Sentient Beings and Purpose

A columnist featured in papers across the country is an animal doctor named Dr. Michael Fox. Dr. Fox believes that humans are not the only sentient beings, echoing the writings of those who deny that humans have any special properties or any right to use animals. This opposes the biblical view of humans and what God intended humans to do and eat. In Genesis 9:3, we read, “Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”

The dictionary tells us that “sentient” comes from the Latin word meaning “feeling,” and it describes things that are alive, able to feel and perceive and show awareness or responsiveness. Having senses makes something sentient, or able to smell, communicate, touch, see, or hear. Dr. Fox and others cling to the idea that everything fits that definition, even applying it to nonliving objects: “atoms and stars … with their consciousness evolving with increasing complexity and individuation.”

Where do claims like Dr. Fox’s lead? First, it denies humans’ needs to enable them to survive. What do you eat if everything is equivalent and equal to human beings? Even if this concept is applied only to animals, you have an impossible situation. The world population of humans requires the consumption of proteins and minerals that we can’t obtain from a diet of only plants.

The most crucial aspect of understanding humans as unique sentient beings is that it gives purpose to life. Sentient beings can perceive, show awareness, and respond. Animals like dogs have senses designed for survival, including seeing, smelling, touching, hearing, and communicating. They do not have an awareness of self or a way of understanding that their existence has a purpose. They have no concept of a life beyond their present existence.

All humans need to take care of the world in which we live. That means caring for animals and plants in such a way that they thrive. Christians have a special reason for doing this because our Creator has challenged us to “take care of the garden (the planet)” (Genesis 2:15). We find this concept throughout the teachings of Jesus. Over and over, Jesus called us to love one another. The Greek word used for love is “agape,” meaning “to consider of enormous value.” We CAN love our enemy (Matthew 5:43-45) if we understand that our enemy is a unique being created in the image of God. Our enemies, like ourselves, are sentient beings with a purpose for existing.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: “The Universal Quality of Sentience” by Dr. Michael Fox, November 25, 2024