c. scott andreas

update: I’m re-thinking some of what I wrote below…check back in a few days to see what I come up with.

Earlier tonight, I watched “Invisible Children,” a film about the abduction of children in Uganda amidst the war between governmental forces and the LRA. It is a deeply disturbing film, but the problem is so great that to ignore it would be to blind oneself from a terribly painful reality that demands justice. More on this later.

Following the film, we talked a bit about the responsibility of the Christ-follower to the environment. In other words, what is our place in ecology? A good friend of mine said something that disturbed me:

“I don’t have any problems eating meat — I mean, God gave us animals and the earth to subdue them; we can do whatever we want.”

I should note that this is not a direct quote but communicates the same (theo/ideo/il)-logical claim. Friend, I love you…but I’m concerned.

I have no qualms with eating meat — I love a good burger or brat. I believe that the hypermedicated, overcrowded techniques of raising livestock constitute a great injustice in our society and vehemently oppose factory farming. But that’s not the immediate issue here, either.

I believe that this attitude has its root in a contextual misinterpretation of Genesis 1:26-28, which I’ve quoted below (ESV).

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

I’ll leave it to my academic and theological betters to dispute the translation of this passage from Hebrew to English. But I will say that several articles I’ve read (such as this one) propose that the Hebrew is better translated as “tend to it” or “be a steward of it” than “subdue” or “dominate.” [update: I’m at least partially incorrect here]

Let’s consider the context of this passage. God has stated that man is created in His own image. God as Creator certainly has dominion over his creation and wishes to share this blessing and authority with us. But let us not overlook verse 27. We are to live today as image-bearers of God. To Christ-followers, this indicates that it is our duty to refine this imago dei within us by the grace and power of our Lord, refining it and living according to it with Him as our model.

God has dominion over the earth - this is certain. But consider the manner in which He exercises it. He does not devastate it or conceive of it as a resource to be unsustainably consumed. Instead, the very nature of the natural world is renewal, resurrection, and a flourishing creation.

If we are to “have dominion” and “subdue” creation in the same manner that our Lord “has dominion” and “subdues” it, I think we must radically reconsider our relationship and interaction with God’s creation.

Perhaps we too are invited to participate in this beautiful dance of resurrection, redemption, and renewal.

a fellow steward,

c. scott andreas