This is a topic often considered when discussing apologetics with those who believe in Darwin’s evolution theory. Are we just animals? Or are we something more? What does it mean if we are just animals? How many differences are there if we are no different, no better than the soulless creatures that roam the Earth around us, that we were given to command?
Well, God says we are different, special. We were formed out of clay by God’s hand as he breathed life into us while he merely spoke animals into existence from the earth. We were designated as God’s special creation while animals were not given such a position. We were made in the image of God while animals were not.
And in creating each in the manner they were created, God designated an important distinction between human and animal: one has the character of God imprinted in its very nature—humanity—one has earthly character imprinted in its nature—animals. It doesn’t seem that important at first, and I’m sure many of us have just glossed over these verses in Genesis before, but they are incredibly valuable when we talk about our nature, and especially in the argument of morals and death.
Solomon had to deal with this in his time thanks to Egypt’s worship of animals, and he does so in a form of mocking, but there are some important things to take from his mocking of Egypt’s mythology in Ecclesiastes chapter 3.
First, let’s establish the relationship of animals, humans, and God. Animals are representative of a sin nature. They lack the likeness of God and as such they can only perform in a manner of sin (you’ll see what I mean later). Humans, now, sit in this middle ground. We have the capability to live and be like God in our behavior, but we also have the ability to act like animals. And God is the ultimate good. He only acts within His character.
Now, we must ascribe a spectrum of morality because that is the key difference separating each of these three groups. Animals have no morals. They act to benefit themselves or their offspring. There is no altruism in animals. Humans have the capability to be animalistic—acting selfish—or Godly—acting selfless. And God is the ultimate morality. Everything He does is morally perfect. He was the ultimate morality when Jesus died on the cross for us.
Ecclesiastes 3:16-18 says, “I also observed under the sun: there is wickedness at the place of judgment and there is wickedness at the place of righteousness. I said to myself, ‘God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every work.’ I said to myself, ‘This happens concerning people, so that God may test them and they may see for themselves that they are like animals.’”
As with all things in Ecclesiastes, the purpose of this is to remind us that we need God. Earlier, I said that animals are a moral representation of sin. They only act to benefit themselves. They have no moral system. If an animal kills another of its kind, no other comes to punish it. If an animal steals, it receives no justice. Revenge, perhaps, but certainly not justice. But especially, there is no quandary that occurs when an animal does something morally incorrect like killing or stealing. An animal does not concern itself over whether it does right or wrong because, to it, nothing is objectively wrong. Everything is subjective to its place.
But humans have an innate moral compass. This was imprinted on us because we were created in God’s image. A person will feel perplexed when confronted with a situation that would have them compromise that compass, such as killing or stealing. And upon performing such an action, a human will feel convicted that they did wrong, ideally.
But because of sin, we have injustice just like the animals. We have people who can kill, steal, lie and do all manner of harm and not feel as though they have done wrong. But, even worse, we are all capable of doing wrong and feeling no remorse. It is only through just judgment that we see through God’s character that we have done wrong. That’s what Solomon is describing. When we see that we are like animals, we see that there is a God who can help us to be more like Him and less like soulless beasts.
So, no, we are not animals, though we certainly can act like them at times. The existence of our morality is clear evidence there is a distinction between us and God’s other creations. That distinction is important because there is no hope without it. If we are animals, there is nothing after life here. There is nothing but a meaningless life and then death, as Solomon describes in verses 19-20.
“For the fate of people and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals, for everything is futile. All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.”
Again, this is Solomon picking at the Egyptian worldview that when you die, life after is the same as life here. But at an even larger scale, this is Solomon talking about existence without God. Without God, the reality of these verses is all you have to look forward to. You live and you die. You are meaningless dust. If we are merely animals, this is all there is.
Personally, I thank God we are not merely animals, but that we are special creations of one who loves us.