Dominion in Christian Farming
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rsth.32549Keywords:
Christianity, dominion, stewardship, farming, worldview, environment, land, animals, GenesisAbstract
Genesis 1:27–28 and 2:15 are the basis for significant debate on conceptions of stewardship and dominion in Christian responses to environmental issues. Key criticisms of historical perspectives of dominion in the west, including from White, have been influential on Christian environmental responses. However, perspectives of dominion persist among some groups of Christians in their worldview of human-nature relations. Farmers in particular find dominion important as a justification for use and development of nature through farming methods and technologies. Often dominion is used along side or within an understanding of stewardship, which exhorts responsibility towards nature. Within the CFFO, a dominion perspective sees farmers as co-creators with God, able to make creation more than it was. Other farmers, however, temper or reject the concept of dominion.
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