Scripture tells us God made the world in six days (Genesis 1). First, he separated light from darkness, and set the land, seas, and sky into place. When this was finished, He brought forth animals of every kind; the waters teemed with fish, birds flew across the vault of the sky, and beasts roamed the empty ground. Only once these were complete did God create man, and after each day, God looked and saw that it was good. God loves all of His workmanship, but are only humans created in His image?

This question came jarringly into focus last Saturday, when a 3-year old boy climbed into a Gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. Faced with the prospect of losing the child, Zookeepers made the difficult choice to shoot and kill a rare gorilla which had cornered the boy. The gorilla’s death sparked a massive outcry from environmentalists and animal rights activists, but many believe the Zookeepers made the right call. In particular, Denny Burk, of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has stated that a human life ultimately trumps animal rights. Burk supports his case by arguing that only man is made in God’s image, a fact he feels mainstream society has ignored,

Read more; Cincinnati Zoo Outrage: Are Animals Made in the Image of God?