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Q's
& A's
What Is the Proper Place
and Role of Human Beings in the World?
- A Mainline Protestant Response
Humanity is intimately related to the rest of
creation. We, like other creatures, are formed
from the earth (Gen 2:7, 9, 19). Scripture speaks
of humanity's kinship with other creatures (Job
38-39; Pss 104). God cares faithfully for us,
and together we join in singing the "hymn
of all creation" (Lutheran Book of Worship,
page 61; Pss 148).
Humans, in service to God, have special roles
on behalf of the whole of creation. Made in the
image of God, we are called to care for the earth
as God cares for the earth. God's command to have
dominion and subdue the earth is not a license
to dominate and exploit. Human dominion (Gen 1:28;
Pss 8), a special responsibility, should reflect
God's way of ruling as a shepherd king who takes
the form of a servant (Phil 2:7), wearing a crown
of thorns. (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
“Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and
Justice..” )
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