In
the days leading up to Christmas I will be posting a series on some of the good
works and wonderful blessings to mankind that are a “side effect” of Jesus’
birth. (See the introductory post here.) This series is inspired by “What if Jesus Had Never Been Born” by the
late Dr. D. James Kennedy.
“A
righteous [man] regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the
wicked [are] cruel.” –Proverbs 12:10
An improvement of respect for animal
life is an often overlooked side effect of the birth of Jesus Christ. But I
could not refrain from discussing it since it touches my own profession as a
veterinarian so closely (and indeed is a major motivation in what I do for a
living). Christians through the ages have written and worked against animal
cruelty, because they a) respected life made by their Savior and b) took to
heart Scriptures which speak of God’s concern for animals (Psalm 147:9, Psalm
36:6b, Isaiah 43:20, Matthew 6:25) and c) saw themselves correctly at stewards
of God’s creation (Genesis 2:15).
- Early veterinarians in Christian
Byzantium pioneered the preservation and advancement of animal medicine and
care (particularly in regard to horses) by their work and writings through the
Middle Ages. These included Apsyrtos, Hierokles, Flavius Renatus Vegetius, and Demetrios Pepagomenos.
- Some of
the earliest veterinary “schools” were founded in Christian countries
throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The Benedictine Monastery at
Salerno (which produced a major treatise on internal medicine and a formulary
that still survive today) and the cities of Montpelier, Paris, Bologna, and
Padua are examples. The trend to study veterinary medicine and pursue animal
welfare continued to flourish among Christian countries in the 18th
century with the establishment of the first official veterinary schools in
Lyons, Alfort, Budapest, Italy, Hannover, Coppenhagen, and London.
- Bishop Theodoric of Cervia (1250-c.1296)
helped to develop pre-surgical analgesia (pain medication) for horses.
- Thomas Wentworth (1593-1641) a
Protestant lawyer in Ireland, worked to pass a law against the cruel practice
of attaching plows to the horse’s tail or pulling the wool (as opposed to
shearing it) off of sheep. This is considered by many to be the first
legislation against animal cruelty.
- Nathaniel
Ward (1578-1652) was a Puritan clergyman
in Massachusetts Colony who wrote a treatise, “Off the Bruite Creature,” that resulted in a law against animal cruelty
passed in 1641.
- The
Society for the Prevential of Cruelty to Animals was established by concerned
Christians in Britain in 1824. William Wilberforce (a devout Christian who
worked to end the British slave trade as well) and Reverend Arthur Broome were
prominent among the initial founders.
And, while we’re on the subject, I
would argue that Christ’s influence over the years (through His followers) has
done much to temper and prevent excess in this area of animal welfare. I cannot
write about this unique ability of Christian natural philosophy to maintain a
sane “middle road” between animal cruelty and animal worship, with any greater
perspicuity than G.K. Chesterton. So I will simply reproduce a long quote from
him here….
“Darwinism can be used to back up two
mad moralities, but it cannot be used to back up a single sane one. The kinship
and competition of all living creatures can be used as a reason for being
insanely cruel or insanely sentimental; but not for a healthy love of animals …
That you and a tiger are one may be a reason for being tender to a tiger. Or it
may be a reason for being cruel as the tiger. It is one way to train the tiger
to imitate you, it is a shorter way to imitate the tiger. But in neither case
does evolution tell you how to treat a tiger reasonably, that is, to admire his
stripes while avoiding his claws.
“If you want to treat a tiger
reasonably, you must go back to the garden of Eden. For the obstinate reminder
continues to recur: only the supernaturalist has taken a sane view of Nature.
The essence of all pantheism, evolutionism and modern cosmic religion is really
in this proposition: that Nature is our mother. Unfortunately, if you regard
Nature as a mother, you discover that she is a stepmother. The main point of
Christianity was this: that Nature is not our mother: Nature is our sister. We
can be proud of her beauty, since we have the same father; but she has no
authority over us; we have to admire, but not to imitate.” -G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (John Lane, London, pp. 204–205, 1927.
)
And
there you have it! A few more reasons you should think of the birth of Christ
as tidings of great comfort and joy!
