The origin of man and the rest of the creation links him far more closely with all the other created beings that with the God who did the creating.
This means that there is a very real kinship between man and the rest of the creatures. They are not something totally alien to him. Becuase in a sense all creatures are man's kin, there should be a harmony between man and the rest of the creatures. In acutal practice this may not be the case, but it is the human, and not the rest of creation, that has introduced the disharmony.
When taken seriously, man's kinship with the rest of creation has a definite impact. Ecology takes on a rich meaning. The word derives from the Greek oikos, which means "house". Thus, "ecology" points up the idea that there is one great household. Wht man does to one part of it affects other parts as well, a truth that is becoming painfully clear to us as we find pollution harming human lives, and the destruction of certain natural predators leaving pests a relatively unhampered opportunity.
The truth that we are kin to the rest of creation also tells us that we are to be humane. The other living creatures may be used as food for man. They are not, however, to be destroyed wastefully for the sheer pleasure of it. [...] The welfare of those other creatures is important to God, and it should be to man as well.
-Erickson (Christian Theology, Baker Books: Grand Rapids, 1995) 488-489
It's an interesting thought.
Are we mindful enough of creation? Does this mean that pig-shooting and hunting is out? Do we acknowledge our responsibility and relationship to creation enough? Of do we simply focus on how we have a unique position in creation, looking only at dominion, and forgetting that we too are part of creation?
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3 comments:
no more pig-shooting! Doyle will be disappointed....
-seumas
Hey Seumas,
I was thinking of Doyle when I read/wrote it!
BW, when you see what pigs do (visit Forbes), you can see why people are happy to kill them. I could not do it, unless I was going to eat roast pork that night. Pig shooters are a wild lot, though. It's a bit hard to hit the pigs if you are well tanked!
We must be mindful of creation, because we can't maintain the illusion anymore that the world is unlimited in resources. We are the stewards of the world and although part of it, are not bound to it as democrartic equals to animals. We have a special, separate value to Father God.
I am embarrassed by Christians who feel that any caring for the environment and the necessary sense of obligation in looking after it are a new age bending of gospel priorities. We will have a a new Earth to look after one day in our resurrected bodies, so lets get some practice in!
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