Dominion Or Stewardship: What Genesis Really Means

Professor Murray Rae, a theologian from the University of Otago, joins Andrew Urquhart to explore what Genesis teaches about humanity's responsibility toward creation. He examines the Hebrew words for "subdue" and "dominion" in Genesis 1:27-28, noting they can sound like licence for exploitation, but argues this misreads their context.

Professor Rae contends that since humans are made in the image of a God who calls creation into being gently rather than coercively, our "dominion" should mirror Christ's servant-leadership rather than domination, pointing to early Jewish-Greek translations that rendered the term with a sense of lordly care. He traces this theme into John's Gospel, particularly Jesus turning water into wine, as a sign of creation's renewal through obedience, concluding that Scripture establishes an ethos of stewardship requiring both faithfulness and scientific expertise to preserve the earth's goodness for future generations.

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