Role of Christians as stewards

• Most Christians today reject the idea of dominion in the sense of a power-based relationship
• They interpret Genesis 1 and Psalm 8 in terms of stewardship

  • They are the guardians of creation, caring for it on behalf of God
  • Their role entails responsibility rather than privilege
• More emphasis is placed on the intrinsic value of animals and the natural environment

  • They point to biblical passages about the goodness and the beauty of creation, for example, in Genesis 1, after each stage of creation, God 'saw and it was good'.
• Andrew Linzey sees the created world as theocentric (God-created) rather than anthropocentric