"if both animals and humans ARE souls, how does one have dominion over the other ?
"From below, Eccl 3:18, "For there is one eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies, and they all have but one spirit, so there is no superiority of the man over the beast, for everything is vanity. All are going to one place, they have all come to be from dust, and they are all returning to dust."
Superiority is quite different from dominion - superiority, in the quote above, the Hebrew word mowthar, which basically means a profit type advantage - contextually it is quite clear, mankind has no advantage in anyway over an animal - both share the exact same fate in the end - they die.
The text for setting dominion (Bereshit 1:26, and again in 28), the word used is rada, and it is used in conjunction with kabash in verse 26 (subjection). A fox is more cunning than a snail, a bird more free than a barnacle, a dog more compassionate than a frog, and so on.
Rabbi Hirsch states, "But man has been given the position [of rada], not [mowthar], to exercise his mastery over living creatures, and on the earth itself, to bring some of them out of their free independence under his hand for the fulfillment of his human assignment. If man approaches the world as rada and demands its service only in the serive of God, then the earth gladly renders it, gladly recognizes man as its ruler, jis mastery is no enslavement or degradation, but rather a raising and elevation of all earthly material elements into the sphere of free-willed God-serving purposes. But if man misuses his position, if he does not approach the world as rada, as the assigned representative of God, but under his own power and mastery, or mowthar, then the earth, and animals too, will reject and oppose him, for he has attempted enslavement versus stewardship."
According to the Hebrew Scriptures, man was assigned, indeed, created for, the very purpose of stewardship and headship over the creation, in an image similar to how Yhwh has dominion over man.There is an established hierarchy in all of nature, which when implemented correctly, establishes pure balance, yet when deviated from, creates chaos and imbalance of the worst sort.
"does dominion over the earth give us the right to pollute it wantonly ?"
Does being given the keys to your neighbors house, to watch over it, and care for it, while they are gone, include the right to trash it, partially or completely destroy it, even knock down walls and paint or remodel it?
"is the hope of an after-life just that i.e. a hope, a vanity ? (was it "borrowed" ?)"
In the sense of being in vain, no matter what you do in this life, no matter how much you accumulate, no matter if you are good or bad, your end fate is no different than the slug, or the fox, or the dog - you will eventually die, and return to dust.To the Hebrew, an "after-life" was not a transcending of death to some place on a cloud to play harps and eat grapes - the "after-life" was purely a hope of perhaps being remembered by Yhwh himself, and raised back (resurrected), not to some esoteric plane of existence, but back to "life", right here, on earth.
"I mean well you know the Romans had their own agenda interesting the schism between Greek and Latin. And it's just that they seem so nice and pious and all but how much of the truth is lost in all that pomp and circumstance ?"
Well, that's just it - depends on your subjective personal conclusions regarding the god of the Bible. The development of modern Christianity is quite easy to back-trace - it was quite weel documented - biases and all. Layers can in fact be pealed back, and have been, and likely more layers still remain to be pealed back, but the major ones occurred years ago - that being "hell", and an "immortal soul" for mankind, and a triunal godhead of divine unity. Eliminate these three foundationally Pagan traditions from not only the translations (where they primarily exist), but your western head as well, and you will find a quite different Bible written by Hebrews and Jews exists than that which you thought you knew existed.
"From below, Eccl 3:18, "For there is one eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies, and they all have but one spirit, so there is no superiority of the man over the beast, for everything is vanity. All are going to one place, they have all come to be from dust, and they are all returning to dust."
Superiority is quite different from dominion - superiority, in the quote above, the Hebrew word mowthar, which basically means a profit type advantage - contextually it is quite clear, mankind has no advantage in anyway over an animal - both share the exact same fate in the end - they die.
The text for setting dominion (Bereshit 1:26, and again in 28), the word used is rada, and it is used in conjunction with kabash in verse 26 (subjection). A fox is more cunning than a snail, a bird more free than a barnacle, a dog more compassionate than a frog, and so on.
Rabbi Hirsch states, "But man has been given the position [of rada], not [mowthar], to exercise his mastery over living creatures, and on the earth itself, to bring some of them out of their free independence under his hand for the fulfillment of his human assignment. If man approaches the world as rada and demands its service only in the serive of God, then the earth gladly renders it, gladly recognizes man as its ruler, jis mastery is no enslavement or degradation, but rather a raising and elevation of all earthly material elements into the sphere of free-willed God-serving purposes. But if man misuses his position, if he does not approach the world as rada, as the assigned representative of God, but under his own power and mastery, or mowthar, then the earth, and animals too, will reject and oppose him, for he has attempted enslavement versus stewardship."
According to the Hebrew Scriptures, man was assigned, indeed, created for, the very purpose of stewardship and headship over the creation, in an image similar to how Yhwh has dominion over man.There is an established hierarchy in all of nature, which when implemented correctly, establishes pure balance, yet when deviated from, creates chaos and imbalance of the worst sort.
"does dominion over the earth give us the right to pollute it wantonly ?"
Does being given the keys to your neighbors house, to watch over it, and care for it, while they are gone, include the right to trash it, partially or completely destroy it, even knock down walls and paint or remodel it?
"is the hope of an after-life just that i.e. a hope, a vanity ? (was it "borrowed" ?)"
In the sense of being in vain, no matter what you do in this life, no matter how much you accumulate, no matter if you are good or bad, your end fate is no different than the slug, or the fox, or the dog - you will eventually die, and return to dust.To the Hebrew, an "after-life" was not a transcending of death to some place on a cloud to play harps and eat grapes - the "after-life" was purely a hope of perhaps being remembered by Yhwh himself, and raised back (resurrected), not to some esoteric plane of existence, but back to "life", right here, on earth.
"I mean well you know the Romans had their own agenda interesting the schism between Greek and Latin. And it's just that they seem so nice and pious and all but how much of the truth is lost in all that pomp and circumstance ?"
Well, that's just it - depends on your subjective personal conclusions regarding the god of the Bible. The development of modern Christianity is quite easy to back-trace - it was quite weel documented - biases and all. Layers can in fact be pealed back, and have been, and likely more layers still remain to be pealed back, but the major ones occurred years ago - that being "hell", and an "immortal soul" for mankind, and a triunal godhead of divine unity. Eliminate these three foundationally Pagan traditions from not only the translations (where they primarily exist), but your western head as well, and you will find a quite different Bible written by Hebrews and Jews exists than that which you thought you knew existed.
