Saving Animals?

Abstract

‘Saving’ language is often employed in relation to animals—both in conservation campaigns and in animal theology—and therefore the question as to how we speak about animal redemption is arguably of both rhetorical and theological importance. This article considers the rhetorical and hermeneutical dynamics of ‘redemption talk’ in the work of two animal theologians, Andrew Linzey and David Clough. Although language alone may not save animals, cultivating life-giving theological grammars that make for the flourishing of all living beings is arguably a slow and deep and important work that has the capacity to go the distance. Rhetoric could herein become a partner to ethical and practical work that shares the concern for the safety of and care for animals, as well as a resource that could shape how the redemption of animals could be imagined publicly. In short, this article seeks to demonstrate that how we speak about animal salvation matters.