Dominate?

 

The Perfect Nanny

If you won't scold and dominate us
We will never give you cause to hate us
We won't hide your spectacles
So you can't see
Put toads in your bed
Or pepper in your tea
Hurry, Nanny!
Many thanks
Sincerely,
Jane and Michael Banks

What is with this whole dominate business anyway?

Genesis 1:26: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion over fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepth upon the earth.”

If the Bible is the inspired word of God, then the Bible was not written in English. It was translated into English. Unless God also inspired the translators, it is possible that only the original Aramaic, ancient Hebrew, was the inspired word of God. Things do get Lost in Translation. I am reminded of my Serbian landlord in New York City who once told me he was going to the store to get a bag of “Chips of Potatoes,” instead of “Potato Chips.”  Did God really say that he gave dominion to man?

The Hebrew word was probably yiredu which was translated from the root word radah which means dominion, (to subdue, to rule over), rather than the root word yarad (to lower oneself). Christians believe that God is a good sovereign, the ruler of ALL of the universe. God apparently believes in System Optimal decisions ( That whole lay down your life jazz!) and not User Optimal decisions ( What’s in it for me?). Since there is the possibly that a man as the sovereign will choose User Optimal decisions, a wise System Optimalist would retain dominion, sovereignty, and merely pass stewardship ( lowering oneself) to man. Which puts a whole different wrinkle on contests. Are contests to achieve dominance, or to achieve truth, where God is Truth. This means that outcomes that only achieve dominance by choosing the opposite of Truth are not desirable outcomes. The Bible probably should have been translated as.

Genesis 1:26: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have stewardship over fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepth upon the earth.”