The Friends We Keep

Laura Hobgood-Oster is Paden Chair and Professor of Religion and Environmental Studies, Southwestern University. She is the author of The Friends We Keep . She lives in Georgetown, Texas.

Preface: Writing a History of Animals in Christianity Introduction: Even Dogs Deserve the Crumbs 1 What a Friend We Have: Our Animal Companions 2 Lions and Christians: Animals in Sport 3 Eating Mercifully: Animals for Food 4 Good Christian Hospitality: Animals at Home on the Earth 5 Where Have All the Animals Gone? Group Discussion Guide How to Help: Ideas for Individuals and Households How to Help: Ideas for Communities and Congregations Additional Resources

"For personal reading, and for group study, there is none better than this! Hobgood-Oster raises the toughest questions and helps us find biblical answers." --Thomas P. Eggebeen, Pastor, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles "Wonderful. Read and share this inspiring, wide-ranging, and easy-to-read book so that we can all expand our compassion footprint to every being, big and small, furred and finned." --Marc Bekoff, best-selling author of The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy--and Why They Matter A carefully researched and powerfully argued book - both moving and revelatory." - Wayne Pacelle, President & CEO, The Humane Society of the United States "Well-balanced and highly readable, The Friends We Keep has all the virtues of good scholarship while being wonderfully suitable for a wide range of readers. Hobgood-Oster has provided a superb example of how to combine scholarship with faith experience and active citizenship. I heartily recommend it." --Paul Waldau, President of the Religion and Animals Institute, Bob Barker Lecturer on Animal Law at Harvard Law School, and author of The Animal Invitation: Religion, Law, Science, and Ethics in a More-Than-Human World "At last! A compelling and engaging book on how faith can speak to both our love for animals and our concern for their fate. This is a must-read for anyone who has ever loved a pet or who is concerned about the impact humans have on the livelihood of species." --Janetta Cravens Boyd, Senior Minister at University Christian Church in Seattle, Washington "I hope this is a book to which many will turn. In such lively and engaging prose, Hobgood-Oster shines a light on a hidden ethical issue so that we are forced to wake up to practices that have been tolerated and reinforced by Christians and our theology." --Wendy Farley, Professor of Religion, Emory University "With her sensitive retracing of the place of animals in the lives of saints and her constructive proposals for how Christians might include them with religious life in respectful ways, Laura Hobgood-Oster provides answers to the great questions surrounding faith and animals in this short, beautiful book." --Jay McDaniel, Author of Of God and Pelicans, Earth, Sky, Gods, and Mortals With Roots and Wings. This paperback is highly recommended for undergraduate seminars or Christian adult study groups on topics concerning animal rights, environmental ethics, or religious responses to current social issues. -- Susan Power Bratton, Baylor University -- Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture