God gives human beings authority in the created world, what we might call "responsible dominion". Here is the first big work project. God, the king assigns sub-kingdoms, in which, under God, we human beings have our say. "Let them have dominion", says God....
The Bible speaks of dominion, not in the sense of conquest but in the sense of stewardship. After all, how does God exercise dominion? How does God demonstrate hospitality in creation and providence?... In the kingdom of God, to have dominion is to care for the well being of others
Cornelius Plantinga, Engaging God's World p.31
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14 comments:
not an easy question - although God always exercises dominion in accordance with His own character, sometimes that looks like rainbows and sometimes like floods and fire
and should not our humble and wise response to God be "Please lead me in this great task of 'responsible dominion' as a recognition of whose world this is and the great task of maintaining the God glorifying effect of His world?"
Susan, follow-up question -- Why does it look different -- rainbows and floods and fire
the rainbow came after the flood?
susan - sometimes it looks like 6 inches of snow to start the week. :-) Seriously, your point is right - despite the sentiments expressed in the quote, God's dominion is expressed in varied ways
jimm - absolutely right. If we understand what is required of us to exercise "responsible dominion", how can it not lead us to prayer
mark - yes, the heart of God's promises toward his people is not the flood but the rainbow...not judgment but mercy
> the rainbow came after the flood?
What flood? Rainbows are due to refraction (and internal reflection) of light as it passes through raindrops which act like millions of little prisms. They occur during rain, not before or after the rain.
Rainbows are both a refraction of light and a promise of God -
"I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth... When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh."
Maybe just two sides of a coin jimm. Rain is not only beautiful but essential, but too much and you get floods, destruction and death. Two sides of the same coin.
Rainbows are the same way. The one that set the standard for the beautiful rainbows to come marked the end of God's judgement of mankind. So, again, two sides of a coin.
It makes me think of Hebrews 12 - no discipline for the moment is sweet.... and Romans 8:29. God uses the terrible, horrible stuff, the stuff that looks like floods, raging fires, tornadoes, tsunamis, wars in our lives and the life of the planet to make us look like Christ - two sides of the same coin.
Hope this makes sense.
Susan - thanks for sharing your thoughts, wisdom
>never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth...
But there never was a flood that threatened the earth in geological history. Noah is reputed to have built a pretty magnificent boat to house those millions of animal species, and the technology couldn't possibly have been available before the bronze age, and probably a good deal later. If there had been a world-wide flood about then, there would be geological evidence of it everywhere!!!
(I should like to know where all the water came from?)
Not to mention to ridiculous proposition that human diversity as we see it today could have evolved from Noah's meagre family in such a very short time in history!
Every Square Inch, forgive me for returning, but I meant to ask you if you think there were no rainbows before the Bronze Age?
Maalie - honestly, I do not know the answer to that question. I haven't looked into that at all and I'll find some time to do so in the future
I'm glad for your inquisitive mind and here are few parameters here at this blog but one of them is to stay on topic. (The other is the exercise of civility including no personal insults or profanity).
The purpose of this blog is to pursue the integration of Christian faith and the realm of business and culture. In general, our discussions will be on those points. Would truly love your thoughts on these posts but not as a platform for other unrelated discussions
Thanks
I take you point ESI; I considered myself merely to be continuing a line of thought initiated by Halfmom Mark, namely rainbows and floods, and therefore felt it was within the scope of this topic.
ESI, I'm sorry to continue this discussion started by Maalie about The Flood and earth's geological history. However, I feel insulted by the way Maalie stated his/her argument because in a sense, it is also arguing against the credibility of The Bible.
Therefore, I encourage all of you (including non-Christians-if there is any, who reads this blog, or even Christians who still believe in evolution) to look at this: (This link is specifically for geological topic. For other topics, feel free to browse by yourselves)
http://creation.com/geology-questions-and-answers
It contains SCIENTIFIC explanations to the things which are written in the Bible (such as the creation of the world in 6 days, Noah's Flood, DINOSAUR, etc), and therefore proving that the Bible is a HISTORICAL book, not only a magical-surreal-almost-fairy tale book.
For the glory of God.
Anon - I'm sorry that you felt insulted in any way but I don't believe Maalie intended to insult you or anyone else.
People, that's why I'd like to stay on topic - not because I'm avoiding discussions like the age of the earth or creation/evolution but rather because to properly discuss these topics we have to do more than the sound bites and sniping that might ensue.
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