Holy Dogs and Asses

Laura Hobgood-Oster is the Elizabeth Root Paden Chair in Religion at Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas, and author of "She Glanceth from Earth to Heaven": The Phenomenon of Love Mysticism among Women in Antebellum Virginia and Maryland.

"A welcome contribution to the growing field of animals and religion. . . . Recommended."--Choice “Raises some important theological and historical questions about the role of animals in the Christian tradition, questions that encourage thoughtful reflection among people of faith.”--Religious Studies Review"A pioneering study."--Church History "Laura Hobgood-Oster's incisive contribution to the emerging field of 'religion and animals' is at once scholarly and caring--this remarkable volume models for all of us how valuable new works on the issue of nonhumans in the Christian tradition can be."--Paul F. Waldau, director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy, Tufts University, and coeditor of A Communion of Subjects: Animals in Religion, Science, and Ethics "This study persuasively analyzes popular visual images in an effort to recover the lost significance of animals in Christian iconography. Hobgood-Oster's search in Christian history for a realization of the animal as more than mere sacred symbol is very important."--Belden C. Lane, Theological Studies, Saint Louis University