19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

Genesis 2:19-20 (NIV)

Prospective parents often spend anxious hours or even days trying to choose a name for their child. Why? Because names are full of meaning. They are meaningful. Historically, names have described the character of an individual or told others something about their vocation. For instance, “Benjamin” means “son at my right hand” and describes the relationship between the father and the son. “Mr. Smith” may have descended from a long line of blacksmiths. Names are important not only to humans, but to God.

Adam’s naming of the animals was a crucial part of establishing his role in the world. Living in the earthly paradise of Eden, God intended Adam to be protected but not inactive. God provided opportunities for Adam to learn and grow, to experience and mature. He gave him beautiful trees to admire, delicious food to eat (v. 9), and hard work to do in cultivating and keeping the garden (v. 15). Likewise, naming the animals was an act of mental labor—a painstaking endeavor of observing, describing, and classifying. Furthermore, often in the Bible, to name something was to exercise authority and dominion over it. The founder of a city had the right to name it (Num. 32:37-38), and a conquering king completed his triumph by giving the vanquished ruler a new name (2 Kings 23:34; 24:17). The Creator Himself gave names to the first elements of His creation (Gen 1:5, 8, 10). To Adam He gave the responsibility of naming the animals. In doing so, Adam was bringing the world under his dominion and living out his identity as God’s image-bearer.

People like Princeton philosopher and animal-rights activist Peter Singer are disgusted by the idea that humans are to rule over the world. As Singer sees it, such a claim is pure “speciesism,” no less vile than a white person holding a black one as his slave. Confusion about human stewardship responsibility is rampant, even among Christians, and most of the chaos stems from individuals having swallowed the old Darwinian view that humans are no different than any other animal. “[T]here is no fundamental difference,” said Darwin in The Descent of Man, “between man and the higher mammals in their mental faculties . . .1 [T]he difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind.”2 This perspective does more, however, than reduce humans to the level of animals; it also frees them from responsibility in the world. If humans and other animals are descended from the same amoeba, then the earth should be governed by the law of tooth and talon. To the “fittest” go the spoils! But since humans have been created in the image of God and are endowed by their Creator with unique gifts, responsibilities, and moral status, then their role in the world is not competition but stewardship.

In this increasingly bipolar culture, many think they have only two options when it comes to their treatment of animals—either exploit them mercilessly, or cry “Speciesism!” and declare animals to be equals to humans. Scripture, however, teaches a better way. Dominion stewardship not only provided a name for the animals, but it provided an important function for human beings created in God’s image. They rule over creation and are always to aim at developing, nurturing, conserving, and cultivating it in devoted service to God and neighbor.
 
Footnotes:
 
1  Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (New York: Prometheus Books, 1999), 67.
 
2  Ibid., 130.

article adopted from karios Journal

First Baptist Church of Perryville is located one and a half miles east of Rt. 222 on Rt. 40