Certain Christians believe the Earth was essentially declared evil when it was cursed by God. “Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Genesis 3:17”
If God is declaring the Earth cursed, then can anything good come of this place?
This argument is closely related with that of the Earth being fallen, but with a different consequence. Again, we have to ask what is meant by the term cursed. There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding this word. Does cursed mean evil? Damned? Despised? Quite simply, to curse is to remove a degree of life and prominence from something. When God cursed the serpent in Genesis 3:14, He removed ability from the snake. When Canaan was cursed in Genesis 9:25, his rank among his brothers was stripped. The fig tree that was cursed in Mark 11 withered and died.
Along these same lines, when God cursed the Earth in Genesis 3:17, He removed a degree of life and vitality from the Earth. No longer would it simply burst forth with food for mankind, with minimal cultivation. Now, after the curse, it would take a lot more effort to grow food, since some of the life essence had been removed by God.
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
In toil you will eat of it
All the days of your life.”
This clearly has nothing to do with Earth being declared evil and inherently bad. Before the curse, God charged our ancestors with cultivating the Earth.
“Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. Genesis 2:15”
After the curse, man’s assignment remained the same.
“…therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. Genesis 3:23”
If the curse on the Earth only removed a degree of vitality and effortlessness from it, perhaps we can stop vilifying it, and continue the work that God assigned to us to cultivate it and rule it well?
Christian Environmentalists 