Animals

In chapter 9 nine of the problem of pain C.S. Lewis addresses the problem of animals experiencing pain. In this chapter he distinguishes between plants and animals. He even mentions that perhaps animals have some sort of a soul and that they fell before humans did. I came up with a perhaps different idea of looking at the problem of animal pain. Maybe animals are not different from plants. C.S. Lewis said that plants were fine destroying one another because they weren’t high enough of a life form. If animals were on the same level of plants there would be on problem of animal pain. It would just be the way that God made the world. A reason for this line of thinking is the matter of worship. We humans are supposed to worship God and follow his will. As far as we know, I can’t say for certain, animals don’t have to do anything for God. They just live their lives without any code of morals or any expectations. Animals can then be compared to plants that also have nothing expected of them other than to grow and feed the “higher” life forms. It could be that animals perform the same function for us humans; the creature created in his image. In the same way that C.S. Lewis states that he is no theologian, I am nowhere near one either. I’m just trying to maybe look at the animal pain issue in a different light.