Is Genesis one of the nets?

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (150).

When read literally, I think that Genesis is absolutely one of the nets, specifically when it states to "let them [man] have dominion...." "Dominion" is a funny word because it implies that man should have some measure of control over nature. What man does with that control is up to him, and I think that this is where our justification for our historical and current exploitation of nature comes from. I don't think that "dominion" means that God intended for us to eat meat (see how Adam and Eve were vegetarians in the Garden of Eden). But according to Genesis, God gave man the gift of free will, and just as that gift caused Adam and Eve to disobey God, so did it cause them to consume food other than fruit after their fall from grace.

In a perfect paradise, God intended us to be vegetarian; unfortunately, nothing is perfect.

"This Garden, planted with the Trees of God, delectable both to behold and taste; and freely all thir pleasant fruit for food...." (169).

I think it's very important to note that, after several pages of Milton describing the beauty of a multitude of living creatures, he specifies that the fruit of the Trees of God are "for food." Just my two cents.

Interesting diagram--note how "works of the flesh" is a fruit on the forbidden tree.