Creation mandate

Last updated

In Reformed Christian ethics, the creation mandates or creation ordinances are the commandments given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1 and 2. These predate the Mosaic Law and are often thought to apply to all people rather than just Christians. They include the cultural mandate ("Be fruitful and multiply!"), including both marriage and procreation (Gen 1:28), the labour mandate (Gen 2:15), and complying with Sabbath (Gen 2:3). [1]

These mandates are considered by many to be superseded by the Noahic Mandates in Genesis 9. Of note is that Adam was told to "subdue" the Earth, but Noah was not. This suggests that Fallen Man is incapable of subduing Earth without exploiting it contrary to God's Plan.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden of Eden</span> Biblical garden of God

In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden or Garden of God, also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cain</span> Biblical figure

Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. However, God was not pleased and favored Abel's offering over Cain's. Out of jealousy, Cain killed his brother, for which he was punished by God with the curse and mark of Cain. He had several children, starting with Enoch and including Lamech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enoch</span> Biblical figure prior to Noahs flood

Enoch is a biblical figure and patriarch prior to Noah's flood, and the son of Jared and father of Methuselah. He was of the Antediluvian period in the Hebrew Bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cain and Abel</span> First two sons of Adam and Eve

In the biblical Book of Genesis, Cain and Abel are the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain, the firstborn, was a farmer, and his brother Abel was a shepherd. The brothers made sacrifices, each from his own fields, to God. God had regard for Abel's offering, but had no regard for Cain's. Cain killed Abel and God cursed Cain, sentencing him to a life of transience. Cain then dwelt in the land of Nod, where he built a city and fathered the line of descendants beginning with Enoch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Young Earth creationism</span> Form of creationism

Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between about 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespread version, YEC is based on the religious belief in the inerrancy of certain literal interpretations of the Book of Genesis. Its primary adherents are Christians and Jews who believe that God created the Earth in six literal days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antediluvian</span> Dealing about the time period before the flood

The antediluvian period is the time period chronicled in the Bible between the fall of man and the Genesis flood narrative in biblical cosmology. The term was coined by Thomas Browne. The narrative takes up chapters 1–6 of the Book of Genesis. The term found its way into early geology and science until the late Victorian era. Colloquially, the term is used to refer to any ancient and murky period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fall of man</span> Adam and Eves loss of innocent obedience in the Abrahamic religions

The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience. The doctrine of the Fall comes from a biblical interpretation of Genesis, chapters 1–3. At first, Adam and Eve lived with God in the Garden of Eden, but the serpent tempted them into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden. After doing so, they became ashamed of their nakedness and God expelled them from the Garden to prevent them from eating the fruit of the tree of life and becoming immortal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gap creationism</span> Form of old Earth creationism

Gap creationism is a form of old Earth creationism that posits that the six-yom creation period, as described in the Book of Genesis, involved six literal 24-hour days, but that there was a gap of time between two distinct creations in the first and the second verses of Genesis, which the theory states explains many scientific observations, including the age of the Earth. It differs from day-age creationism, which posits that the 'days' of creation were much longer periods, and from young Earth creationism, which although it agrees concerning the six literal 24-hour days of creation, does not posit any gap of time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genesis creation narrative</span> Creation myth of Judaism and Christianity

The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity, told in the Book of Genesis ch. 1–2. While the Jewish and Christian tradition is that the account is one comprehensive story modern scholars of biblical criticism identify the account as a composite work made up of two stories drawn from different sources.

The "image of God" is a concept and theological doctrine in Judaism and Christianity. It is a foundational aspect of Judeo-Christian belief with regard to the fundamental understanding of human nature. It stems from the primary text in Genesis 1:27, which reads : "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female he created them." The exact meaning of the phrase has been debated for millennia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam</span> First man according to the Abrahamic creation and religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eve</span> First woman in Genesis creation narrative

Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story of the Abrahamic religions, she was the first woman. Eve is known also as Adam's wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegorical interpretations of Genesis</span> Readings of the biblical Book of Genesis that treat elements of the narrative as symbols or types

Allegorical interpretations of Genesis are readings of the biblical Book of Genesis that treat elements of the narrative as symbols or types, rather than viewing them literally as recording historical events. Either way, Judaism and most sects of Christianity treat Genesis as canonical scripture, and believers generally regard it as having spiritual significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hexaemeron</span> Genre of theological writing

The term Hexaemeron, literally "six days," is used in one of two senses. In one sense, it refers to the Genesis creation narrative spanning Genesis 1:1–2:3: corresponding to the creation of the light ; the sky ; the earth, seas, and vegetation ; the sun and moon ; animals of the air and sea ; and land animals and humans. God then rests from his work on the seventh day of creation, the Sabbath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Be fruitful and multiply</span> Cultural mandate

In Judaism, Christianity, and some other Abrahamic religions, the commandment to "be fruitful and multiply" is the divine injunction which forms part of Genesis 1:28, in which God, after having created the world and all in it, ascribes to humankind the tasks of filling, subduing, and ruling over the earth. The cultural mandate includes the sentence "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth."

Evangelical environmentalism is an environmental movement in which some Evangelical Christian organizations have emphasized biblical mandates concerning humanity's role as steward and subsequent responsibility for the care taking of Creation. While the movement has focused on different environmental issues, it is best known for its focus of addressing climate action from a biblically-grounded theological perspective.

Christian views on environmentalism vary greatly amongst different Christians and Christian denominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam and Eve</span> First man and woman in Abrahamic creation myth

Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. They also provide the basis for the doctrines of the fall of man and original sin, which are important beliefs in Christianity, although not held in Judaism or Islam.

<i>The Lonely Man of Faith</i> Book by Joseph B. Soloveitchik

The Lonely Man of Faith is a philosophical essay written by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, first published in the summer 1965 issue of Tradition, and later as a book by Doubleday in 1992.

<i>Is Genesis History?</i> 2017 creationist documentary film

Is Genesis History? is a 2017 American Christian film by Thomas Purifoy Jr. that promotes the pseudoscientific notion of Young Earth creationism, a form of creation science built on beliefs that contradict established scientific facts regarding the origin of the Universe, the age of the Earth and universe, the origin of the Solar System, and the origin and evolution of life. The film suggests the Earth was created in six days of 24-hours each in opposition to day-age creationism, and also advocates the Genesis biblical narratives of Adam and Eve, the Fall, the global flood, and the tower of Babel. It grossed $2.6 million in theaters and $3.3 million in video sales.

References

  1. Murray, John (1957). Principles of Conduct: Aspects of Biblical Ethics . pp.  27-44.