DOMINION AND POWER

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

~ Micah 6:8

The second half of Genesis 1:26 tells us that, coupled with creation in His image, God gave us dominion over the animals.  Bruce Birch explains, “God’s resolve to create in the divine image is coupled with a commissioning to have dominion. . . . It is as representative (image) of God that we are given capacity for power in the world.”[1]  Birch adds, “We are not absolute monarchs in the world but trustees or stewards acting in behalf of God’s sovereignty as Creator.”[2]  Moreover, because our authority over animals is a delegated power, it is not absolute; it is answerable to God, who ultimately rules over all.  This delegation of power over creation comes with an “implied moral norm [that measures] human actions by reference to their faithfulness in reflecting God’s will and ultimate rule.”[3]  Likewise, Christopher Wright explains, that exercise of power over creation “must reflect the character and values of God’s own kingship” and requires careful reflection on the character of God.[4]

  The Ruler we are to represent, as Walter Brueggemann explains, is “one who governs by gracious self-giving.”[5] Citing 2 Cor. 4:4 and Col. 1:15, Brueggemann argues that Christians are to view their dominion through the lens of Jesus Christ, whose “identity as God’s image on earth is evident in his readiness to turn from himself toward creation . . .”[6]  Jesus shows us that it is the nature of God to look after the interests of others, even those of “lesser value.” 

Moreover, as Terrence Fretheim explains, this duty of nurturing care “centers on the animals.”[7]  It is the animals to whom we owe this precious duty.  The animals are intended to know the character God through interactions with humans.  The entire structure of creation as God intended it, Fretheim contends, is intended to bring “the world along to its fullest possible creational potential.”[8]  Dominion is, Fretheim says, “a power-sharing relationship” with God, connoting “care-giving, even nurturing, not exploitation,” and imposes on humans the responsibility to “relate to the nonhuman as God relates to them.” [9]

If we are sharing power over creation – and in particular over the animals – with God, that should lead us to ask: what is the right exercise of power? 
Scripture has a great deal to say in answer to this question.  Matthew Scully summarizes Judeo-Christian teaching on power, saying its “whole logic . . . is one of gracious condescension, of the proud learning to be humble, the higher serving the lower, and strong protecting the weak.”[10] Power used to exploit or harm the innocent and the powerless is displeasing to God: “Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”  Isaiah 1:17. 

 Birch, in discussing the formation of the Israelite community out of the Exodus, addresses God’s partiality for the dispossessed and “God’s implacable opposition to evil in the world – all of those forces that make for dispossession: injustice, oppression, economic exploitation, personal greed, and manipulation of others.”[11]  All of these things come from the exercise of power without compassion, without gratitude, and without the recognition that all power comes from God and is answerable to Him.  All these offenses are manifest in our current interaction with animals at the societal level.  

The Gospel of Matthew assures us that “the last will be first and the first will be last,” and “whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Mt. 20: 16, 26).  Likewise, the Gospel of Luke warns, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required” (Lk. 12:48).  There is nothing here to support to the idea that humans were given power over animals in order to simply use it as we please.  Indeed, the entire teaching of the gospel, as the rest of Scripture, is that power and opportunity bring responsibility and obligation, and we will be held to account. 

Moreover, the notion that humans have no responsibilities toward animals because of human status in creation – or that whatever responsibilities we may have must always be subordinate to human interests -- is inimicable to the example of Jesus Christ, the perfect image of God.  Paul tells us that for mere humans, Christ “did not regard equality with God a thing to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave” to die on the cross. (Phil. 2:5-8).  Can we, who are made only in the image of God, “exploit” that image and count ourselves too important to care about those who are “lower” than we are?  Christ shows us the character of God: the self-emptying of power for the benefit of the powerless.  To justify disregard of animal suffering in the name of our God-given dominion, or to suggest that we owe the animals no duty of care because we are more important, is incompatible with living in God’s image as modeled by Christ.

Thus, our appropriate relationship with animals is hardly a theological throw-away.  It cannot be brushed aside for more “important” theological matters and it cannot simply be tolerated with an indulgent smile while the children bring their hamsters to the Blessing of the Animals service.  How we understand our relationship with animals and how we exercise our power over them, whether we realize it or not, is a reflection or a distortion of the character of God and a defining element of what it means to be human.  It is also a reflection of our understanding of what it means to be given power, the rights and responsibilities that come with power, and the ultimate source of power.  It has to do with “the whole logic” of what it means to be Christian.  At a time when animals are suffering at human hands as never before, it is a matter on which the church may no longer remain disengaged and silent.  

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[1] Birch, Bruce C. Let Justice Roll Down: The Old Testament, Ethics, and Christian Life. Louisville: West Minster/John Knox Press, 1991, pp. 88-89.

[2] Id., p. 89.

[3] Id.

[4] Wright, Christopher J.H. Old Testament Ethics For The People Of God. Intervarsity Press, 2004, p. 121.

[5] Brueggemann, Walter. Genesis Interpretation Series. Louisville: West Minster/ John Knox Press, 1982, p. 33.

[6] Id., p. 34.

[7] Fretheim, Terrence E. "The Book of Genesis." In New Interpreter's Bible, Vol I. Nashville: Abbingdon Press, 1994, p. 346.

[8] Id.

[9] Id., pp. 345-6.

[10] Scully, Matthew. Dominion: The Power of Man, The Suffering of Animals, and The Call to Mercy. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 2002, p. 97.

[11] Birch, p. 123.

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