I wonder what the animals thought of a baby in the manger. Sitting in church on Christmas Eve, I was struck by the tableau, the ass and oxen and sheep assembled around the Saviour.
These animals have become a standard part of how we tell the story of Jesus Christ. They are not mentioned in gospels. The ass and oxen of the carol[1] may be an allusion to Isaiah[2] and appear regularly in nativity scenes from at least the 15th century. The sheep, presumably, came with the shepherds.[3] And, more creatively, camels with the Magi.[4]
Human Christians see Christ as a saviour for all creation.[5] But, how do non-humans see him? Do non-humans even an have an opinion? And could there be such a thing as non-human Christians?
As a theologian and astrobiologist, I think about this sort of thing. It has come to be known as the “Little Green Jesus” problem, based on speculation about other incarnations of Christ for other worlds. If there is such a thing as astrotheology, this would be the most common question posed – can there be salvation beyond Earth? And beyond humanity?[6]
I’ve always been partial to the idea that one incarnation was enough. Jesus of Nazareth was God become human so that humans – and all creation – might be reconciled to God. God made flesh of Earth, so that Earth – and the cosmos – might be one with God. I’m open to other ideas: multiple incarnations, multiple revelations, and even the idea that other planets may never have fallen and, thus, have not need of reconciliation. They have always been at one with God.[7]
It all sounds like fairy tales and science fiction: from animals praising God in the Hebrew Scriptures,[8] to wise and holy beasts of the Middle Ages,[9] to modern picture books. Why does it matter?
It matters because we always ask this question. For whom did Christ come, and for whom did Christ die, and for whom is the hope of at-one-ment with God?
When I read the Bible, I hear that Jesus was not born in Rome at the centre of empire, but in the remote province of Judea. He did not come from Jerusalem at the centre of faith, but from Nazareth, of low regard.[10] He was not born in a palace, surrounded by courtiers and priests, but in a stable, surrounded by peasants and beasts. The circumstances of his birth are not a point of pride, but of scandal.
And so, when the disciples ask if gentiles may be saved as well as Jews, the answer was yes.[11] Jesus’ Jewishness is not a bar to non-Jews. Christians ask again and again. Can women really be saved? Yes. Jesus’ maleness is not a bar to non-men. Can non-Europeans be saved? Yes. This question is particularly silly as Jesus was not European, but it flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries when many asked whether different races came from different acts of creation. The particularity of his birth was an opportunity, not a requirement.
I do not claim that all will be saved. I hope they will, but if they are not, that is a matter for them and for God, not for me. Can they be saved? Assuredly. Animals and aliens and all creation are caught up in the story of Jesus Christ, not just humans. Animals and aliens and all creation are caught up in the story of my salvation, not just humans. It is not enough to ask if they might be saved; I must ask if I might be saved without them.
God calls us together. And, together, God calls us. The story is not complete without the animals and all those parts of creation God made alongside humanity. I’ll say a prayer then, for the (non-human) animals – for every creature that draws breath.
This Christmas, I keep them in my heart.
Merry Christmas to all. And too all, a good night.
[1] “The Snow Lay on the Ground”
[2] Isaiah 1:3
[3] Luke 2:16
[4] Matthew 2:11
[5] Romans 8:22
[6] Check out Science, Religion, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence by David Wilkinson (2013); Astrotheology, ed. Peters, Martinez, and Moritz (2018); Cosmology in Theological Perspective by Olli-Pekka Vainio (2018); Living with Tiny Aliens by Adam Pryor (2020); and Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine by Andrew Davison (2023)
[7] This was most famously suggested by C.S. Lewis in Perelandra (1943).
[8] e.g., Psalm 148, 150; Isaiah 11
[9] e.g., 11th century “Song of the Ass” and Culhwch and Olwen
[10] John 1:46
[11] Romans 9:22-26; Acts 10:44-48
Lucas's Weblog 
Thanks Mr. Nix. I came to this by way of my interest in BioLogos. I’m commenting because of a statement recently from a friend “I don’t deny Christianity, but I cannot accept the doctrine of Original Sin, as coming from God”. For a long time now, I’ve wondered about “Saved”, as in “saved from” and “saved to”. Tough questions in the science – religion discussion. I’m leaning to a need for change in our Biblical interpretations, as it appears that God the creator has more or less fixed the laws of his creation as we are discovering.
By: Jack on 30 March 2023
at 3:52 pm
Thanks for writing. The older I get, the more I find appealing the idea of original sin as a description of (but not an explanation for) our inescapable limitations, also expressed as increasing entropy and anthropic bias. And yet, it has been used so abusively by other Christians, it is not something I can share as “good news” most days. I prefer to speak of reconciliation and literal at-one-ment with God, neighbor, and nature. On the topic of God’s intervention, I think we erred (missed the point) in the 18th century when we started to speak of God’s action as contrary to nature. The earlier view, orthodox in Christianity, is that God acts under, through, and within nature – as well as, occasionally, changing the rules.
By: dacalu on 31 March 2023
at 8:21 am