Factors That Impacted the Conceptualization of Human-Nature Relations
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Factors That Impacted the Conceptualization of Human-Nature Relations
Christyna Dosumu
Regis University
CR 457
Christianity has had a tangible impact on humanity and our interaction with the world in
many ways, from blood atonement to inter-religious relations, to the interaction between
humans and nature. When focusing specifically on the topic of human-nature interaction, there
is a shift in mentality that can be observed throughout history. In examining the factor which
catalyzed this shift, it is clear that there were at least a couple factors at play. Although there
seems to be differing opinions regarding what the primary catalyst was, there are two factors
that become apparent; the rise of agricultural subsistence in human society and the
proliferation of Christianity. Whether one came before the other is up for debate, but it is
nonetheless valuable to analyze how this shift came about and how it has influenced human
interaction with nature.
It has been posited by historians that early human existence operated with a certain
awareness of the forces of nature and the necessary cohesion, so to speak, between humans
and nature. In other words, it is assumed that somewhere along the lines there was a switch
from human pastoral societies being the structure of early human existence to agricultural
society being the prominent structure. This distinction is important because in pastoral
societies there is a sense of interdependence between herders and their livestock, in which it is
Factors That Impacted the Conceptualization of Human-Nature Relations
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easy to see a sense of humans having respect towards the livestock they depended upon. When
agricultural society became prominent, the shift began: “With the rise of agriculture, especially
in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, a new concept of humans and animals emerged, with
humans transcending and controlling nature.” (DeMello, Kindle Location 1056). Thus, we have a
dichotomy of a shift from human interaction with nature to human intervention with nature.
Diving deeper into this dichotomy, it was in the Paleolithic time period when humans
had a belief of living in harmony with nature. Human perspective towards the surrounding
environment in this time could be described as, “During the Paleolithic time of harmony there
was plenty of food and resources for humans and the conception of nature was that humans
were part of it and that time and nature was cyclical” (Environmental History Resources, 1999).
