On Sunday several of the area churches sponsored an ecumenical program in which Dr. Calvin DeWitt, a professor at the UW-Madison Nelson Institute of Environmental Science, spoke on "Science and Religion: Partners in Environmental Understanding and Action." DeWitt has been instrumental in getting top scientists and religious leaders together to discuss how leaders from both areas can work together to protect the environment. DeWitt said that at one of these meetings, it was actually the top evolutionary biologist who suggested that they use the term "the creation" instead of "the environment." The reason was twofold, first to offer an olive branch, so to speak, to the religious community, but also because "the creation" includes humankind, not separating humans out from the environment in which we live. DeWitt explained that changing the terminology does away with the false dichotomy that raises the question of which we should value more, humans or the environment. You cannot choose between humans and the creation because humans are part of the creation.

Another important point that DeWitt made was about the translation of Genesis 2:15:

"The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it."

The Hebrew word that is translated "cultivate" in this passage (from the New American Bible) actually means "serve." It is the same word that is used in the conclusion of the book of Joshua, in which Joshua says to the people:

"Decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15

The same word that is used to refer to our relationship with God is used to refer to our relationship to the world God has created. We are to serve both. We are stewards of the earth. DeWitt also spoke of the Endangered Species Act as today's Noah's Ark, saving the very animals that God created. When Genesis 1:28 speaks of humankind having "dominion" over the creatures of the world, it must be read in the context of what dominion means in a religious context. As DeWitt points out, our model for what it means to have dominion is Jesus Christ, who has dominion over us and all creation. We are to care for the creation as Christ's stewards, taking the same care as Christ takes with us. We have been given a divine mandate and responsibility; I would hate to think of standing face to face with a God who asks, "What have you done to my creation?"