Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Genesis 1:28

We are currently reading "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. On the first page of book one, a quote from the genesis section of the bible was written, which appeared to relate to book one. The quote was:
"And God said unto them,
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."
This passage is basically God's instructions to man on how they should conduct themselves after being given life on the earth. So when the passage says that they should be "fruitful" and "multiply," it means that they should increase the population so that humans can expand across the earth. Then the passage says that humans need to "replenish the earth" and "subdue it," which basically charges humans with the responsiblity of maintaining the earth and using the resources it gives us, while also making sure that all the animals and plants can grow. So basically, it says since God chose us to have dominion over the earth, we should use the earth to increase our population as well as using that gift to insure that nature is maintained.
This passage implies that people should improve themselves but also maintain nature. In other words, we should make advancements in technology, but not at the expense of nature, since we are technically the rulers of the earth. It is kind of like the Chinese empire, where if the ruler used his resources for the good of both himself and his servants, the empire was strong, but if he only thought of himself and didn't take care of his servants, it caused the empire to crumble. If we want to maintain the earth, we need to use our resources both for ourselves and to replenish the earth so that we may continue to use its resources.
Based off of this passage, I believe that the following chapter will be about the Price family moving into Africa, where they will try to make the best of their surroundings. They will also encounter a lot of animals and plants, with which they will face the dilema of using those resources or preserving them.

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