M
Mijoy2
Guest
I just watched an amazing video of a leopard capturing a live alligator in a muddy river and dragging it to shore in an apparent attempt to make a meal of it.
It got me to thinking, not the first time about this topic, as to how such a violent act factors into the story of salvation history.
The argument, I believe, for this kind of violence in the animal kingdom is that we live in a fallen world due to sin and therefore the eat or be eaten laws of the animal kingdom are a result of this fallen world.
When we look at the animals in this beautiful world we can see that they are beautifully designed to fit their respective needs. From the leopard/alligator example above we can see that the powerful leopard jaws and shape and placement of it’s teeth are structured perfectly to accomplish the task of capturing and hanging on the the alligator. We could go on and on finding such fascinating examples. Another would be the great white shark…etc.etc.
However, these are the difficulties I have this argument.
As Catholics are we to believe that these animals evolved to develop their powerful tools of nature? If not then why are these animals designed with attributes that clearly have no other purpose than to kill? If the Lion were designed to “lay down with the lamb” then why such a powerful body and perfectly designed teeth for grasping killing and eating raw flesh?
What will be the world to come? Will we be petting leopards and swimming at the beach with great whites while holding on to it’s dorsal fin like in Flipper?
There is a lot that just doesn’t add up. We are not to believe in macro-evolution (I think). Does this mean God designed the Lion to be a passive animal and to lay down with the lamb? The design then of the lion would seem pretty foolish.
Anyway just throwing this out there for a little fun and to see if others have had similar thoughts and difficulties with this…
It is an amazing world, of course. However it appears to be deliberately designed with the intention of violence being a necessity for survival.
Perhaps that is the answer. Perhaps the necessary violence of survival in the animal kingdom is in fact part of God’s design. And, if there is to be a similar world in eternity, it will exhibit a similar wild kingdom where eat-or-be-eaten will still be the law of the land.
It got me to thinking, not the first time about this topic, as to how such a violent act factors into the story of salvation history.
The argument, I believe, for this kind of violence in the animal kingdom is that we live in a fallen world due to sin and therefore the eat or be eaten laws of the animal kingdom are a result of this fallen world.
When we look at the animals in this beautiful world we can see that they are beautifully designed to fit their respective needs. From the leopard/alligator example above we can see that the powerful leopard jaws and shape and placement of it’s teeth are structured perfectly to accomplish the task of capturing and hanging on the the alligator. We could go on and on finding such fascinating examples. Another would be the great white shark…etc.etc.
However, these are the difficulties I have this argument.
As Catholics are we to believe that these animals evolved to develop their powerful tools of nature? If not then why are these animals designed with attributes that clearly have no other purpose than to kill? If the Lion were designed to “lay down with the lamb” then why such a powerful body and perfectly designed teeth for grasping killing and eating raw flesh?
What will be the world to come? Will we be petting leopards and swimming at the beach with great whites while holding on to it’s dorsal fin like in Flipper?
There is a lot that just doesn’t add up. We are not to believe in macro-evolution (I think). Does this mean God designed the Lion to be a passive animal and to lay down with the lamb? The design then of the lion would seem pretty foolish.
Anyway just throwing this out there for a little fun and to see if others have had similar thoughts and difficulties with this…
It is an amazing world, of course. However it appears to be deliberately designed with the intention of violence being a necessity for survival.
Perhaps that is the answer. Perhaps the necessary violence of survival in the animal kingdom is in fact part of God’s design. And, if there is to be a similar world in eternity, it will exhibit a similar wild kingdom where eat-or-be-eaten will still be the law of the land.