Cultural mandate

The cultural mandate is the divine injunction found in Genesis 1:28, in which God, after having created the world and all in it, ascribes to humankind the tasks of filling, subduing, and ruling over the earth.[1][2] The cultural mandate includes the sentence "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth". The cultural mandate is given to Adam and Eve.[2]

Gott erschafft den Weltkreis by Rudolf von Ems

In the interpretation of some denominations of Christianity, adherents should actively work to fulfill the mandate.[2]

In Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, the mandate to "be fruitful and multiply" is interpreted as requiring every couple to have at least a son and a daughter.[3]. Other Jewish groups (such as Reform Judaism) and individual Jews have interpreted this mandate differently. For example, Richard Friedman in his Commentary on the Torah (2001) claims that the mandate "be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth" has "been fulfilled."[4]

In Christianity, the cultural mandate is most elaborately developed in the West by Neo-Calvinism, which explores the implications for modern, pluralistic society, of this Calvinistic assertion. In Judaism, the mandate is elaborated upon in numerous parts of the Talmud, for example in Kidushin.

Biblical text

The text of Genesis 1:28 states:

VersionText
Original Hebrewויברך אתם אלהים ויאמר להם אלהים פרו ורבו ומלאו את־הארץ וכבשה ורדו בדגת הים ובעוף השמים ובכל־חיה הרמשת על־הארץ
Wayəḇāreḵ ’ōṯām ’ĕlōhîm, wayyō’mer lāhem ’ĕlōhîm, "Pərû, ûrəḇû, ûmilə’û ’eṯ-hā’āreṣ, wəḵiḇəšuhā; ûrəḏû biḏəg̱aṯ hayyām, ûḇə‘ôp̱ haššāmayim, ûḇəḵāl-ḥayyāh hārōmeśeṯ ‘al-hā’āreṣ."
King James BibleAnd God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
New International VersionGod 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."
New Living TranslationThen God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground."

See also

References
  1. Mare, H.W., 1973. The Cultural Mandate and the New Testament Gospel Imperative. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 16, pp. 139-47.
  2. Wagner, C. Peter (1998). Church Growth and the Whole Gospel: A Biblical Mandate. pp. 12–. ISBN 978-1-57910-201-2.
  3. Talmud, b. Yevamot
  4. Friedman, Richard (2001). Commentary on the Torah. Harper.
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