Does the blessing pronounced by God in Genesis 1 encourage us, the human race, to treat the environment in any way we choose? Is the present ecological imbalance observed in so many parts of the world the result of our orthodox Christian arrogance toward nature, as Lynn White Jr. charged in his famous article, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis” (Science 155 [1967]: 1203–7)?
At long last, it is generally accepted that Western scientific and technological leadership must find its roots in the biblical revelation of the reality of the visible world and the fact that the world had a beginning. (The idea of a beginning was impossible within the framework of the previous cyclical notions of time.) Moreover, the Judeo-Christian heritage fosters such science-advancing concepts as uniformitarianism, a concept that was instrumental in the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century and the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century. But the academic community has given this recent recognition very grudgingly.
No sooner had this battle been won than an accompanying charge was leveled, which is to say that the Bible taught that “it was God’s will that man exploit nature for his own proper ends” (White, “The Historical Roots,” p. 1205). What we had lost, ecologically, according to White, was the spirit of pagan animism that says that every tree, spring, stream and hill possesses a guardian spirit which has to be placated should any intrusion be made into the environment by cutting down trees, mining mountains or damming brooks. Christianity overcame primitive animism, so White argued, and made it possible to exploit nature with an attitude of indifference for all natural objects. Genesis 1:28 could be cited as the Christian’s license to do just that.
However, this schema is a distortion not only of this verse but of Scripture as a whole. Indeed all things are equally the result of God’s creative hand; therefore nature is real and has great worth and value. The only difference between humanity and all the rest of creation is that God placed his image in men and women and thus gave them extra value and worth and set the whole creative order before them for their stewardship.
The gift of “dominion” over nature was not intended to be a license to use or abuse selfishly the created order in any way men and women saw fit. In no sense were humans to be bullies and laws to themselves; Adam and Eve were to be responsible to God and accountable for all the ways in which they did or did not cultivate the natural world about them.
True, the words subdue and rule over do imply that nature will not yield easily and that some type of coercion will be necessary. Because the created order has been affected by sin just as dramatically as the first human pair were, the natural created order will not do our bidding gladly or easily. We must exert a good deal of our strength and energy into our efforts to use nature.
But such an admission does not constitute a case for the rape of the land. It is a twisted use of this authorization to perform such a task with a fierce and perverted delight. Only when our iniquities are subdued by God are we able to exercise this function properly.
God is still the owner of the natural world (Ps 24:1), and all the beasts of the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills are his (Ps 50:10–12). Mortals are mere stewards under God. Under no condition may we abuse and run roughshod over the natural order for the sake of quick profits or for the sheer fun of doing so. Indeed, even Job was aware that the land would cry out against him if, in God’s eyes, Job abused it (Job 31:37–40).
Not even in the renovation of the new heavens and the new earth is there a total break and a complete disregard for the present heavens and earth. Instead, the final fire of judgment will only have the effect of purifying because “the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (2 Pet 3:10). Even so, the earth will not be burned up!
Lynn White felt we would be better off if we asserted, as did St. Francis of Assisi, the equality of all creatures, including human beings. This would take away from human beings any idea of a limitless rule over creation.
But such an equity fails to comprehend the concept of the image of God in persons. Trees, ants, birds and wildlife are God’s creatures, but they are not endowed with his image; neither are they responsible to God for the conduct and use of the creation. What limits humanity is the fact that each must answer to God for one’s use or abuse of the whole created order.
Should you ask, “What, then, happened to the cultural mandate given to the human race in Genesis?” we will respond by noting that the mandate is intact. However, it is found not here in Genesis 1:28 but rather in Genesis 2:15. There Adam is given the task to “work” the Garden of Eden and to “take care of it.” That is the cultural mandate.
Kaiser, Walter C., et. al., Hard Sayings of the Bible, (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press) 1997.
At long last, it is generally accepted that Western scientific and technological leadership must find its roots in the biblical revelation of the reality of the visible world and the fact that the world had a beginning. (The idea of a beginning was impossible within the framework of the previous cyclical notions of time.) Moreover, the Judeo-Christian heritage fosters such science-advancing concepts as uniformitarianism, a concept that was instrumental in the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century and the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century. But the academic community has given this recent recognition very grudgingly.
No sooner had this battle been won than an accompanying charge was leveled, which is to say that the Bible taught that “it was God’s will that man exploit nature for his own proper ends” (White, “The Historical Roots,” p. 1205). What we had lost, ecologically, according to White, was the spirit of pagan animism that says that every tree, spring, stream and hill possesses a guardian spirit which has to be placated should any intrusion be made into the environment by cutting down trees, mining mountains or damming brooks. Christianity overcame primitive animism, so White argued, and made it possible to exploit nature with an attitude of indifference for all natural objects. Genesis 1:28 could be cited as the Christian’s license to do just that.
However, this schema is a distortion not only of this verse but of Scripture as a whole. Indeed all things are equally the result of God’s creative hand; therefore nature is real and has great worth and value. The only difference between humanity and all the rest of creation is that God placed his image in men and women and thus gave them extra value and worth and set the whole creative order before them for their stewardship.
The gift of “dominion” over nature was not intended to be a license to use or abuse selfishly the created order in any way men and women saw fit. In no sense were humans to be bullies and laws to themselves; Adam and Eve were to be responsible to God and accountable for all the ways in which they did or did not cultivate the natural world about them.
True, the words subdue and rule over do imply that nature will not yield easily and that some type of coercion will be necessary. Because the created order has been affected by sin just as dramatically as the first human pair were, the natural created order will not do our bidding gladly or easily. We must exert a good deal of our strength and energy into our efforts to use nature.
But such an admission does not constitute a case for the rape of the land. It is a twisted use of this authorization to perform such a task with a fierce and perverted delight. Only when our iniquities are subdued by God are we able to exercise this function properly.
God is still the owner of the natural world (Ps 24:1), and all the beasts of the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills are his (Ps 50:10–12). Mortals are mere stewards under God. Under no condition may we abuse and run roughshod over the natural order for the sake of quick profits or for the sheer fun of doing so. Indeed, even Job was aware that the land would cry out against him if, in God’s eyes, Job abused it (Job 31:37–40).
Not even in the renovation of the new heavens and the new earth is there a total break and a complete disregard for the present heavens and earth. Instead, the final fire of judgment will only have the effect of purifying because “the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (2 Pet 3:10). Even so, the earth will not be burned up!
Lynn White felt we would be better off if we asserted, as did St. Francis of Assisi, the equality of all creatures, including human beings. This would take away from human beings any idea of a limitless rule over creation.
But such an equity fails to comprehend the concept of the image of God in persons. Trees, ants, birds and wildlife are God’s creatures, but they are not endowed with his image; neither are they responsible to God for the conduct and use of the creation. What limits humanity is the fact that each must answer to God for one’s use or abuse of the whole created order.
Should you ask, “What, then, happened to the cultural mandate given to the human race in Genesis?” we will respond by noting that the mandate is intact. However, it is found not here in Genesis 1:28 but rather in Genesis 2:15. There Adam is given the task to “work” the Garden of Eden and to “take care of it.” That is the cultural mandate.
Kaiser, Walter C., et. al., Hard Sayings of the Bible, (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press) 1997.
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