Animal Pneumatology

Beschreibung

“The animal question is a key challenge of our time, with profound implications for Christian doctrine and practice. Rizzo’s book is an important contribution to the growing field of theological engagement with animals, addressing a significant lacuna in previous work in the field through a careful and well-informed exploration of pneumatology.”
—David L. Clough, Chair in Theology and Applied Sciences, University of Aberdeen, UK

“What a beautiful, enlightening book! Laced with biblical, theological, ethical, and scientific insights, its exploration into the relationship between the Spirit and animals is positively eye-opening. Knowledgeable about today’s debates, Rizzo imbues the discussion with unusual warmth and keenness due to her own participation in the Pentecostal tradition. Among the welcome sea of books on ecological theology, this book stands out as a genuinely original must-read. There is simply nothing else like it.”
—Elizabeth A. Johnson, Distinguished Professor of Theology Emerita, Fordham University, USA

This book offers the first systematic theological exploration of animal pneumatology, examining the role of the Holy Spirit in relation to non-human creatures. While animal theology has been significantly advanced by theologians such as Andrew Linzey and David Clough, no dedicated monograph has yet brought pneumatology into sustained conversation with animal existence. This book addresses that lacuna by developing a comprehensive theological framework that integrates biblical, historical, and contemporary sources.

Each chapter explores a distinct dimension of pneumatology—creation, predation, redemption, eschatology, and creaturely communication—in relation to non-human animal life, arguing that the Spirit’s presence and activity extend beyond humanity to encompass all sentient creation. By foregrounding the Spirit’s relational, sustaining, and communicative work, the book challenges anthropocentric assumptions that continue to shape both theology and ethics.

Daniela Rizzo is a Lecturer in Systematic Theology at Alphacrucis University College, Australia and a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.

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Daniela Rizzo

Themen in »Animal Pneumatology«

Pneumatology eco-theology systematic theologies environmental ethics human-animal relations

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“If human flesh at Pentecost received power to bear witness to the ends of the Earth, Daniela Rizzo's attentiveness to the full scriptural testimony to animals shows that their witness via the primordial infusion of divine breath has already resonated cosmically even in and through the appearance of adamic failure. Animal Pneumatology prophetically announces how the sanctifying work of Yahweh unfolded on the creational week not just anticipates human redemption but also heralds the incarnational and spirited worship of all God's living creatures around the eternal throne. Carefully read and then even more meticulously reread this book: herein the many tongues of the pneumatological imagination are unleashed for our age of the Anthropocene!” (Amos Yong, Professor of Theology and Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, USA)

“Rizzo dismantles anthropocentric thinking by arguing persuasively that animals are active participants alongside humanity in the divine liberation of creation. Her book raised provocative and significant theological issues for me that I should have long ago taken more seriously. I have become deeply grateful for her voice.” (Frank D. Macchia, Professor of Systematic Theology, Vanguard University; Associate Director of the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies, Bangor University, Wales, UK)

“Most theologians agree that God’s creation includes ‘all flesh,’ though most often in general but regrettably seldom in particular. This book, in contrast, offers an unprecedented counterbalance by focussing our attention to the sentient animals as theological subjects. In an exceptional way, the author deepens existing animal theologies with the rich diversity of pneumatology, inventively acknowledging the animals as co-creatures of the Holy Spirit in the Triune’s history of salvation. I am sure the reader will face animals in a new caring way through this thought-provoking work.” (Sigurd Bergmann, Professor emeritus in Religious Studies, Trondheim/Uppsala/Munich/Lund; Secretary of the European Forum for the Study of Religion and the Environment)

“In this book Rizzo breaks exciting new ground. Here God and Earth, divinity and animality, revelation and carnal existence are one. Challenging the conventional Christian dualism between Creator and creation, Rizzo envisions the natural world as enlivened by the Spirit in its solidarity with all the vulnerable and suffering denizens of Mother Earth. A must for readers at the intersection between new animal studies and the importance of the Holy Spirit in Christian thought.” (Mark Wallace, James Hormel Professor of Social Justice, Dept. of Religion, Swarthmore College, USA)

“The animal question is a key challenge of our time, with profound implications for Christian doctrine and practice. Rizzo’s book is an important contribution to the growing field of theological engagement with animals, addressing a significant lacuna in previous work in the field through a careful and well-informed exploration of pneumatology.” (David L. Clough, Chair in Theology and Applied Sciences, University of Aberdeen, UK)

“What a beautiful, enlightening book! Laced with biblical, theological, ethical, and scientific insights, its exploration into the relationship between the Spirit and animals is positively eye-opening. Knowledgeable about today’s debates, Rizzo imbues the discussion with unusual warmth and keenness due to her own participation in the Pentecostal tradition. Among the welcome sea of books on ecological theology, this book stands out as a genuinely original must-read. There is simply nothing else like it.” (Elizabeth A. Johnson, Distinguished Professor of Theology Emerita, Fordham University, USA)

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