Environmental Thought in Antiquity

      Herlihy writes about how ecological pessimism was more common than ecological triumphalism in the writings of the Christian fathers. I think this is very interesting because I have previously read one of Lynn White Jr.'s pieces, and I had found it extremely interesting and valid. He discusses Genesis and how nature was created to serve man and for man to use as he pleased. I never would have guessed that the Christian fathers actually thought the world was already reaching or at its max capacity and acknowledge the negative impacts of man on nature. They acknowledged that resources were already being claimed and exhausted.

       I also found the eschatological attitude very interesting. The fathers found the earth overcrowded and procreation no longer necessary. I also think it is interesting that people way back then were ok with interpreting the Bible differently or acknowledging that certain things, in this case, the idea of "increase and multiply, and fill the earth," no longer apply, when people in the modern world struggle with accepting different interpretations or change to the Bible. The fact that there was an aversion to not only sex but marriage and procreation was an idea I never knew about. Augustine had said that if man no longer existed that would actually be a good thing because that means the predestined number of saints was met as well as the population of the City of God. They already were under the impression that maximum expansion and population had been reached as far back as the ancient world. The fact that the human population went on to grow to 7.8 billion is amazing. I also think it's interesting that couples wanted one or two children back then and we are now getting to the point in the modern world where more and more families are having none, one, or two children, but there was a long period of time when people had many many more.