The Relationship between Genesis 1:28 and City Design

 
We have had to depend on opinion for decisions since the beginning of time. Even the point in time has been a matter of opinion, and differences of opinion have produced conflict seeking dominance with social, political, and/or military power since any point in time you choose. Opinion was the basis for all decisions until science began calling them hypotheses.

I am concerned with the command that we should be fruitful and increase in number since it has produced an opinion. No quantity limit is specified for a planet that clearly has limits. In fact, I believe it is subject to an unwritten law of limits that we must define and learn to respect. Further, we are commanded to subdue the Earth and rule over all of its creatures. No further definition is given. Implementation of the command is left to the discretion of the reader. Discretion invites interpretation and intent becomes a matter of opinion. Divine inspiration is introduced in an attempt to win the argument as a claim that cannot be refuted. I do not wish to refute the passage below or invoke divine inspiration. I simply ask that you consider the intent since it is written in the form of a goal that requires many implementation decisions. In these cases, a literal interpretation leaves too many unanswered questions.

Genesis 1:28: God blessed them and said to them: “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

In the case of Genesis 1:28 the objectives are to: “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…Rule over every living creature…” The implied command, or goal, is to survive. There is no indication of the quantity increase in population intended, the extent of land on Earth that should be populated; the definition of “subdue”; or the methods that should be used to rule every living creature.

We have succeeded in achieving: (1) population growth without limit, (2) filling the land of the Earth with unlimited shelter sprawl, (3) subduing the Earth with unlimited engineering prowess, and (4) ruling over every living creature with violence and power that pales in the face of the unlimited universe it challenges.  

In my opinion, we have done a very poor job interpreting Genesis 1:28 because we have focused on tactics rather than the strategy needed to achieve the goal of survival. Continued failure may result in our extinction.  

My limited contribution, if it proves to be one, has focused on the classification and forecasting spreadsheets needed to measure, evaluate, and predict the capacity of land to shelter the activities of growing populations; since shelter capacity options have measureable intensity, intrusion, and dominance implications.

I doubt that many will challenge my assertion that there is a limited amount of land available and that it faces many competing demands. I simply began long ago by classifying these demands into two separate worlds on the same planet: The Natural Domain and The Built Domain. The strategy we adopt for each to achieve the command to survive will determine our future progress toward the goal.

The road to a strategy depends on the ability to measure options and evaluate results against the goal defined. My objective has been to create measurement and prediction tools to assess shelter capacity options for land, since they compete with the agricultural land available and reduce a Natural Domain that is our source of life.

Shelter capacity can accommodate any activity, but it has intensity implications that affect our physical, social, psychological, environmental, and economic quality of life. We have not had the tools needed to accurately measure, evaluate, prescribe, and limit these shelter capacity and intensity options. Therefore, we have not been able to create a leadership strategy to shelter the activities of growing populations within a limited Built Domain that offers a desirable quality of life -- and can meet the challenge to survive issued by Genesis 1:28. Unfortunately, Genesis does not mention quality of life.

I have mentioned, defined, and illustrated shelter capacity tools in the essays I have written for my blog, Linked-In, and Facebook. The blog can be found at www.wmhosack.blogspot.com. The entire subject and tools are defined in my book “The Equations of Urban Design” that is available from Amazon.com. My fundamental intent, however, is to make you aware of the implications of the shelter you take for granted. You cannot live without it; but like most of our creations, it can become a threat to our survival when misused.

POSTSCRIPT REGARDING “WORLD WITHOUT END” OPINIONS

We have repeated the phrase “land without end” so often that I have wondered for some time if it has led us to take the land on Earth for granted. I have to include myself in this category until I saw the first picture of the Earth from the Moon in 1967. The picture combined with another event to lead me on a search to define shelter capacity and the intensity of building mass options. I have only now thought to search for comments regarding the phrase. It is still repeated on a weekly basis and may still convey the impression that there is no limit to the land we have been given. I happen to believe that the planet is subject to a law of limits and correlation that we do not understand, and did not find as much disagreement as I expected in the comments below.

“Many Catholic prayers in the English language conclude with the phrase, “world without end,” or alternatively with, “forever and ever.” The phrase is repeated so much that many Catholics may not even notice it. Yet, for some it is a confusing phrase, especially when considering the idea that this world will end, paving the way for a new Heaven and a new Earth.” (Source: “Aletia”)

 

Fr. Kenneth Doyle explained for Catholic Philly that the phrase is “a poetic way of expressing the notion of eternity. What we are really saying is that the glory of God and the praise owed to the Trinity are endless. The phrase attempts to translate the Latin ending of many Mass prayers, ‘per omnia saecula saeculorum,’ which means, ‘through all ages upon ages.'”

 

“The phrase has a rich history and is meant to express the glory to God that has no end, but endures throughout all ages.” I was surprised to find that its origins were not Lutheran.