All Creation Is Your Neighbor

by Eric Elkin

“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.”

— Gen. 1:26

Former U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt has a complicated legacy. He was an early advocate for the modern conservation movement. Roosevelt almost singlehandedly protected over 230 million acres of public land. He created the National Forest Service and numerous wildlife sanctuaries. At the same time, his appetite for killing and subduing creatures was equally legendary.

Teddy Roosevelt was the epitome of dominion. Born small and sickly, Roosevelt was driven by an obsession to prove his strength, power, and stamina. His life seemed a perpetual battle of trying to grab dominion over the earth. Often, he did not care about the consequences of his actions as long as he proved himself dominant.

"Let them have dominion…over all the earth" is a passage in scripture that became an ideology. It led early American diplomats to believe God destined them to control the West. Christian pioneers used these words as their battle cry when clear-cutting forests for farmland. "Let them have dominion" was deep in the heart of those who dreamed of projects like the Hoover Dam.

No scripture passage impacted the earth's landscape more than Genesis 1:26. How Christians applied it often produced disastrous results. The subsequent abuses built a wall between theologians and ecologists. Many environmentalists see Christians as enemies of the created world.

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”

— John Muir

The Creation narratives in the Bible are ancient stories. These stories existed long before homo sapiens formed anything resembling organized religions. Ancient people, who had no contact with each other, shared similar stories about the forming of the world. Perhaps the stories were formed more by experience with the world than a theology about the world.

Seventeen thousand years ago, large carnivores roamed the planet. They did not see humans as masters but as food. Back then, humans did not hunt for sport or search for new recreational activities. Everything outside their tribe was trying to kill them. At the time, "let them have dominion" might have been words of hope to embattled creatures.

Today, 8 billion people roam the earth. We did an excellent job of listening to the Creator. Those created in God's likeness were fruitful and multiplied. We took dominion over the planet and have the neighborhoods to prove it. However, we should consider pumping the brakes on that ideology. The Creation story has more to say than expand.

When you take a step back and look at the whole story, creation is a self-sustaining system of interdependent relationships. God created space for every living thing and a means for every living thing to survive. Then consider the story of Creation through the lens of the entire Bible. If you do this, you'll discover great consistency.

Flowing from the beginning to the end are two commandments. Jesus taught them in words and actions. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And, love your neighbor as yourself. Who is your neighbor? Every living thing. When you think this way, dominion is no longer about power over something. It becomes a duty to be faithful in living in the world.

Click to read Genesis 1:20 - 2:4