Dominium terrae
The Latin Dominium terrae means “dominion over the earth. In terms of impact history, this is by far the most momentous motif of the Old Testament. It is God’s command to man:
“Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1: 28 KJB)
Only with a more accurate Hebrew interpretation does an originally friendlier sense illuminate itself. The Hebrew verb kabash was until a few years ago translated only as “to subdue.”
However, it also has the meaning “to take possession of as cultivated land” and “to make arable,” as comparisons with translations in other biblical books (Num 32 and Jos 18) show. And the Hebrew verb radah (hitherto translated as “to rule” or “to appear lordly”) is used in other texts for the way a shepherd deals with his flock, and so may also be understood as caring responsibly for something.
But the idea of dominium terrae concretized in modern times in the sense of a comprehensive instrumental domination of nature — still disastrous today.
In his Discours de la méthode, published in 1637, René Descartes wrote that humans are “rulers and possessors of nature”.
Of course, in this context, we may hold Christianity partly responsible for the ecological crisis of the Anthropocene. It has done a good job not only in the sense of the misinterpreted mission of dominion, but also with its consistently pursued expulsion of the deities of other religions.
First published on German on Valudis.