Nonhuman Animals in Orthodox Christianity and Contemporary Culture.

by Christina Nellist

Early Christian writers have left us no detailed treatment of the relationship of human beings to nonhuman animal beings. There is no Christian equivalent to the pagan Porphyry’s “On Abstinence From Animal Foods” (third century CE). So is it possible to create a compassionate Christian guide to our treatment of animals from a combination of biblical and ecclesial texts, and teachings from Orthodox theologians and ethicists?

Christina Nellist

Dr Christina Nellist has a PhD in Eastern Orthodox Theology and specializes in animal suffering and human soteriology. She is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics; President and Treasurer of Pan Orthodox Concern for Animals Charity; Board member of the Animal Interfaith Alliance UK; Board member of The Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration in the USA, and Honorary Associate Life Member of the Progressive Veterinary Association.

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