ABSTRACT
Creation and salvation are by convention distinguished theologically, yet we cannot understand the latter without the former. By ‘salvation’ I mean the totality of the effects of God’s work in Christ and in Spirit, not just on earth but in the cosmos as a whole: the work of bringing not only humanity but creation itself to a point where it is no longer subject to frustration and in bondage to decay (Rom. 8:20-1). The salvation of humans is clearly related to salvation from sin, and from its consequences before God. But what about other creatures, and what about animals in particular? While higher primates do exhibit incipient forms of moral sentiment,1 animals appear not to sin: what could ‘salvation’ mean in their case? Yet, like humans, animals have participated in the suffering of creation – in predation and sickness, in the death of species, and as victims of catastrophes such as asteroid impact. If salvation is the work of the God who is the creator, sustainer and lover of all life, what might it mean for such creatures also to share in the effects of God’s redemptive action, to participate in the new life that God establishes in the work of salvation, and thus to experience God’s merciful completion to their earthly story? How might further consideration of the character of God shed light on this question?2
