We are Stewards of the Earth

Unidentifiable Bird Coated with Oil (Louisiana)

Dead Turtle (Mississippi)

Dead Shark (Mississippi)

Dead Dolphin in Mississippi

Brown Pelican Covered in Oil (Louisiana)

What the Bible says about Stewardship Over Earth and Its Inhabitants:

• Genesis 1:26-28 seems to indicate clearly that humans were placed in charge of the non-human world.
• Psalm 8:6 reiterates that idea.
• Psalm 24:1 indicates that even though we are, in some sense, in charge, the world, and the things in it, are God’s.
• So does Psalm 50:10,11. The story of Noah seems to indicate that, at one point, humans were directly responsible for the lives of many kinds of animals.
• Genesis 7:2-5, 14-16, Proverbs 12:10 and Proverbs 27:23 all have to do with caring for animals.
• God seems to care not just for animals in general, but for kinds of animals.Psalms 104:24-25 praises God for the diversity of His creation, and His creatures. Since this explicitly includes the wide variety of ocean animals, it doesn’t seem possible that this praise is meant to be only because of their usefulness to humans.
• Genesis 7:3, 14-16 indicate God’s concern that the different kinds of animals would be preserved.
• Genesis 8:1 says that God had not forgotten Noah or the animals. Noah and his family were God’s agents in this care, of course, but they were God-directed agents. It would seem reasonable to argue that in our day, we also have responsibilities to the kinds of animals that exist in our time.

Tip of the Hat to Sun and Shield: Environmental Stewardship in the Bible: What the Bible says about care of the environment

Tags: oil spill, bp, dead wildlife, stewardship, noah, genesis, psalms, god cares for all