"Dominionism" -- an interview with Dr. Norman Wirzba

Dr. Norman Wirzba and Rev. Dr. Dan D. De Leon talk Dominionism.

Dr. Norman Wirzba, celebrated author, lecturer, theologian, and professor at Duke Divinity School, and guest editor Rev. Dr. Dan De Leon discuss Dominionism and Genesis 1:26 from a Christian perspective.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Some of Dr. Wirzba’s insights, from the interview:

It doesn’t seem that there could be a more important question than to figure out how to live well, in our places, with each other.

How can we do this to our world? How can we be damaging it so badly?

Scripture assumes a God who loves the world… And the question for me is: how can we say we worship a God who loves the world but not give our love to the world at the same time?

These are Agrarian people.

As a farm kid, the first thing you know is that… you don’t ever presume to do with your land or your animals whatever you want… You know that as a farmer you are only successful in so far as your animals are healthy and your land, your soil, is fertile. Which means that good farmers are always very attentive to the needs of the land, to the needs of plants, to the needs of their animals… It’s the realization that you can’t possibly succeed if the world that feeds you does not do well at the same time.

Subduing means learning to come alongside fellow creatures so that in taking care of their needs you also take care of your own.

We are all together sharers in this divine breath that animates Ground into the diversity of Creatures that we see.

God understands that apart from soil, plant, and animal life, we can’t possibly survive, we can’t possibly thrive, and we can’t possibly be happy.

The first creatures that are presented to “the Adám,” as someone to help them in their loneliness, are animals.

Let’s go to the second creation story. We forget about the Garden. The image you get there is the first human being, Adam, being animated out of soil. God is the first gardener. 

We are made to feel connection with soil, plants, animals, and people, because those are all the places where God is active.

Scripture affirms a position in which God is present to creatures all of the time, desiring for them to live into the fullness of their lives. 

It doesn’t make sense to talk about human flourishing if everything (humans) need, in the form of water, and air, and food, if it doesn’t flourish at the same time.

All things came into being through His word.

When you’re living the life God wants you to, animated by this loving power, there is no better life.

I think the first thing to do is for people just to get outside, and: Notice. Look. Pay Attention. Smell. Feel. Touch. Grieve.

The thing to start is just to try to calm down and center yourself in your neighborhood… 

Children can be our teachers, too. 

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Dr. Norman Wirzba is the Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Christian Theology and Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke Divinity School. Dr. Wirzba’s research and teaching interests are at the intersections of theology, philosophy, ecology, and agrarian and environmental studies. He lectures frequently in Canada, the United States, and Europe. In particular, his research is centered on a recovery of the doctrine of creation and a restatement of humanity in terms of its creaturely life. He is currently the director of a multi-year, Henry Luce-Foundation-funded projected entitled “Facing the Anthropocene” where he works with an international team of scholars to rethink several academic disciplines in light of challenges like climate change, food insecurity, biotechnology and genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, species extinction, and the built environment. Dr. Wirzba has published and edited several books, the latest of which is This Sacred Life: Humanity’s Place in a Wounded World. He is the father of four children and is married to Gretchen Ziegenhals. He likes to bake, cook, and make things with wood. He also enjoys playing the guitar, being outdoors and spending time with his family and friends. He tries to grow some food. Visit NormanWirzba.com for more. This piece is the keynote interview for our Spring 2022 collection,, Dominionism.