawful treatment of Animals” is based on Aristotle’s teachings that “an act is
good or bad depending on whether it contributes to or deters us from our proper human end”. Aquinas’s intended
audience is for theologians, students, followers of the Catholic faith who are discovering the Catholic religion’s perspective
of animals, and any person who is challenging their perspective on how animals should be treated. Aquinas uses evidence and
facts from the Bible to support his claims. Aquinas’s writing titled “Whether it is Unlawful to Kill Any Living Thing” relates
to my research on the Bible’s writings about God’s gift of animals and its connection to the Catholic Church’s teachings that
animals are subject to human use. In the first half of this section, Aquinas states three objections that explain how the Divine
Law’s relation to murdering animals and plants is sinful. Aquinas’s objections claim that “a special punishment had to be inflicted,
according to the Divine law, on the one who killed another man’s ox or sheep (Exod. xxii. I). Therefore the slaying of dumb animals
is a sin” (Aquinas). At the end of this section Aquinas includes a contradiction paragraph that brings forth the perspective that
“‘Thou shalt not kill’ we do not take it as referring to trees, for they have no sense, nor to irrational animals, because they have no
fellowship with us. Hence it follows that the words. ‘Thou shalt not kill’ refer to the killing of a man” (Aquinas). As Aquinas continues
to write he elaborates on the idea that “animals use plants” to live and “men use animals” to live. Aquinas refers to the Book of Genesis
which states that “Everything that moveth and liveth shall be meat to you” in order to connect the Catholic scriptures to Aquinas’s
overall idea that murdering animals is not sinful. The writings in the Book of Genesis and Aquinas’s response to them are significant
to my research because they provide me reasoning to why killing animals is considered “lawful” within the Catholic Church.
and scriptures to determine “Whether it is Unlawful to Kill Any Living Thing”(Aquinas). In Thomas Aquinas’s
early life he attended the Benedict House for five years studying many scholars and theologians, primarily Aristotle.
Thomas Aquinas’s writing about “The Lawful treatment of Animals” is based on Aristotle’s teachings that “an act is
good or bad depending on whether it contributes to or deters us from our proper human end”. Aquinas’s intended
audience is for theologians, students, followers of the Catholic faith who are discovering the Catholic religion’s perspective
of animals, and any person who is challenging their perspective on how animals should be treated. Aquinas uses evidence and
facts from the Bible to support his claims. Aquinas’s writing titled “Whether it is Unlawful to Kill Any Living Thing” relates
to my research on the Bible’s writings about God’s gift of animals and its connection to the Catholic Church’s teachings that
animals are subject to human use. In the first half of this section, Aquinas states three objections that explain how the Divine
Law’s relation to murdering animals and plants is sinful. Aquinas’s objections claim that “a special punishment had to be inflicted,
according to the Divine law, on the one who killed another man’s ox or sheep (Exod. xxii. I). Therefore the slaying of dumb animals
is a sin” (Aquinas). At the end of this section Aquinas includes a contradiction paragraph that brings forth the perspective that
“‘Thou shalt not kill’ we do not take it as referring to trees, for they have no sense, nor to irrational animals, because they have no
fellowship with us. Hence it follows that the words. ‘Thou shalt not kill’ refer to the killing of a man” (Aquinas). As Aquinas continues
to write he elaborates on the idea that “animals use plants” to live and “men use animals” to live. Aquinas refers to the Book of Genesis
which states that “Everything that moveth and liveth shall be meat to you” in order to connect the Catholic scriptures to Aquinas’s
overall idea that murdering animals is not sinful. The writings in the Book of Genesis and Aquinas’s response to them are significant
to my research because they provide me reasoning to why killing animals is considered “lawful” within the Catholic Church.
St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, ET by the English Dominican Fathers (New York: Benzinger Brothers, 1918), Part II, Question 64, Article 1.