Cultivate and keep the land…
In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, three pairs of verbs summarize the “mission” assigned by God to humanity:”To multiply-fruit and fill the earth” (populate the world),”to dominate and subdue” animals, vegetation and natural resources, and finally “to cultivate and keep the garden”. These “orders” are not given to allow us to tyrannize creation, but on the contrary to take care of it with love and justice, as created beings “in the image of God”, in communion with the Lord to whom “the earth belongs and all that it contains” (Psalm 24).
Our Western societies seek to control nature, to contribute to the famous economic, scientific, social, etc. progress, while neglecting biblical teaching to define a sound ethics of human activity. The harmful consequences of this attitude on our planet are well documented. We have “cultivated” a lot and “kept” our planet very little…