I am taking my annual "keep my brain sharp" night class and find myself in a Philosophy of Science class reading Lynn White's "The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis."

In that paper, White discusses what he calls the "Franciscan doctrine of the animal soul," and Francis' apparent belief in the spiritual equality of all creatures, including man. Did Saint Francis really teach these things? If so, is he considered in protestant circles to have been a heretic?

Apparently Francis Schaeffer presented a rebuttal to White's thesis in "Pollution and the Death of Man." I haven't found the chapter he dedicated to White online; perhaps my church library has a copy.

Moderators: I'm not sure if this topic fit better into Church History or Philosophy.

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Eric
Woodgreen Presbyterian (PCA)
Calgary, Alberta CANADA

No one has any information on Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, merchants, birds, dying alone, tapestry workers, zoos, lace workers, peace, and needle work? Was he a believer who is now grieving the fact he is being so revered, or was he a heretic who believed in the souls of animals and the spiritual equality of all creatures? Of could he have believed those things and not been a heretic?

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Eric
Woodgreen Presbyterian (PCA)
Calgary, Alberta CANADA

I'm afraid I don't, and back when I was RC I read a couple of biographies of him.

Tell you what, you might go to A Better Country (currently an EZboard) and register, and ask this. There are some RC's who participate and perhaps they'll know. Or someone else.

Tell 'em Anne sent you.

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Anne Ivy
Christ Chapel Bible Church
Fort Worth, Texas

Married to Don, mother of six, grandmother to an ever-increasing brood.

The Ivy Vine (my blog)