Today I took my dog to his first visit to the vet to get his rabies vaccine. It was an interesting experience to say the least and one that showed me how much the world has changed in how we view animals since my childhood. Ever since I was a child I've always wanted a dog and tended to read about dog ownership or follow things dog owners did. Back then it was quite common that the only visit to a vet was a few weeks after getting a puppy to get it vaccinated. It was also quite rare for dogs to be vaccinated often, it was pretty much that initial vaccination and perhaps rabies boosters every few years. This has changed quite a bit and from what I've read, vets in India pretty much recommend the same schedules of vaccinations and drugs for dogs as they do here in the US.
Tag: Anthropology
Pets Aren’t Family
Two days ago, I had to put down my pet rat, Samwise. A couple of months ago he developed a benign tumor, a regular issue for rats. He did well with the tumor and remained playful and enjoyed his treats until this past week when the tumor became larger than him making it very difficult for him to move around and sucking in most of the nutrition that he was taking in, leaving him a skinny husk while the tumor kept growing. That morning, for the first time he refused to eat a cashew nut, one of his favorite treats and I noticed that he hadn't eaten his food or drunk water. He could barely move and just wanted to be held while he slept. The whole situation got me thinking about how pets are viewed in our modern world and how even many Christians have bought into many of the culture's presuppositions and attachments to animals that just isn't healthy. In this era of human history, particularly in the West, it is common for people to view pets as effectively a human being, part of the family. Animals are likewise treated as if they are part of the family and people end up making very unnaturally close bonds with their animals. There is a genuine confusion in the culture on how animals are to be considered. Sadly many Christians don't think about these things Biblically but follow what they have learnt from the culture. This influence is present in each one of us and at times I am likewise guilty of anthropomorphizing my pets.
Eden and the Fall of the Material Order
A high level overview of the creation of the material and celestial order provides a foundation to understand the garden of Eden, man’s role in it, the covenant God established with him, his failure to keep that covenant, his fall, the curse that entered the material order as a consequence of that fall and ultimately God’s promised redemption of His people from that fall. Understanding the themes drawn out in the garden of Eden is critical to understand the narrative of redemption and the Kingdom of God. It also establishes a foundation of God’s dealings with mankind, through covenants. These covenants are a framework through which God reveals and accomplishes the redemption of His people.
The Material Order: It’s Original Purpose
Every good book has an introduction that draws the reader into the narrative presented in the book. Genesis provides this introduction in the Word of God. While the Bible is a collection of sixty-six different Books, written by a variety of different authors over millennia. However, it presents to us one single narrative of the work of God in history, from creation to the ultimate end of the created order in the fires of the Lord’s coming. Therefore, to understand the Bible we need to understand where the narrative begins and how it progresses from Genesis to our place in the New Testament.
Deo Vicit Mundum 