When the first human beings left the Garden of Eden, God told them to be fruitful, multiply, and cover the face of the earth. We might describe this event today as a major release of a novel organism from a containment facility. Imagine the environmental impact statement! How did God—or the angels He consulted—assess the risks? How did they weigh the benefits and costs?

Angels who wanted to protect the natural environment might have cautioned that Adam, Eve, and their descendants would alter irreversibly and, in that sense, damage nearly every ecological system. Other angels might have replied, however, that ecological change, even if drastic, is "harmful" only if it diminishes the welfare of human beings. These angels may have argued that the descendants of Adam and Eve should be free, therefore, to manipulate and transform nature—to domesticate it—to serve their interests and their profit. Otherwise, why did God give mankind dominion over the rest of creation?