“In the beginning”
The famous opening lines are found in the first book of the Bible known as the book of Genesis – which means “origin” in Latin. The book of Genesis is important to the Judeo-Christian beliefs, where many concepts in both religions are derived from.
Lynn White believed that it was these Judeo-Christian beliefs that provided the basis for future generations to justify their exploitations of the environment. Hence, it is important to examine how these narratives affect us today.

Creation Story
The first 3 chapters of Genesis is commonly known as the “Creation Story”. The creation story in Genesis has many similarities to the other creation myths in the Ancient Near East (ANE) civilizations, for example the Babylonian story named ‘Enuma Elish’ (Hayes, 2006). However, the Genesis recount is also significantly different from the other creation myths. These differences are important because scholars believe that the act of “incorporating elements” while simultaneously changing them into subtle differences is a form of sociological “subversion” that are used by the authors as “vehicles” to express their own values and views (Hayes, 2006). These values and views are of concern to Lynn White, because he believes that the environmental attitudes that result from these values and views will differ across societies, thus pinning the blame on Christian beliefs as the “Roots of the ecological crisis”.

Creation story – “Dominion over creatures” scene as commonly depicted

The genre of this 3 chapters is not a scientific recount of a literal origin, but telling a story that conveyed meaning. In this case, the means to account for the origin of things, the existence of evil and suffering in a world that’s created by a good god, and mankind’s place in the world.

In almost all other ANE myths, human beings are separate from the gods. The gods either represent or inhabit elements in nature, such as a sea god, and a wind god while human beings are portrayed as unimportant slaves to them, who serve them and appease them. The gods then have little interest in humans, using them as slaves for their own means (Hayes, 2006).

However, in the Hebrew Biblical creation story, there is only one god. The biblical one god is incorporeal, not made of physical substance, hence the whole physical realm, including nature is depicted as separate and subservient. Nature does not need any “appeasement”, because it does not possess any divinity but is instead created through the simple expression of the will of god. Thus, effectively displacing all other animistic or pantheistic beliefs about nature.

Man in the image of God

although man’s body is made of clay, he is not simply part of nature: he is made in God’s image. ~Lynn White

Genesis 1:26 let us make man in our image

The next contrast in the biblical creation story is stating that humankind are important. In Genesis 1, the creation of the human is the climax of the creation story. In the story, god blows his own breath of life into clay figure, resulting in a “mix of earthly and divine elements with a sacred imprint” (Hayes, 2006). This narrative gives humans a unique position of importance being the only creature created in the image of God. This concept of being made in the image of god implies that human life is somehow sacred and deserving of special care and protection, conferring in a special dignity, higher than other animals.

In Enuma Elish, service was imposed on humans to take care of the gods. In Genesis 1, the author portrays an inversion: humans are not slaves taking care of god, instead god now takes care of humans. God shows his concern for humans in Genesis 1:28, telling them to ‘Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky and all the living things that creep on earth.'”

Genesis 1:29. “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.”

This Hebrew word is sometimes translated as “subdue” or “dominion” or “steward” or “take care of” because it has multiple meanings in its original Hebrew version (Terence, 1994). The ambiguity surrounding this word has been the center of attention and debate.

The word “dominion” has been picked up by Lynn White and other ecotheologians to criticize the highly anthropocentric view of the narrative citing it as a license for humans to dominate over nature, exploiting it for their own use (White, 1967). This value type is classified by Kellert as Dominionistic value of nature, which is still highly prevalent today.

However, religious environmentalist that those verses suggest the opposite. Instead, it refers to how being created in the image of God confers special rights and special duties. In this case, having rights over other creation simultaneously obligates humans in duties towards creation, hence in certain ways being godlike, exercising acts of creativity and concern in the natural world. Humans are given fruits and grain while animals have green plants. In other words, there should be no competition for food encouraging a peaceful co-existence. This qualifies as the stewardship approach that has been the reinterpretation that has been accepted throughout modernity.

References:
Hayes, C. (2006). Lecture 3 – The Hebrew Bible in Its Ancient Near Eastern Setting: Genesis 1-4 in Context . Lecture. Retrieved from http://oyc.yale.edu/transcript/945/rlst-145
White, L. (1967). The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis. Science,155(3767), 1203-1207. doi:10.1126/science.155.3767.1203
Terence E. Fretheim, Genesis, 1 THE NEW INTERPRETER’S BIBLE 346 (1994).