Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Animal Instinct
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Genesis 1:26-27
Not only is man shaped differently from animals, but also no animal can talk or has hands like a human. Greater than anything else, man has intelligence so far exceeding any animal's that there is no possibility of comparison. Because of these things, we can easily conclude that God created man to have dominion, to rule. He is a creation patterned after the God-kind, having both intelligence and freedom of will. Animals are not self-determining; their actions are predetermined by God-created instinct. Thus, their wills are limited by what God has imposed on them. They cannot determine to meet a companion animal in two weeks at a certain location, then plan each day as to what they will do and what route they will take to meet their animal friend. It was man's high quality of intelligence combined with freedom of will that qualified him to be given dominion over every other form of life on earth.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Genesis 1 and Free-Moral Agency
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Exodus 21:33-34
As Creator, God knows that the intelligence level of these beasts is not so high that they can avoid pitfalls beyond what He has "programmed" into their instinct. This law, then, pressures men to take precautions around animals for their sake. The same principle is true for plants: "If fire breaks out and catches in thorns, so that stacked grain, standing grain, or the field is consumed, he who kindled the fires shall surely make restitution" (Exodus 22:6). Obviously, these laws have economic and criminal implications, but the ecological benefits are clear. They forestall people from taking a careless approach to their living environment, and their principles apply to all sorts of ecological abuses.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Bible and the Environment
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