"Why do Christians think humans are a superior species?"

This post is actually not to quote tons of Scripture as to why humans are superior above other animals, etc. The reason being that when I get asked this question, people don't want to hear "because in the Bible it says XYZ". The Bible provides plenty of information if you are interested in why humans are superior from a biblical perspective. In a nutshell, we were created superior: we are made in God's image or likeness, we have free will, we have a conscience, we have rationality, we were made intentionally and with a purpose.

Today I will instead explain how we can see, Bible aside, why scripture is correct in teaching that humans are superior to other beings. Here is a list of what we are capable of in comparison to animals:

• Self-awareness: before you start thinking about Cyberdyne and Skynet and claim that machines can be self-aware, hear me out on what I mean by this. We understand that we exist. We know that we used to exist before this moment in time and we can remember the past and how we existed then. We also understand that we will continue to exist in the future. Think of Dory in Finding Nemo. Although she can remember aspects of the past, this seems coincidental in relation to how we remember the past. The fact that she can remember things like 'P. Sherman, 4 Wallaby Way, Sydney' doesn't mean she is mindful of the fact that she used to exist and will exist in the future. We can, which is the key difference. Our self-awareness is on a higher level, more complex and thus superior in comparison.
• Empathy: humans have the ability to empathise, to feel what it is like for another person to be in a certain situation, without being in that position ourselves
• Mind-reading: not literally knowing exactly what someone's thinking all the time, Edward Cullen style mind-reading. What I mean is we can know what other people are thinking and how they are feeling sometimes without them needing to say anything. For example, you see your friend thinking about something when she hears her favourite song, you might know that she's thinking about the first time she heard it. You see your boyfriend staring into the fridge, you might know he's thinking about what to have for lunch. By knowing a person, we can to an extent read their minds.
• Emotion: we can recognise and know how a person's feeling by looking at them. We both express emotion more vividly and clearly than animals and we can recognise and identify emotions from people's body language, facial expressions and tone of voice. (Well, most of us).
• Language: we have developed thousands of complex, well-developed languages that are completely different from the communication animals use. We can use to talk to each other using these languages to express ourselves specifically, understand one another and respond.
• Predictability: by knowing people, we can predict their behaviour, emotions and responses. Unlike animals, we can weigh up scenarios and compare outcomes (using complex thought-processes and consciousness too for the record) to know how someone will feel about something, react to something and what they'll say to something else. What they'll like or dislike, how they'll react, etc.
• Monogamy: we seem to be one of few, if not the only, species that is capable of and often desires a monogamous relationship. Most animals don't care about the 'personality' of other animals, or even the way the other animal looks. They simply follow basic instinct to find a mate. They may have more than one at a time, or even move from one to the other. Humans have personal interaction with each other, we wouldn't want to end up with just anyone for life. We desire a specific person and want to hold on to them and no other. (Again, 98% of the time)

It's these factors that we can observe everday that go hand-in-hand with biblical teaching that humans are superior. These things I have just listed, show how God made us differently and touch on why He did so. Christians believe humans are superior and stewards of the Earth for these reasons and many others, not just because we want to give ourselves authority to do what we want, feel big and mistreat other creatures.

I hope to the people who've asked me that question, that I have answered it!