Wilderness originally signified biblical places of moral peril and exile

Evidence

Many of the word’s strongest associations then were biblical, for it is used over and over again in the King James Version to refer to places on the margins of civilization where it is all too easy to lose oneself in moral confusion and despair. — William Cronon, The Trouble with Wilderness; or,…, 9

Categorization

• XREF: The biblical wilderness-as-exile framing where value comes only from being ‘reclaimed’ parallels imperial land-improvement justifications used to dispossess colonized peoples across the polyad. — connects to: Wilderness is a cultural construction, not an untouched natural sanctuary — William Cronon, The Trouble with Wilderness; or,…, 5; The word wilderness once meant desolate wasteland, not sacred refuge — William Cronon, The Trouble with Wilderness; or,…, 8; Before the nineteenth century, wilderness meant wasteland and evoking terror, not beauty — William Cronon, The Trouble with Wilderness; or,…, 8 (+4 more)

Related

• Before the nineteenth century, wilderness meant wasteland and evoking terror, not beauty (similarity 0.87)
• The word wilderness once meant desolate wasteland, not sacred refuge (similarity 0.86)
• By the late nineteenth century the wilderness sublime had been domesticated into sentimentality (similarity 0.82)
• The Old Testament’s wilderness image authorized Protestant dominion over nature and land. (similarity 0.82)
• Wilderness is a cultural construct, not a place that exists apart from humanity (similarity 0.82)
• Wilderness appreciation was an elite urban leisure projection, not a rural ideal. (similarity 0.80)
• Wilderness is a state of mind defined by wonder, not a fact of nature (similarity 0.80)
• Wilderness is a cultural construction, not an untouched natural sanctuary (similarity 0.80)
• Wilderness wonder is a cultural state of mind, not a natural fact (similarity 0.79)
• Medieval geography interpreted physical space through biblical narrative (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• White pastoral literature imposed Edenic biblical meaning onto harsh colonial landscapes #expands (0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1403
• Settlers imposed idyllic biblical landscapes onto harsh colonial territory #expands (0.85)
• Medieval geography interpreted physical space through biblical narrative #expands (0.80) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 599
• The Old Testament’s wilderness image authorized Protestant dominion over nature and land. #expands (0.80) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 555