The last few centuries have been a time of drastic and accelerating change in the relationship between humanity and nature. Today, most Americans favor dominance over coexistence. The Mesopotamians were innovators of this perspective. They thought that nature was something to be dominated, not engaged with. This transition had massive repercussions on the environmental relations of humanity and the world at large. It established a model for how generations to come will read and understand the relationship between dominion and faith.
The Book of Genesis directs Adam and Eve to “have dominion” over the Earth. This seemingly innocuous order belies a concrete and potent ideology. This administrative order highlights what is likely the earliest theological justification for humanity’s domination over the natural world. The language of subjugation is pervasive in religious traditions, the stark opposite of animist worldviews that celebrated nature and its many forces. Religion filled the vacuum and created a new paradigm that positioned humanity within a stewardship role with the rest of the Earth. This worldview gave us the prerogative—and perhaps the duty—to subjugate the external world.
Over the centuries, this dominion paradigm has taken multiple forms. As social conditions changed, so did societies’ readings of the Qur’an. Take Christianity, for instance. Both in terms of its beliefs and organizational structure, Christianity had completely morphed by the time of Emperor Constantine. From the start, the Christian movement was rooted in a radical vision of equality and communal economics. This was in stark opposition to the domination and suppression that came to fruition in subsequent years. Constantine recognized the potential of monotheism as a unifying force within his empire, often employing it to consolidate power rather than championing its original message.
Among these early radicals who adopted Christianity were people who wanted to turn the prevailing power structures upside down. Specifically, they read the directive to “subdue” through lenses that critiqued hierarchal power structures and fought for equitable policy reforms. Notable uprisings such as the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381 and the Taiping Rebellion in the 19th century illustrate how this reinterpretation fueled movements against oppression. These insurrections focused on public health and safety, social justice, and economic equity. They pointed to a broader intellectual fight against the ideological underpinnings that legitimize oppression of people as well as our environment.
The impact of these theological interpretations on human interaction with the environment is significant. As religious narratives became more dominion-focused, they created a fertile ground for a more thorough worldview rooted in exploitation rather than preservation. Unfortunately, this ideology has survived into the present day, resulting in ecological destruction on a massive scale and prompting important conversations on what it means to practice sustainability.
The conflict between dominion and stewardship still rings true in today’s debates over environmental ethics. With nature at the center of the story, perhaps that’s why so many advocates want us to go back—to restore our relationship with nature. They model their practices after pre-colonial cosmologies that emphasized symbiosis over domination. Their desire is to reconcile religious belief with environmental stewardship. Evangelicals’ concern for the environment comes from a recognition that faith motivates us to protect, rather than abuse, God’s creation.
As humanity stands at an unprecedented crossroads facing existential environmental concerns, excavating the historical context of these religious narratives will lift up fruitful learnings. Rather, the history you discover is a deeper, more complicated story—a story that continues to inform and influence today’s relationship between America’s religions and environmental stewardship.