Devout Christians believe wholeheartedly that the world was made for humankind, and that it was sustained by Christ and that humankind was simply given the task for caring for and looking after this creation. Yet, all humankind has managed to do is to trigger an ecological time bomb. This is due to humankinds" selfish exploitation of natural resources. This could be partly due to the misreading and misinterpretation of .
" .be fruitful and increase in number fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish .
of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that move across .
the ground." .
This misreading I fell could be responsible for the mass population growth the world has seen over the decades and the over fishing off our seas, the over-consumption of resources and the murder of our wildlife to the extent of extinction. It has for too long gone unnoticed and unchallenged by God's people, who really should know better and they should be among the best "green" activists in the world, or are they? that " the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying." links this to the sinfulness of God's people. So, is Christians believe that the world has been entrusted into the hands of humankind, surely then humankind should be doing all they can to respect nature and the environment. Even if it based on the idea that God created all we survey, God created this so it must have some sort of tremendous value as God is the source of all existence. After all if Christians and all humankind respect nature, respect each other, then they are ultimately respecting God - the creator. God created man and woman and gave them authority " over the fish in the sea- etc, so this makes a clear distinction between humankind and the rest of creation, as it was only man and woman that was created " in the image of God." and were given ultimate control over all the earth.