“No artful harms for simple brutes”
The End of Nonhuman Suffering in Poetical Works by James
Thomson and Richard Lewis
Melissa Brotton, MS, PhD
La Sierra University
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Intent and Actualization
Appraisal and delight
Universality and inclusion
Presence and participation
Plenitude and blessing
Memory and promise
Gift vs. obligation
1.
(Tonstad, Sigve. The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day
Sabbath School Notes. 12 November 2011)
Big Picture Sabbath
 Rest for people, animals,
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and land
Attention to land ethic
Connections to
economy and ecology
(eco = house)
Human involvement in
the welfare of
nonhuman creation
Creature Identity
Levite Cities
“The cities which were to be
given to the Levites were to
be surrounded by a ‘green
belt’. . . . This ‘common’ was
an open space reserved for
the animals, movable
possessions and other
amenities in the lives of the
citizens (S. R. Hirsch, qtd. in The
Environment and Jewish Law: Essays
and Responsa. Ed. Walter Jacob and
Moshe Zemer. 2003. 47).
What mood will stand, though all be fallen,
The good return that time has stolen,
Though creatures groan in misery,
Their flesh prefigures liberty
To end travail and bring to birth,
Their new perfection in new earth.
At word of that enlivening
Let the trees of the woods all sing
And every field rejoice, let praise
Rise up out of the ground like grass.
What stood, whole in every piecemeal
Thing that stood, will stand through all
Fall-field and woods and all in them
Rejoin the primal Sabbath’s hymn.
 Founded The Royal
Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to
animals in 1824
 Law passed against
cruelty to sheep, cattle,
and horses
 A “leading light in the
campaign against animal
cruelty” (Andrew Linzey, “A
Service for Animal Welfare”)
Portrait of William Wilberforce by Karl
Anton Hickel, 1794, Bridgeman Art Gallery.
Wikimedia. PD.
British philosopher and
advocate of utilitarianism The
greatest happiness to the
greatest number of people is the
measure for right and wrong)
Co-founder of the animal
welfare movement in England
"The question is not 'can they
reason?', nor 'can they talk?',
but 'can they suffer?’”
(Jeremy Bentham, 1780. Henshaw,
1989: 23).
Portrait of Jeremy Bentham by Henry
William Pickersgill c. 1830. Web.
Wikimedia. 14 Nov. 2011. PD.
Jesus was the fountain of healing mercy for the world;
and through all those secluded years at Nazareth, His
life flowed out in currents of sympathy and tenderness.
The aged, the sorrowing, and the sin-burdened, the
children at play in their innocent joy, the little creatures
of the groves, the patient beasts of burden,--all were
happier for His presence. He whose word of power
upheld the worlds would stoop to relieve a wounded
bird. There was nothing beneath His notice, nothing to
which He disdained to minister. (White, Ellen. Desire of Ages,
74).
“Ideal conditions of human
flourishing . . . . that
regularly feature the nonhuman creation and imagine
ideal relationships between
humans and other creatures,
both flora and fauna.”
(Bauckham, Richard. The Bible and
Ecology: Rediscovering the Community
of Creation. Waco: Baylor, 2010. 115.)
Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte)
Garden of Eden. Oil on canvas, 15701573.Galleria Doria-Pamphili, Rome.
Terminartors. Web. PD.
“
In theological terms [Ecotopias] are at least
incipiently eschatological, to be taken up . . . into the
Bible’s overall vision of the future renewal of the
whole creation, but they are also protological in
that, to a greater or lesser extent, they evoke the
prior situation to the expulsion of Adam and Eve,
and prior, therefore, to the historical disruption
between humans and wild nature.” (Bauckham, Richard
115)
“For the creation waits with eager longing for the
revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was
subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him
who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be
set free from its bondage of decay and obtain the
freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know
that the whole creation has been groaning together in
the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the
creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the
spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as
sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8: 19-23).
Animal Souls in Augustine
“For living creatures show their love of bodily peace by their
avoidance of pain, and by their pursuit of pleasure to satisfy
the demands of their appetites they demonstrate their love of
peace of soul. In just the same way, by shunning death they
indicate quite clearly how great is their love of the peace in
which soul and body are harmoniously united.”
(Concerning the City of God against the Pagans. Ed. Henry Bettenson.
Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 4th ed. 1980, 872. Qtd. in Andrew Linzey
and Tom Regan. Animals & Christianity: A Book of Readings. Eugene: Wipf
& Stock. 2007.)
St. Irenaeus (2nd c.)
“and this is our Lord, who in the last
times was made man, existing in
this world, and who in an invisible
manner contains all things created,
and is inherent in the entire
creation, since the Word of God
governs and arranges all things”
(Against Heresies. Writings of Irenaeus. 2 Vols. Ed.
A Roberts and W. H. Ramaut. Edinborough: T & T
Clark, 105-6. Qtd. in Andrew Linzey and Tom
Regan. Animals & Christianity: A Book of Readings.
Eugene: Wipf & Stock. 2007.)
John of the Cross (16th c.)
“but also in this image of His Son
alone [God] left [all things] clothed
with beauty, communicating to
them supernatural being. This was
when He became a man, and thus
exalted man in the beauty of God,
and consequently exalted all the
creatures in him, since in uniting
Himself with man he united
Himself with the nature of them
all”
(The Complete Works. Ed. A. E. Peers. Wheathampstead,
Hertfordshire: Anthony Clarke, 1974. 48. Qtd. in Andrew
Linzey and Tom Regan. Animals & Christianity: A Book of
Readings. Eugene: Wipf & Stock. 2007.)
“Because the creatures are subject to corruption, not through their
natural desire, but by God’s appointment, and also because they
have a hope of being freed hereafter from corruption, it follows
that they groan like a woman in labour until they have been
delivered. This is a most appropriate comparison to inform us that
the groaning of which he speaks will not be in vain or without
effect. It will finally bring forth a joyful and happy fruit. In short,
the creatures are not content with their present condition, and yet
they are not so distressed as to pine away irremediably. They are,
however in labour, because they are waiting to be renewed to a
better state. By saying that they groan together, he does not mean
that they are bound together by common anxiety, but he connects
them with us as our companions.”
(The Epistle of Paul to the Romans and to the Thessolonians. Ed. D. W. Torrance
and T. F. Torrance. London: Oliver and Boyd, 1961, 173-74).
“To descend to a few particulars, the whole creation will then,
undoubtedly, be restored, not only to the vigour, strength,
and swiftness which they had at their creation, but to a far
higher degree of each than they ever enjoyed. They will be
restored, not only to that measure of understanding which
they had in paradise but to a degree of it much higher than
that, as the understanding of an elephant is beyond that of a
worm. . . . they will suffer no more, either from within or
without; the days of their groaning are ended. . . . They shall
enjoy happiness suited to their state, without alloy, without
interruption, and without end.” (Sermons on Several Occasions. Vol. 2.
London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1874, 283-86).
 “Best neoclassical poet of
America”
 “To Mr. Samuel Hastings
(Ship-wright of Philadelphia)
(1729)
 “A Journey from Patapsco in
Maryland to Annapolis” (1730)
 “Food for Criticks” (1731)
 Connections to the Royal
Society
W. H. Butchers. 1806. Bristol Public
Libraries. London Lives: 1690-1800: Crime,
Poverty, and Social Policy in the
Metropolis. Online. PD.
The wond’rous Ark, built by divine
Command,
Rose slowly underneath thy forming Hand:
Finished at Length, the mighty Work appears,
The Labour of an Hundred rolling Years.
Within its Womb, the universal Race
Of Insects, Beasts, Birds, Men, obtain a Place,
Who in due Time should meet a second Birth,
And with their Offspring fill the future Earth
(39-46)
Photograph of the HMS Surprise. Maritime Museum of San
Diego. Original Uploader: Logawi at en.wikipedia. 2 Nov.
2005. GNU FD License.
 Subtitle: “Containing the
Freshest Advices Foreign
and Domestick”
 Focus is birdsong
 Catalogue of birds
adheres closely to the
works of Mark Catesby,
published about the
same time
Mark Catesby, Etchings with Hand
Coloring. “Red Eyed and Little Brown
Flycatcher.” Natural History of
Carolina, Florida and the Bahama
Islands. London. 1731.
Take pattern from the merry piping quail;
Observe the bluebird for a roundelay,
The chatt’ring pie, or ever bab[b]ling jay:
The plaintive dove the soft love verse can teach,
And mimick thrash to imitators preach.
In Pindar’s strain the lark salutes the dawn,
The lyrick robin chirps the ev’nin on”
(Lines 82-88)
What Eden was, by every
prospect told,
Strive to regain the temper of
that age of gold;
(No artful harms for simple
brutes contrive;)
But scorn to take a being they
cannot give;
To leafy woods resort for health
and ease,
Not to disturb their melody and
peace.
(Lines 140-145)
Roelandt Jacobst Savery. Garden of
Eden. Oil on Wood. Royal Museum
of Fine Arts. Antwerp, Belgium. Early
17th. c. Public Domain.
 Epigraph: “Hic sunt gelidi
fontes, hic mollia prata,
Lycori: hic nemus, hic ipso
tecum toto consumerer
aevo” (Virgil, Eclogue
10.42-43)
 Translation: Here are the
cool fountains, here are the
soft meadows, O Lycoris:
Here are the woods, here
could I have spent all my
days with you.
James Morris. “Sheep in a
Meadow.” Oil on Canvas. 1857.
Encore Editions. Web. Public
Domain.
 Scottish poet and
playwright
 “The Seasons”
 Winter (1726)
 Summer (1727)
 Spring (1728)
 Autumn (1730)
 “Rule, Britannia”
Portrait of James Thomson. National
Portrait Gallery of England. C. 1746. Oil on
Canvas. Wikimedia. PD.
Be not the Muse asham’d, here to bemoan
Her Brothers of the Grove, by tyrant Man
Inhuman caught, and in the narrow Cage
From Liberty confin’d, and boundless Air.
Dull are the pretty Slaves, their Plumage dull,
Ragged, and all its brightening Lustre lost;
Nor is that sprightly Wildness in their Notes,
Which, clear and vigorous, warbles from the Beech.
Oh then, ye Friends of Love and Love-taught Song,
Spare the soft Tribes, this barbarous Art forbear!
If on your Bosom Innocence can win,
Music engage, or Pietry persuade. (131-42)
Photo Credit: Vickie Henderson.
“Tufted Titmouse Fun.”
Vicki Henderson Art. Web. http://vickiehenderson.blogspot.com/p/
more-about-me.html.
Oh let not, aim’d from some
inhuman Eye,
The Gun the Music of the coming
Year
Destroy; and harmless, unsuspecting
Harm,
Lay the weak Tribes, a miserable
Prey,
In mingled Murder, fluttering on the
Ground!
Mark Catesby. “The Summer
Red Bird. Natural History of
Carolina, Florida and the
Bahama Islands. London. 1731.
PD.
“Tis come, the glorious morn! the second birth
Of heaven and earth! awakening nature hears
The new-creating word, and starts to life
In every heighten’d form, from pain and death
For ever free. The great eternal scheme,
Involving all, and in a perfect whole
Uniting, as the prospect wider spreads,
To reason’s eye refin’d clears up apace.
Ye vainly wise! ye blind presumptuous! Now,
Confounded in the dust, adore that Power
And Wisdom oft arraign’d” (Winter, 1042-52)
Ye good distress’d!
Ye noble few! who here unbending stand
Beneath life’s pressure, yet a little while,
And what your bounded view, which only saw
A little part, deem’d evil is no more:
The storms of wintry time will quickly pass,
And one unbounded Spring encircle all. (1063-69)
Taken as a whole, biblical law seeks to inculcate a precise
awareness of physical being: of human life in a particular
place, the land of Canaan, shared with other creatures –
trees (Deut. 20:19) and birds and animals (Deut. 22:4, 67; 25:4) – whose own lives are precious and vulnerable.
(Ellen F. Davis. Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading
of the Bible. Cambridge UP, 2009. 82).
Genesis 9:8-9
Everett Gendler
“I now establish My
covenant with you and
your offspring to come,
and with every living thing
that is with you– birds,
cattle and every wild beast
as well, all that have come
out of the ark, every living
thing on earth.”
“In this passage, both the
terms, brit, “covenant” and
ot, “sign,” apply to all living
creatures and to earth, not
only to humans”
(“A Sentient Universe.” Ecology and the
Jewish Spirit. Ed. Ellen Bernstein,
Woodstock: Jewish Lights, 2008).
The Torah affirms three central propositions regarding
animals and their treatment: that although they are
“ownable,” they are more than chattel, that they do
indeed suffer, and that it is incumbent upon us to
minimize that suffering in our dealings with them. . . . as
well as laws of the separation of milk and meat (the life
of the animal and its death), feeding domestic animals
before oneself (Talmud, Berachot 40a), and critical
attitudes to hunting, among others.
(Jeremy Benstein. The Way into Judaism and the Environment.
Woodstock: Jewish Lights, 2006. 103.)
Being righteous necessitates not only providing for
animals, as one would for any property, but also
acquiring intimate knowledge of the animal’s self. This is
neither abstract nor instrumental knowledge; it is part of
a relationship, and as anybody who has had a pet will
attest, the knowledge, and resultant obligation, is
mutual.
(Jeremy Benstein. The Way into Judaism and the Environment.
Woodstock: Jewish Lights, 2006. 105.)
“They never feel soil or
sunshine and rarely the
touch of a human hand. . . .
Photo taken from”Farm Sanctuary” via
“Pigs vs. Pork.” Journey to a Healthier
Me. Web. 27 February 2011. 2
November 2011.
(Ellen F. Davis. Scripture, Culture,
and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading
of the Bible. Cambridge UP, 2009.
98).
“Animals have a kind of dignity
and self-respect, akin to that
possessed by human beings. If
abused, under the influence of
blind passion, their spirits will be
crushed. . . .” (Ellen G. White. Signs of
the Times, 25 Nov. 1880, par. 21)
There were beasts in Eden, and there will be beasts
in the earth made new. Unless the men who have
indulged in cruelty toward God’s creatures here,
overcome that disposition and become like Jesus,
kind and merciful, they will never share in the
inheritance of the righteous. They would, if there,
exercise the same spirit that had not been overcome
here. All disposition to cause pain to our fellowmen or to the brute creation is Satanic. (Signs of the
Times, 25 November, 1880, pars. 21-2).
“It’s not so much a matter
of what you are eating as
who you are eating.”
(Marc Bekoff, June 2011. Association for
the Study of Literature and the
Environment Conference. 11th Biennial
Conference. Indiana University.
Bloomington, IL.)