Humans and Our Co-Creatures

Many Christian ideas and values stem from the Hebrew Bible (to Christians, the Old Testament) and thus overlap with Jewish beliefs. An important starting point to understand the human-nature relationship is the Book of Genesis where God entrusts the world to humans. Pope Francis, in his environmentalist encyclical Laudato si' (Praise Be to You): On Care for Our Common Home," discusses the misinterpretation of Gen 1:28, which grants humans dominion over the earth, as meaning domination of it. Instead, he points out that “the Earth is the Lord’s” (Ps. 24:1) and that humans should have a reciprocal relationship with our surrounding nature: humans care for nature; nature supports human life.

The New Testament, too, contains teachings of Jesus Christ that promote compassion and care for animals and nature. For example, Jesus asserted that all creatures have intrinsic value in the eyes of God, regardless of any financial value humans might ascribe to them (Mt. 10:29). Jesus also spoke of animals as role models for humans, such as birds who trust that God will provide for them (Mt. 6:25-26).

The history of Christian thought teaches that God did not create the Earth to benefit any specific species; rather, it was created for God’s glory. This is why all of Creation praises God. Furthermore, all of Creation, including humanity, is interrelated, as celebrated in the Canticle of the Creatures (Laudes Creaturarum) by St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecologists: 

“Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces vari­ous fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.” 

Saint Francis reportedly also had wild flower and herb gardens, where visitors could be reminded of the beauty of the holy Creation. St. Francis’ legacy lives on in the name of Pope Francis, who wrote in Laudato si’:

“Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us”