In the commentaries on the late Pope Francis’ Papacy, there has been some mention of his views on the environment, especially as set out in his June 2015 ecumenical on the eve of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. What many commentators have not emphasised, however, is that Pope Francis wrought a revolution in Christianity’s attitude towards the environment by a radical reinterpretation of ancient Biblical accounts of the relationship between humans and Nature.
What exactly did he accomplish?
The story of creation in the Old Testament Book of Genesis, accepted on Divine Authority by all the Abrahamic religions, dwells on man’s relationship with Nature:
“…And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth… and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth….” (Genesis 1: 24-28).
The Book of Genesis thus gives a special place to humans, above all other species. This was reaffirmed after the Biblical floods: “…And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hands are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things” (Genesis 9: 1-3).
There are certainly passages in the Old Testament that assert that cruelty towards animals is impermissible, and suggest that humans’ domination over Nature was actually stewardship. For example, Leviticus states: “The Earth must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants”. Overall, however, there is little in the Old Testament to infer that humans do not have Divine sanction to kill animals.
Christians also adopted the notion that only humans had immortal souls. This is the basis of the Christian notion of sanctity of human life, but not of other living creatures. In the New Testament, the main scripture of Christians, the occasional Old Testament restraint on cruelty to animals, is absent. Saint Paul reinterpreted Moses’ law that forbade muzzling oxen that tread on the corn: “Doth God care for oxen?” Paul asked, and answered no, the law was “altogether for our sakes.” The Christian attitude to Nature before the Reformation, was clearly stated by St. Thomas Aquinas:
“…There is no sin in using a thing for the purpose for which it is. Now the order of things is such that the imperfect are for the perfect…. Things, like plants which merely have life, are all alike for animals, and all animals are for man. Wherefore it is not unlawful if men use plants for the good of animals, and animals for the good of man, as the Philosopher [Aristotle] states (Politics I, 3)…In fact, this is in keeping with the commandment of God himself (Genesis i, 29, 30 and Genesis ix, 3) (Summa Theologica II, II, Q64, Art. 1).
Many centuries passed before the Catholic church considered a change in its position. Pope John Paul II in the 1980s spoke of “respect for the beings that constitute the natural world”: “The dominion granted to man by the Creator is not an absolute power, nor can one speak of a freedom to ‘use and misuse,’ or to dispose of things as one pleases…. When it comes to the natural world, we are subject not only to biological laws, but also to moral ones, which cannot be violated with impunity (Solicitudo Rei Socialis, 1988).
However, it was Pope Francis who, with great courage, gave an authoritative reinterpretation of Christianity’s position in his second ecumenical in June 2015 in the Laudato Si of May 2015: “This allows us to respond to the charge that Judaeo-Christian thinking, on the basis of the Genesis account which grants man “dominion” over the earth (cf. Gen 1:28), has encouraged the unbridled exploitation of nature by painting him as domineering and destructive by nature. This is not a correct interpretation of the Bible as understood by the Church. Although it is true that we Christians have at times incorrectly interpreted the Scriptures, nowadays we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures…. ‘The earth is the Lord’s” (Ps 24:1); to him belongs “the earth with all that is within it…”
“The laws found in the Bible dwell on relationships, not only among individuals but also with other living beings… ‘You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and withhold your help…’ Clearly, the Bible has no place for a tyrannical anthropocentrism unconcerned for other creatures… we are called to recognise that other living beings have a value of their own in God’s eyes: ‘by their mere existence they bless him and give him glory’…” (Ps 104:31)”
It is for scholars of Christian theology to debate the extent to which Pope Francis’ doctrine limits primacy to human interests in man’s relationship with Nature. One needs to keep in mind, however, that the present global environmental crisis has arisen almost wholly out of the modern industrial economy based on Western utilitarianism – that human desires alone count, and that Nature is a mere resource to this end. Pope Francis has helped in delegitimising this millennia-old attitude. It is a fundamental, necessary condition for making the world a better place.
The writer is Distinguished Fellow, TERI
