“…Is Christianity only about human beings?” Within the book The Friends We Keep, Laura Hobgood-Oster tries to tell her audience why Christians should be concerned about the welfare of other living beings and not just other human beings. While Hobgood-Oster does discuss many reasons as to why Christians should be concerned with our animal companions, I do not believe she fully addresses the heart of Christianity within her argument. She mentions many Christian Saints and their relationship with animals and the sacrifice of animals within the Roman arena, but she does not go into detail about the main aspect of Christianity, which is the Trinitarian God. The question stated in the beginning of this paragraph calls forth a deeper explanation specifically concerning the heart of Christianity. Personally, I did not see this question fully fleshed out by Hobgood-Oster. While she states that compassion is at the heart of Christianity and that compassion is the answer to the question stated in the beginning of this paragraph, Hobgood-Oster does not seem to reveal the God who generates and sustains this compassion for all of creation. In order to answer this…show more content… However, she does not really seem to respond as to how Christianity truly reveals God’s love and want for community. I believe there needs to be a more developed response to the statements she makes in the last chapter about how Christianity has formulated this idea that humanity has dominion over creation. A chapter in the end of the book The Friends We Keep discussing God’s presence through all creation within the Holy Spirit, Christ’s death and resurrection for all of creation, and God’s purpose for creation as a community is needed in order to develop this idea that Christianity includes all of creation and not just
