Animals and the Kingdom of God Lecture

11th Animals and the Kingdom of God Lecture:
“Being Human Takes Practice: Toward a Liberative Theological Anthropology”
Reverend Dr. Christopher Carter
Assistant Professor of Theology, University of San Diego

Lecture Abstract:

In this lecture I will examine the "human/animal tension" in Christian theology through the lens of theological anthropology - that is, the theological understanding of the God-human encounter. I suggest that traditional  Christian anthropologies premised upon oppressive hierarchal relationships between humans and non-human animals are inconsistent with the vision of the human person described in scripture. Moreover the terms "human" and "animal" have been infused with sociological meanings that normalize the oppression of all those deemed as an "animal." As such, I will conclude the lecture by fashioning a liberative theological anthropology, that is, a way of being human that recasts the God-human encounter in ways that can lead to the collective flourishing of all Creation. 

About the Lecturer:

Rev. Dr. Christopher Carter’s teaching and research interests are in Black & Womanist Theological Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Religion & Food, and Religion & Animals. His publications include The Spirit of Soul Food (University of Illinois Press, forthcoming), “Blood in the Soil: The Racial, Racist, and Religious Dimensions of Environmentalism” in The Bloomsbury Handbook on Religion and Nature (Bloomsbury, 2018) and the co-edited volume The Future of Meat Without Animals (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016). In them, he explores the intersectional oppressions experienced by people of color, the environment, and animals. Currently he is an Assistant Professor of Theology at the University of San Diego, a Faith in Food Fellow at Farm Forward, and Assistant Pastor at Pacific Beach UMC.