Sinners as Beasts: Some Early Patristic Views of Animals in Ecclesiastes

This essay constitutes an initial attempt to decipher early patristic views on animals by critically examining the responses of five eminent early Christian thinkers to the manbeast references contained in Ecclesiastes 3: 18-21: Thaumaturgus (213 – 270 AD), Didymus the Blind (313 – 398 AD), Chrysostom (347 – 407 AD), Jerome (347 – 420 AD), and Augustine (354 – 430 AD). Salient patterns of interpretation are identified and discussed in comparative terms contrasting ancient Hebraic and conventional biblical views with early patristic views as needed. Overall, the general finding here is that most of these early Christian thinkers (save Augustine) were heavily inclined not to interpret these verses contextually nor in Qoheleth’s own terms nor within the range of ancient Hebraic theology and cosmology.