4 The Environmental Debate
A. Genesis: The Story of Creation
So God created man in his own image, in the
image of God created he him; male and female
created he them.
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.
And God said, Behold, I have given you
every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face
of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is
the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall
be for meat.
B. Genesis: The Story of Noah and the
Flood
And behold, I, even I do bring a flood of
waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh,
wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven:
and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
But with thee will I establish my covenant:
and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy
sons, and thy wife, and thy sons wives with thee.
DOCUMENT 1: Biblical Views of Nature and Humanity
Many believe that a religious foundation for human abuse of the environment lies in the story of
creation at the beginning of Genesis, where humans are directed to subdue the earth and exert dominion
over it. Although there has been extensive debate about the meaning of “dominion,” there is little
doubt about the interpretation given to the term by the newcomers to North America. The explorers
and colonists aimed to “subdue” the land and exploit its riches and to “replenish” it with increasing
numbers of Europeans.
The biblical story of Noah, which describes Noah’s management of the flood according to God's
instructions, suggests another role for humanity in relation to the natural world. The sort of dominion
Noah exercised over the creatures that he took onto the ark indicates respect for the inherent value of
nature and a sense of a reciprocal relationship between living things. If this act of saving all living things
can be considered “dominion,” it surely contrasts with the interpretation given the biblical injunction by
the colonists and later Americans.
In Isaiah, as well as elsewhere in the Bible, the contrast between the garden and the wilderness
is vivid. The language and concept of this dichotomy, with its preference for cultivated land over
“wilderness” and “waste places,” and which is also found in the writings of Virgil, Hobbes, Locke, and
many of the early naturalists, traveled across the Atlantic and became embedded in the thinking of the
colonists.And of every living thing of all flesh, two of
every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep
them alive with thee; they shall be male and
female....
And God remembered Noah, and every liv-
ing thing, and all the cattle that was with him in
the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the
earth, and the waters asswaged.
...
And God spake unto Noah, saying,
Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and
thy sons, and thy sons wives with thee.
Bring forth with thee every living thing that
is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of
cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly
in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon
the earth.
C. Isaiah, c. 725 B.C.E.
Upon the land of my people shall come up
thorns and briers, yea, upon all the houses of joy
in the joyous city: