Against Christian Anthropocentrism
Christians wrongly claim that God made all things for the sake of
humanity. All things came about for the sake of non-reasoning animals as much
as for human beings. [. . . ] 4.75Thunder, lightning, and rain are
not the works of God, but if one grants that these are God’s works, why would
they be designed for human nourishment any more than for the nourishment of
plants—trees, grass, and thorns? Even if you say that such plants grow for
human beings, why do you say they grow for humans as opposed to the most wild
of non-reasoning animals? [. . . ]
. . .
4.88Those who
claim this superiority should know that many of the other animals lay claim to
this, and quite reasonably. What is more divine than foretelling the future and
showing it ahead of time/ This, then, humans learn from other animals, and in
particular from birds. Whoever listens to their revelations become mantic
prophets. Now if birds and other animals are endowed by God with the mantic art
to foreknow the future and to teach us through symbols, how much more reasonable
is it that these animals are naturally nearer to communion with God, and that
they are wiser and much loved by God.
. . .
4.99Therefore
all things have not been made for humanity as if they were not made for the
lion, eagle, or dolphin, Rather, all things have been made so that this cosmos
might become the work of God as a whole, perfect from all its parts. For this
reason God put all things in proportion, not intending one thing to serve
another, unless by coincidence; rather, he proportioned the whole. And God
cares for the universe, and his providence never ceases, nor does something
evil emerge, nor does God turn back into himself after some time, nor does he
become enraged at human actions, just as he does not become enraged by the
actions of apes or flies. He does not threaten them, as each of them has
received its allotment as part of the whole. [. . . ] (M. David Litwa, Celsus
in His Own Words: A Translation of The True Teaching [Melbourne, Australia:
Gnosis, 2024], 40, 42, 43)
