The idea of a world with finite resources is not new; the early Christian theologian Tertullian, who lived in 1st–2nd centuries AD wrote: "The strongest witness is the vast population of the earth to which we are a burden and she scarcely can provide for our needs; as our demands grow greater, our complaints against Nature's inadequacy are heard by all. The scourges of pestilence, famine, wars and earthquakes have come to be regarded as a blessing to overcrowded nations since they serve to prune away the luxuriant growth of the human race." Thomas Malthus took this idea further, predicting inevitable Malthusian catastrophes caused by exhaustion of natural resources that would collapse population growth.
