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6 ACKNOWLEDGING KINSHIP AND PRACTICING COMPANIONSHIP As they contemplated a close and unencumbered relationship with God, the early Christian desert fathers, Celtic wanderers, and English hermits conveyed a variety of positive attitudes toward the animals and natural environment of their temporal homes. Primary among these attitudes was an affinity—a kinship , in the broadest sense of the term1—for a close and caring relationship with other animals, as conveyed in the hagiographies produced by their contemporaries .2 Writings by and about Francis of Assisi heightened this attitude as he interacted with the wild animals he encountered and other natural phenomena he experienced. The human relationship with other species is even more profound today. Cosmological and biological findings underscore the relatedness of humans to other species over vast periods of time—from the initial beginning of the universe and the subsequent death of stars that yielded elements essential to life, through the formation of galaxies with at least one solar system and a planet within which simple forms of life emerged, and through the evolutionary process that yielded increasingly complex species, including Homo sapiens. When the sentiments of the Christian saints are informed by the facts and theories of evolutionary, molecular , and ethological biology, the behavior pattern suggested should propel more responsible attitudes and actions toward other species. This chapter provides examples of the various ways in which the saintly desert fathers, Celtic wanderers, English hermits, and Francis of Assisi expressed their intimate relationships with wild species and natural places.3 Subsequently explained are current evolutionary and molecular biological findings that underscore the close relationship between humans and other species. The next section explores the significance for Christian ethics that the metaphysical hypothesis of biophilia posits for rethinking the human relationship with other species and the natural environment. In the conclusion, I identify some basic 149 patterns of behavior that are suggested when the kinship concept, with its accompanying notion of companionship, is informed by subdisciplines of biology. Early Christian and Medieval Hagiography The various attitudes that the Christian desert fathers, Celtic wanderers, English hermits, and Francis of Assisi conveyed toward animals and the natural environment were precipitated by several factors. Among these are the reasons why they moved into remote settings, the topographies of the places in which they settled, and the types of animals they encountered. One constant factor prevailed among these saints—their shared faith in God as their creator, sustainer in existence, and redeemer, in whose presence they wished to spend eternal life. According to the “History of the Monks of Egypt” and other hagiographies, the desert fathers individually left the trappings of urban life in considerable numbers during the fourth century and retreated to remote, wild areas where, in solitude, they purified themselves through prayer and self-denial as they sought a lasting relationship with God.4 Among these hagiographies are accounts of their physical and spiritual battles with a devil who, allegedly driven out of urban areas by Christian prayer, sometimes exerted control over wild animals and was manifested by them.5 According to these stories, the devil not only wanted to deter the fathers from their God-centered goals; it also aimed to deter them from filling the desert with their holiness.6 Yet the fathers prevailed, despite the hardships of their lives that they accepted with humility. They adjusted to the desert environment, learned to live in relative harmony with the many large animals and few reptiles whose habitats they shared, and attributed to the providence of God their existence in the desert as the place where they could best lead holy lives.7 The diverse literature by and about the desert fathers indicates that they were influenced by four sources: (1) The Hebrew and Christian scriptures;8 (2) fables circulating in the third and fourth centuries about a variety of animals, including those favored by the desert fathers, that were intended to provide instruction on moral behavior;9 (3) widespread beliefs that holy men have a special relationship with animals and natural phenomena; and (4) Greco-Roman mythology and philosophy.10 The holy lives of the desert fathers influenced the Celtic monks significantly, as stories about the former spread to distant lands.11 However, in contrast with the desert fathers who usually remained in one place for long periods of time, the Celtic solitaires were wanderers who spread the message of Christianity during their travels.12 For this reason, they were referred to as peregrini because, as...

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