From Domination to Stewardship: A Change in World View

From Domination to Stewardship: A Change in World View

By Alan S. Cajes, PhD1

One of the passages in the Bible that has perturbed me as a Christian Catholic and as someone whose work involves environmental management states: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth." 2 When I was younger, this passage is alright because I have been taught in school that “man” is the apex of creation. As I gain more experience in undertaking environment-related teaching and research tasks, however, this biblical decree started to trouble me. Did God really command that we, human beings, subdue (to bring somebody/something under control, especially by using force)3 our planet and have dominion (authority to rule; control)4 over the non-human forms of life? If yes, is this a reason why we have the propensity to cause damage to our environment?

The usual answer that I get from persons I asked about my concern is that we need to understand the context of the passage and that the text should not be taken literally. This answer did not put a closure to what has been my concern for quite some time – to understand the meaning and implication of the biblical passage.

As it turned out, there are others who find the passage problematic. Thomas Berry, in a paper that he read at Harvard University said: “The university can be considered as one of the four basic establishments that determine human life in its more significant functioning. These four are the government, the church, the university and the commercial-industrial corporation - the political, religious, intellectual and economic establishments… They all presume a radical discontinuity between the non-human and the human with all the rights given to the human to exploit the non-human.”5

1

Founding member, Sacred Springs: Dialogue Institute for Spirituality and Sustainability; Associate Member, National Research Council of the Philippines; Fellow, Development Academy of the Philippines.

2 Genesis 1:27 “God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them;” 1:28 God blessed them, saying: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth." (NAB).

3 https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/subdue.

4 https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/dominion?q=dominion.

5 Thomas Berry, "The University: Its Response to the Ecological Crisis", a paper delivered before the Divinity School and the University Committee on Environment at Harvard University.

Berry did not say that the Church committed an error because of its interpretation of Genesis 1:28. He also did not criticize the wording of the passage. He said that “the creation story in Genesis 1 is the story of the victory of the Heavenly Father God over the Mother Earth God. The first commandment, therefore, is ‘Thou shalt have no Mother Earth God.’” 6 This was Berry’s response to the questions asked by Daniel Spencer, who “was struggling to make sense of the Genesis creation accounts’ themes of human dominion and stewardship in light of my geological understandings of Earth’s origins and my concerns for how dominion interpreted as domination had contributed to massive ecological degradation.”7 In 1966, Lynn White delivered a lecture entitled “The Historic Roots of Our Ecological Crisis” at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. White claimed that the roots of the ecological crisis could be linked to the Judaeo-Christian theology, which separated humans from nature and then made humans dominate nature. He said: “Christianity inherited from Judaism not only a concept of time as nonrepetitive and linear but also a striking story of creation. By gradual stages a loving and all- powerful God had created light and darkness, the heavenly bodies, the earth and all its plants, animals, birds, and fishes. Finally, God had created Adam and, as an afterthought, Eve to keep man from being lonely. Man named all the animals, thus establishing his dominance over them. God planned all of this explicitly for man's benefit and rule: no item in the physical creation had any purpose save to serve man's purposes.”8 White pointed out that modern Western science, which enabled humans to exploit nature, “was cast in a matrix of Christian theology” and that the impetus for the “dynamism of religious devotion” was “shaped by the Judeo-Christian dogma of creation.” He said that the “implications of Christianity for the conquest of nature would emerge more easily in the Western atmosphere… The Christian dogma of creation, which is found in the first clause of all the Creeds, has another meaning for our comprehension of today's ecologic crisis.”9 In 1972, Arnold Toynbee wrote “The Religious Background of the Present Environmental Crisis’ stating that the solution to the environmental problems is

6

Quoted by Daniel T. Spencer in “Thomas Berry: An Overview of His Work,” http://thomasberry.org/assets/attachments/Worldviews_ThomasBerryReviewEssay_Spencer_2017.pdf.

7 Daniel T. Spencer, “Thomas Berry: An Overview of His Work.”

8 Lynn White, “The Historic Roots of Our Ecological Crisis,” https://www.cmu.ca/faculty/gmatties/lynnwhiterootsofcrisis.pdf 9 Lynn White, “The Historic Roots of Our Ecological Crisis.”

possible if humans revert from the Weltanschauung10 of monotheism to the Weltanschauung of pantheism, an older and universal world view. He asserted that the present-day assault against nature is due to the influence of a religious cause that gave rise to monotheism. He claimed that the command to have dominion over other creatures in Genesis 1:28 allowed the directed humans to exploit nature. In a 1973 article, he said: This doctrine is enunciated in one sentence in the Bible. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Genesis I, 28)… Genesis I: 28 gave the license; Genesis III: 19 provided the incentive. In 1663, this read like a blessing on the wealth of Abraham in children and livestock; in 1973, it reads like a license for the population explosion and like both a license and an incentive for mechanization and pollution.”11 In 1975, John Passmore, J. wrote “Attitudes to Nature” saying that the predatory attitude against nature is present in the writings of St. Paul. To Passmore, the Graeco-Christian arrogance became Christianity’s official position until recent times.

This attitude of Passmore is based on his reading of Romans 8:21 “that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God (New International Version).” Passmore takes on the position that Paul considers creation as merely an instrument for human liberation.

A year before White’s classic paper, Pope Paul VI promulgated Guadium et Spes (Joy and Hope"), the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, on December 7, 1965. The document stated: “For man, created to God's image, received a mandate to subject to himself the earth and all it contains, and to govern the world with justice and holiness; a mandate to relate himself and the totality of things to Him Who was to be acknowledged as the Lord and Creator of all. Thus, by the subjection of all things to man, the name of God would be wonderful in all the earth.”12 This declaration did not sit well with some people, who were concerned about the anthropocentric slant of this passage. Emeka Obiezu expressed disappointment that “…the Second Vatican Council continued this apparent arrogant and dominion 10

“A particular philosophy or view of life,” https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/weltanschauung?q=weltanschauung.

11 Arnold Toynbee, “The Genesis of Pollution,” The New York Times (September 16, 1973).

12 Guadium et Spes: 34. This passage cites as references Gen. 1:26-27; 9:3; Wis. 9:3; Ps. 8:7 and 10.

theme…that excludes any ecological concern.”13 Joseph Xavier was cautious: “It may not be an exaggeration to say that there is an ‘anthropological concentration’ in Gaudium et Spes.”14 He explained, however, that this “anthropological orientation… is very important for fundamental theology today.”15 Thirty years later, the same theme was noted by Larry Rasmussen in John Paul II’s encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life). It states: “Everything in creation is ordered to man and everything is made subject to him: "Fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over ... every living thing" (1:28); this is God's command to the man and the woman... We see here a clear affirmation of the primacy of man over things; these are made subject to him and entrusted to his responsible care, whereas for no reason can he be made subject to other men and almost reduced to the level of a thing.”16 The issue that I am trying to resolve is whether the passage in Genesis 1:28, specifically the terms “subdue” and “dominion”, can be interpreted as a license to destroy the natural environment. As has been shown earlier, there are scholars who consider the anthropocentric slant of the passage as the root cause of the current ecological crisis, and that the Catholic Church has been reluctant to give up such anthropological orientation. Despite this reluctance, it should be pointed out that the Catholic Church has always placed Genesis 1:28 in the context that humans are beings created in the image of God, thus humans have the responsibility to take care of the Earth as the “co-operator with God in the work of creation.”17 In 2015, the Church finally addressed the issue squarely when Pope Francis issued an encyclical, "Laudato si', mi Signore," or "Praise be to you, my Lord. It states: “We are not God. The earth was here before us and it has been given to us. This allows us to respond to the charge that Judaeo-Christian thinking, on the basis of the Genesis account which grants man “dominion” over the earth (cf. Gen 1:28), has encouraged the unbridled exploitation of nature by painting him as domineering and destructive by nature. This is not a correct interpretation of the Bible as understood by the Church. Although it is true that we Christians have at times incorrectly interpreted the Scriptures, nowadays we must forcefully 13

Emeka Christian Obiezu, Towards a Politics of Compassion: Socio-Political Dimensions of Christian Responses to Suffering (AuthorHouse: August 14, 2008.

14 Joseph Xavier, “Theological Anthropology of ‘Gaudium et Spes’ and Fundamental Theology,” Gregorianum Vol. 91, no. 1 (2010): 124-136.

15 Ibid., p. 133.

16 Evangelium Vitae: 34.

17 John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus: 37, http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paulii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_01051991_centesimus-annus.html.

reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures. The biblical texts are to be read in their context, with an appropriate hermeneutic, recognizing that they tell us to “till and keep” the garden of the world (cf. Gen 2:15). “Tilling” refers to cultivating, ploughing or working, while “keeping” means caring, protecting, overseeing and preserving. This implies a relationship of mutual responsibility between human beings and nature. Each community can take from the bounty of the earth whatever it needs for subsistence, but it also has the duty to protect the earth and to ensure its fruitfulness for coming generations. “The earth is the Lord’s” (Ps 24:1); to him belongs “the earth with all that is within it” (Dt 10:14). Thus God rejects every claim to absolute ownership: “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me” (Lev 25:23).”18 Pope Francis emphasizes that human dominion “over the universe should be understood more properly in the sense of responsible stewardship.”19 He explains, “Once the human being declares independence from reality and behaves with absolute dominion, the very foundations of our life begin to crumble.” This is possible, he said, quoting John Paul II’s Cenesimus Annus, because “instead of carrying out his role as a cooperator with God in the work of creation, man sets himself up in place of God and thus ends up provoking a rebellion on the part of nature.”20 Incidentally, the Hebrew word khabash (subdue) is used when one is dealing with a hostile enemy. When used in relation to the environment, it could mean that “we subdue the earth because without such subjugation the harshness of nature would yield death for us rather than life.”21 In this sense, “subdue” becomes synonymous with an Old English word tammian (Latin, domare; Greek, daman) which means to tame or to make nature “not afraid of people, and used to living with them.”22 On the other hand, the Hebrew word radah (dominion) is used in the royal sense (kings have dominion over their subjects and territories). It means “to have dominion, rule, dominate”23 or “authority to rule; control.”24 The same word, however, is used in the Scriptures to mean something else: 18

Laudato si': 67.

LS: 116; Love for Creation. An Asian Response to the Ecological Crisis, Declaration of the Colloquium sponsored by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (Tagaytay, 31 January-5 February 1993), 3.3.2.

20 John Paul II, Centesimus Annus.

21 Genesis 1:28, To “Subdue” and “Have Dominion Over” Creation, https://christopherbrown.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/genesis-128-to-subdue-and-have-dominion-overcreation/. See also https://biblehub.com/str/hebrew.

22 https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/tame_1?q=tame.

23 https://biblehub.com/str/hebrew/7287.htm.

24 https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/dominion?q=dominion.

19

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“You shall not rule over him with severity;”25 “…of Israel, you shall not rule with severity;”26 “And the upright shall rule over them in the morning;”27 “May he also rule from sea to sea.”28

Of particular interest is Psalm 72 (A Psalm of Solomon) entitled “The Reign of the Righteous King.” It depicts a ruler (one who has dominion) as righteous, just, and savior.29 Thus dominion can be taken in a positive sense or what Pope Francis calls “stewardship” because the Earth belongs to God and we are the stewards of God’s creation.

The rise of Pope Francis is, in a way, a fulfillment of Lynn White’s proposal that was included in his 1966 paper. He said: “Possibly we should ponder the greatest radical in Christian history since Christ: Saint Francis of Assisi…Francis tried to depose man from his monarchy over creation and set up a democracy of all God's creatures. …The greatest spiritual revolutionary in Western history, Saint Francis, proposed what he thought was an alternative Christian view of nature and man's relation to it; he tried to substitute the idea of the equality of all creatures, including man, for the idea of man's limitless rule of creation. He failed….Since the roots of our trouble are so largely religious, the remedy must also be essentially religious, whether we call it that or not. We must rethink and refeel our nature and destiny. The profoundly religious, but heretical, sense of the primitive Franciscans for the spiritual autonomy of all parts of nature may point a direction. I propose Francis as a patron saint for ecologists. ”30 At last, a new version of Saint Francis put an end to the controversy. I am pleased to be a witness of this unfolding. Toynbee did say that “only a change in world view31 could heal the planet.”32 This new world view brought about by the new interpretation of the Genesis 1:28 approximates what Berry calls the ecozoic era or

25

Leviticus 25:43 (NAS).

Leviticus 25:46 (NAS).

27 Psalm 49:14 (NAS).

28 Psalm 72:8 (NAS).

29 Psalm 72: 1-4 .

30 Lynn White, “The Historic Roots of Our Ecological Crisis.”

31 In simple terms, it refers to “a person’s way of thinking about and understanding life, which depends on their beliefs and attitudes”, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/worldview?q=world+view.

32 Arnold Toynbee, “The Genesis of Pollution.”

26

“the geologic era that Earth is entering – when humans live in a mutually enhancing relationship with Earth and the Earth community.”33 As Berry said: "In this new context every component of the Earth community would have its rights in accord with the proper mode of its being and its functional role. In each case the basic rights would be for habitat and the opportunity of each being to fulfill its role in the natural systems to which it belongs. Humans would be obliged to respect these rights." 34

33 34

What does Ecozoic mean?, https://ecozoictimes.com/what-is-the-ecozoic/what-does-ecozoic-mean/.

Thomas Berry, “The Great Work: Our Way into the Future.”(Bell Tower: New York, 1999), 80.