There may be traumas from which no finite mind could ever recover. But there is almost no evidence at all that any such evil has ever befallen any creature. (p. 129, emphasis added)

When a human suffers, we can think of how at least some suffering may be good for him or her. Perhaps suffering is the best way to develop virtues like perseverance and compassion.

But what about animals? Don’t some animals undergo terrible pain? And yet, one would think that they don’t and can’t have such moral virtues – or even if they can, that they are not intelligent enough to appreciate the value of their own suffering. How could a good God allow the to suffer terribly, while being doomed to never understanding the value of it, assuming there is some?

In his recent book The Problem of Animal Pain: A Theodicy For All Creatures Great And Small, Dr. Trent Dougherty argues that a Christian should think that this will change. Christianity says that saved humans get a huge upgrade. Why not something similar for at least many animals? Near the start of his book, he says:

I will defend the thesis that a class of animals… will not only be resurrected… but will be deified in much the same way that humans will be. …they will become full-fledged persons… who can look back on their lives… then they will accept, though with no loss of the sense of the gravity of their suffering. that they were an important part of something infinitely valuable, and that in addition to being justly, lavishly rewarded for it, they will embrace their role in creation. In this embrace, evil is defeated. (p. 3)

Are you convinced? Let us know in the comments or by audio feedback.

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Bonus: An animal who wants to be eaten, from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy BBC series (from the book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe):