A catechetical offering in partnership with my theology cat
On the question of the catly vocation and the glory of God.
Gentle reader,
Please accept this little catechetical offering from me and from Dwight, my fluffy #theologycat.
Question 9: Whether the catly vocation is that of giving glory to God?
Objection 1: It would seem that cats cannot glorify their Creator. For, it is written, “Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose” (Garrison Keillor). Now, cats are mysterious and so their vocation is beyond discernment.
Objection 2: Further, to glorify God is to relate properly to God as one created in the divine image, which office is not attributed to cats in holy writ. So, it would seem that cats do not glorify their Creator.
I answer that: As James Herriot has said, “cats are connoisseurs of comfort.” Now, a creature is said to be called to glory in two ways. There is glory proper to the Trinity in the love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and there is glory “according to the kinds” (Gen 1:24) of the living creatures.
Now, in the first sense, cats cannot glorify God, for proper glory is possible for creatures only by the miracle of union with Christ granted to image bearers being transformed from glory to glory. But in the second sense, cats glorify the LORD according to their kind.
Further, there are two senses in which the cat can glorify the LORD according to its kind, that of accidental glory and that of substantial glory.
As to accidental glory, cats reflect said glory in catly accidents such as Herriot’s comfortability, as well as fluffiness, caliconacity, agility, pounciness, aptitude for napping, and the like.
As to substantial glorification, the cat gives that glory by way of cattiness, overflowing in catitude, participating peacefully in catdom, and living cattily in relation to human beings as those who exercise dominion over the cat according to the image of the King of kings and of cats. As it is written, “whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast” (Proverbs 12:10).
Reply to objection 1: Mysteriousness is no impediment to a vocation to glory, for the one who is glorified is, in the divine nature, Mystery.
Reply to objection 2: As we have seen, cats are called to glory according to their catly kind.
Given that cats are for the glory of God, Dwight is providing theological assessment of human portrayals of cattitude.
Cowardly lion 11/10 for serious attention to grooming & real bravery.
Dwight gives the Cheshire cat 6/10 as a human portrayal of cattitude. Points lost for mind altering substances & creepiness to small girls. Points given for mysteriousness & smiles. 1 point back to the Disney version for striped pinkness.
Tony the Tiger merits 2/9 for portrayal of God glorifying cattitude. Dwight has no patience with cats used for capitalism, & while he has some patience with sugared cereals, he doesn't think Frosted flakes are worth it.
Hello kitty: 8/9 for hospitality & peaceful relations with other creatures. Garfield: 7/9, points for delighting in creation but subtraction for contempt of dogs. Tom: 2/9. His predatoriness is cattily, but the low score reflects ineptness which is no exemplar of cattiness.
Azrael scores low, not in himself, but because of Gargamel’s misuse. He can be forgiven for Smurf chasing & wins points for being a companion to humans, but Gargamel denigrates his catticity: 1/9.
The Aristocats come in at 6/10. Points for delighting in cat-life; “everybody wants to be a cat.” It’s been some time since Dwight saw the movie, but some loss of points given for toxic Tomcaticity.
Puss in boots scores high for service to his human companion & for wit. Some points lost for trickery & fashion choices unnecessary to the glory of catdom. Dwight disapproves of gilding lilies, which God has already dressed with such splendor: 9/11.
Cat in the hat is an abomination to catdom. What is he even doing to the children, the house, the poor goldfish? Is he an enslaver of Thing 1 & Thing 2? Chaotic & terrifying: 0/4.
Tigger, in contrast, is a paragon of catly glory, being at once so springy, so pouncy, & so joyous in his catness: 11/10.
Two examples of human injustice to cats. 0/10 to Lady & Tramp’s Siamese cats for racism & cruelty. 5/10 to Rats of NIHM’s Dragon. Points for catly nature but points lost for humans portraying him as a monstrosity.
Crookshanks & Dwight are friends, so Dwight refrains from providing a numeric score but notes glorious catiness in fighting evil. Also in discernment, as Scabbers didn’t fool him for a moment.
“He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?” said Hermione, glowing. That was a matter of opinion, thought Harry. The cat’s ginger fur was thick and fluffy, but it was definitely a bit bowlegged and its face looked grumpy and oddly squashed, as though it had run headlong into a brick wall. Now that Scabbers was out of sight, however, the cat was purring contentedly in Hermione’s arms.
Discernment is a catly adornment that glorifies God most pleasingly.
Peace of Christ,
BFJ
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I wish I could share a pic of Toby, who never fails to offer his catly support during morning devotions and journaling. His frequent pose is that of "lying down in green pastures" though he snores and resists shepherding.