Putting the ‘And’ Back into Genesis 2:15

About Putting the ‘And’ Back into Genesis 2:15

Abstract

As our consumeristic society bumps up against creational limits, technological and economic progress is often pitted against environmental stewardship. Those opposed to governmental regulation of pollution and resource use claim that these restrictions hinder the growth of the economy, while those in favor of additional control, acknowledge that we will likely have to make sacrifices as a result. The adversarial relationship between humankind and the rest of the creation has a long history with many ramifications. This paper begins to explore how this twisted relationship has distorted the engineering design process by narrowing the definition of the engineer’s stewardship task. By revisiting the garden and our original mandate, our understanding of our stewardship task is broadened from one of “doing less harm”1 to one of “enabling creation to flourish”. A richer understanding of our proper relationship to the rest of creation has the potential to spur creative solutions to meet the needs of our world while pointing to Christ’s kingdom of shalom.