Why does God tell Adam and Even to subdue the earth? If God gives them "dominion" then what is the point of telling them to subdue it? Unless it needed to be subdued. And if it needed to be subdued...then how so?
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CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.
The Directive to Subdue
- Thread starter Paleouss
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Just a thought —the word translated 'subdue' can mean, besides "to bring into subjection", "to keep under subjection".
But yeah, it is a curious question. Maybe the dominion they had, meant only the ability to bring the rest of creation under control, above the ability of any other creature.
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RandyPNW
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Boy that's a great question! I think I've had that question in the back of my mind for many years, and have made only half-hearted attempts to satisfy it.
I think the way I deal with it most often is to relegate it to something more benign than "subduing, as a military exercise." Of course, "subduing" can mean that, ie it can mean that an enemy force is being overcome.
However, in the context, where there is no stated enemy as yet in Genesis, to "subdue" would surely mean to view the things of the earth as subject to Man's control and manipulation. It would mean something like "gardening," to prepare the earth, plant it, and harvest it.
The things in our world are indeed subject to our will, such that we can produce things out of it. Animals use the world but are more like robots than agents able to manage and manipulate as reasoning creatures.
I will say that at the time of the writing of Genesis, and perhaps even before the creation of Man, Satan existed as a potential enemy to Man. And so, for God to command Man to "subdue the earth" may very well have carried a deeper meaning that "gardening." It may have indicated that we are free to manage our lives on earth even with spiritual enemies that are hostile to us.
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