Have you heard that all animals were tame in Paradise and only ate plants? I did, but it sounded strange to me. Here is a reply from Thomas Aquinas, 13th century:
“In the opinion of some, those animals which now are fierce and kill others, would, in that state, have been tame, not only in regard to man, but also in regard to other animals. But this is quite unreasonable. For the nature of animals was not changed by man’s sin, as if those whose nature now it is to devour the flesh of others, would then have lived on herbs, as the lion and falcon.”
– Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, part I q 96, Reply to Objection 2.
Picture: Jan Brueghel the Elder: Earth, or The Earthly Paradise, detail of animals, 1607-08
| Written by B M Moritz | Science meets Faith | Read full story at Read More
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