Correction ...

The people who organized and signed on to the recent "Southern Baptist initiative" were not representatives of Southern Baptists. They were merely Southern Baptists, speaking on their own accord.

We must be careful not to muddy the philosophical waters. One can be a staunch proponent of environmental stewardship without blind acceptance of the notions of global warming or climate change. I made such a case in recent posts here and here.

Christians in North America are, by and large, better stewards of the environment than most. And people need to actually go and visit a few "third world" countries and realize the incredible pollution in those places. The United States is remarkably environmentally "clean" compared to most of the world.

I cannot help but think that this recent infatuation with global warming is, in some ways, a capitulation to the pop culture. Indeed, when I was in middle school (late 1970's) we were indoctrinated with a fear of global cooling and the coming ice age.

Stewardship of the environment and global warming phobia are not one in the same issues.

From the story on the Southern Baptists , "His professor had compared destroying God's creation to "tearing a page out of the Bible." " Really! Which page? I can find nothing in the Bible (and I've read it through more than once) that would mandate what is today referred to as 'creation care'. I know the standard verses used, "...Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the weather patterns..." Gen. 1 and "The earth is the Lord's and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas, and told us not to screw it up..." Psalm 24.
Oops, maybe I misquoted a little here and there, but then if my heart is in the right place, God won't mind. Especially if I am being relevant to the culture.

This post certainly misrepresents the scope of the Baptist Creation Care statement. While all of us should support the concept of Stewardship of God's Creation...it's misleading to morph that idea into the "Fight Global Warming" bandwagon.

In a decade or less global warming will probably be on the ash-heap of junk science, but the need for Godly Stewardship of Earth will remain.

I find it very encouraging to see Christians starting to wake up to what is going on with the environment and take a stand to make the world a better, healthier place now and for future generations. Pollution, habitat loss, and extinction are all very real despite what people might think about global warming. Nature is a gift from God to us. Many of us find serenity in a beautiful sunset, mist on the mountains, or a walk in the woods… you can keep your smog, your strip malls, your trash…and your indifference.

God knows where our hearts are headed. See the book of Revelation for a refresher. But until then as Christians we are called to be a people that care. And although it isn’t written in the Bible “Thou shall care for the environment”, doesn’t it make sense that we should?? Our fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. So why do we try to limit ourselves? May God grant us wisdom to be a people that make the world a better place in all aspects – thru hope of the gospel, thru compassion towards one another, and thru responsibility to what God has given us.

geoff wrote,
One can be a staunch proponent of environmental stewardship without blind acceptance of the notions of global warming or climate change.

the bigger question is, can one be a proponent and blindly deny those notions? which is what most in your camp, geoff, are doing (like melody a comment or two after you - hi melody!). i used to think they were all just blindly following bush, but i cannot fathom that even melody could still be doing that... :)

so what is the objection? why is there a group that is so anti-global warming that it denies EVERYTHING associated with it? is is gore hatred? anti-united nations rhetoric? is this a vast left-wing conspiracy i'm missing?

what's going to pan out over the next few years is that the superior brains in china and india will be able to work on the problem without needing the US, who because of a vocal minority of people who refuse to believe ANYTHING science tells them - after all, there's no global warming in Genesis - God must not have created it, right? - will insure that our children and our children's children live in a third-world country.

mike rucker
fairburn, georgia, usa
mikerucker.wordpress.com

Geoff Bagget says: "Christians in North America are, by and large, better stewards of the environment than most. And people need to actually go and visit a few "third world" countries and realize the incredible pollution in those places. The United States is remarkably environmentally "clean" compared to most of the world."
Phew, Geoff, I'm not sure that many other Western countries would agree with you. You may be a 'clean-looking' country, but in terms of the environment your country guzzles phenomenal amounts of oil, eats phenomenal amounts of junk food and leaves the waste packaging behind and...well, I could go on. I think you might want to reconsider that statement.
As to the main post, all I can say is that Christians for the most part have been very slow to care about the environment in terms of caring for it. They might like to look at it, but they don't actually look after it any more than most people do. Whether global warming is a fad or not, we do have a responsibility to be more careful with the place God has given us to live, and I think that's where the issue lies more than joining up with any particular environmental bandwagon.

It is hard for me to believe that much of the western church has any real concern for the environment when you consider the massive carbon imprint all the huge church structures leave for all the more use they get out of them.

I can't honestly say that I know for certain that global warming is a real concern, but good stewardship of all the God has blessed us with should be a concern of everyone. It's another sad commentary on the church that so many believers are the last to show any concern, and are probably at the forefront of opposing global environmental issues. Even if warming is only a temporary thing, it is wreaking havoc in many areas of the world where humanity is already having trouble surviving.

I appreciate this post. Hopefully the idea of greater stewardship of our planet's resources goes hand-in-hand with God's plan for sabbath or re-distributive economics, or what I think of as the "just enough" principle. After all, while in the wilderness, when the Israelites took more manna than they needed, it all rotted and went away.

How utterly rediculous to compare abortion to the myth of Global Warming. Abortion happens thousands of times a day all over the world. There is no doubt. Global Warming is just a politically motivated panic attack.

Read any 7th grade science book and the first chapter will list the steps of the scientific process.

1. Make a hypothesis based on an observation
2. Test the hypothesis
3. Examine data
4. Draw a conclusion
5. The conclusion is exhibited for peer review-

The scientists who are trying to pull off this fraud have gone directly from step 1 to step 4 and are ignoring step 5. It is a long list of qualified scientists who have declared this is all bogus. And how is it that the lies put out by high profile crusaders, like Al Gore, haven't discredited the whole idea? Would you like to know how big Al Gore's carbon footprint is? It's huge. Scienctific discovery does not support Global Warming.

Get this straight. There is nothing, NOTHING Christian about the Global Warming fraud and hysteria. If your church is wasting it's time talking about how to make your carbon footprint smaller, you have lost your way and abandoned your mission.

I think the problem with Christians and the environment is that for so long Christianity has been thoroughly interwined with capitalism and the expansion of various empires that it has failed to recognise the harm that has been caused by reckless business practices. Once again Christianity or rather the established church has failed to separate itself from the surrounding culture. I agree with other comments here, the Bible might not have a commandment about caring for the environment but it sure talks about loving one another, which means caring for people which must include caring for the planet. Having said that I think some of the claims re global warming are somewhat hysterical. Christians can be concerned for the planet, just not worship it.

Something to think about....

From "dailytech.com" on Feb. 26....

"All four major global temperature tracking outlets (Hadley, NASA's GISS, UAH, RSS) have released updated data. All show that over the past year, global temperatures have dropped precipitously.

A compiled list of all the sources can be seen here. The total amount of cooling ranges from 0.65C up to 0.75C -- a value large enough to wipe out most of the warming recorded over the past 100 years. All in one year's time. For all four sources, it's the single fastest temperature change ever recorded, either up or down."

The "science" on this is not the slam dunk Al Gore & others would advocate.

Melody,

Your fundamentalist stance is as preposterous as it is embarrassing. Why is it so difficult for you to realize that if Creation is "good" and God-given, that it should be cared for?

Please, wake up and smell the roses - literally.

This time you've really gone over a cliff for your particular perspective on hyper-literalist biblical interpretation.

Sad but true, it is really only in America, and even more sadly, primarily among American conservatives, that a debate about whether global warming is happening- and whether human activity is the chief cause, still takes place. Shame on us. The consensus is clear. This is happening. We are the dominant cause. Either we wake up soon or we face the consequences of our actions only after it is too late to reverse them. People, for God's sake- as well as for own- wake up.

First of all Darren, I apologize for embarassing you. But if the Bible isn't to be taken literally, then where is the Biblical mandate for creation care; or anything else for that matter? Doesn't it all just become whatever I happen to think is important? Have we lost the freedom of debate? You state that the consensus is clear regarding global warming yet just like many in the media, you give no evidence. I'm sorry, but the burden of proof falls on you. It is silly to expect thinking people to automatically fall in line with a train of thought that has little hard evidence to support it. If you want to convince thinking people of your point of view; or dogma in this case; then calmly citing your evidence will achieve far more than getting upset at people. The pro-life community figured this one out several years ago. And yes, I guess I would be considered a fundamentalist Mennonite. This could be a whole new denomination. Who knew?

Okay, let's look at it this way: I lived in Pennsylvania all of my life until moving to Tennessee recently. I have never seen milder winters that I have seen the last 4 or 5 years. Snowfall amounts are far below what we used to get 10 years ago or more. Temperatures used to hover below 0 degrees F. for day on end, often falling to -20 or lower. The temp. hasn't fallen below 0 for several years, and even single digit temps are rare.

The summers have been much warmer on average as well, with temps over 100 recorded--something that only happened a couple of times before in my 52 years on the stone.

In traveling around the country, many places are in severe drought. Here in TN, as in many Southern states, there has been bad drought conditions. Even though this winter has brought precipitation far above the average, the TVA announced that it hasn't been nearly enough to provide prolonged relief.

Folks here tell me that the temperatures in the Summer time have been nearly unbearable and that swimming pools were swimable by early April last year.

In my travels out west, I have seen severe water shortages in many places as well.

In other places around the world,the problem is worse.

Meanwhile, oil prices are through the roof, and cost of heating and transportation is cutting into everyone's pocket books. Guess what gets sacrificed first? Charitable giving. As if 65000 people starving to death every day wasn't enough to get our attention, now they will have even less to survive on, because we won't stop building bigger churches, we won't stop driving gas-guzzlers, or give up our Christian cruises, retreats and festivals, or cut back on heating and meetings at our churches in order to help the least of these. No, instead, we will continue to bury our heads in the sand, pretend that everything is fine, ignore environmental stewardship, because, after all, why worry about the environment when we really don't even care about the fact that 65000 people die every day of starvation and lack of water, as long as it isn't us?

Maybe it is a temporary cycle and it will take care of itself. But, there surely seems to be plenty of evidence to go around that it is a mounting problem at this juncture of time. At the very least, we should be doing all we can as believers to conserve in every way we can in order that we can help those who can no longer help themselves. Or are we too afraid to look too deeply into our souls for fear of finding more greed, apathy and selfishness than we might want to acknowledge is there?

Melody,

Come on, you're more sophisticated than that. There are plenty of aspects of the Bible that you yourself don't take literally. That's true for all of us- self proclaimed fundamentalists and progressives alike. Its a necessity. Or do you still stone adulterers, wear head coverings in church- etc.? My point is that, rather than gleaning the overarching themes, you claim creation care is unbiblical simply because you can't find a specific verse calling for it. Come on, I know you can do better than that.

JW

There is nothing scientific about your "evidence." All you have is a few people saying, "Gee, sure was hot last week." They said that 50 and 100 and 500 years ago.

For every place in a drought there is a place that is too wet and a place that is just average. The wet place this year may be the average place next year and so on. The conditions of parts of the world to which you refer have been in that condition for centuries. And what milder winters are you talking about? Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, etc. got hammered this past winter.

And by the way, if the cost of heating is cutting into your budget, doesn't that make warmer weather a good thing?

Still waiting for real evidence.

“Or are we too afraid to look too deeply into our souls for fear of finding more greed, apathy and selfishness than we might want to acknowledge is there?“ You hit on it, J.W.

My question to all those who are calling global warming and environmental care foolishness, a phobia, and a panic attack is WHY NOT? Why not conserve energy, why not recycle, why not buy less, and why not be concerned about pollutants? WHY NOT? What is the worse that could happen by caring? That we might actually clean up our acts, get healthier, help others get healthier, save species, and save habitat? Heaven forbid!

I just don’t understand why we think we can just sit back, do nothing and still preach the beauty of God’s creation. Don’t you think that makes us seem hypocritical to the non-believers who care more for the environment than we do?

Darren, there are two issues here. One is that whether the global temperature is warming or cooling, the overarching theme that I read in the Bible clearly indicates that weather patterns are controlled by God himself and he is pretty trustworthy on that count. The idea that man can control the climate makes as much sense to me (even without reading the Bible) as the notion that the Tower of Babel was actually capable of reaching to heaven. The second issue is that many 'Christian' people really do believe that they will somehow be saved by their 'good works' and what easier 'good work' could one engage in than helping to solve global warming? Change your lightbulbs, and drive a hybrid and all your friends and neighbors will know how spiritual you are. I am not saying that creation care is unbiblical because no single verse calls for it. I am saying that it is not an issue FOR THE CHURCH because there is no overarching theme about the physical earth and what we are to do with it. We all know the standard verses which I referenced, tongue-in-cheek, above. Those verses have been taken out of context and stretched beyond recognition by those with a liberal agenda and I'm simply pointing that out.

Darren, I truly am sorry that my disagreement with you on this subject makes you so crazy. I have always believed that these kind of issues deserve study and debate. We skeptics are so outnumbered and ridiculed by the media anyway that you shouldn't be too concerned.

By the way, I did smell the roses in my California yard today. They are particularly sweet this year.

Melody,

I appreciate your conciliatory tone in response. Clearly you take more of a Calvinist stance, thinking that our actions have little to no consequences- that God will go on keeping things going as they always have. I take more of a co-creation view. In my view God calls us to be stewards of Creation- with real consequences (both good or bad) depending on how responsible we are.

At this point, I honestly think the issue of whether global warming is happening, and whether we're the chief agent of it, is a resolved debate. The vast majority of the experts in the field believe its happening- and we're the primary cause. So at this point, not only is further debate academic, but its also irresponsible- because the clock is ticking. Try and think of this like a parable. The way I see it, one day the landowner (God) will return to see how well we have done with what he put into our care. Now is the time for us to step up to the plate and be found to be "good and faithful servants".

By the way, guys. Milwaukee just got 12 inches of snow on the first day of Spring. Thats 96 inches for the winter, just short of the all time record.

What they wouldn't give for a little Global Warming right now.

Mary Ann's point seems to me extremely sensible. It's a kind of Pascal's wager: let's say we pollute less. If it turns out that global warming IS a threat, then we've just averted global catastrophe. If it turns out not to be, then we've just made the world cleaner. Don't we win either way?

Put another way: I'm not yet sure I know what to make of N.T. Wright's (for example) claim that environmentalism is an eschatological matter--I just don't understand the specifics of the eschaton sufficiently well. But I do know that I like nature and that it seems right not to kill it off. And it seems even more obvious that acting in ways that just might poison ourselves, is not wise. (Maybe we need to turn to Proverbs, rather than Revelation, to anchor our duty to the environment as Christians.)

Melody, help me understand your view. Humans can't affect climate because God regulates it, you say. Now, humans can affect climates *in their houses*. Is the point that the global climate is just too vast to be affected? Or is it that God's providential relation to the whole atmosphere is of an altogether different sort from God's providential relation to a small sample of it? At any rate, it seems to me an odd application of Scripture. One could take the Bible to read that God ordains every political regime; but there have been some nasty ones, indeed many nasty ones worth attacking.

The fact of the matter seems to be that God grants humans the capacity to do a lot of harm--to themselves, to each other, indeed, to the planet God gave them as home.

Question? Is Natural Revelation (Creation) the equivalent of Special Revelation (The Scriptures)?

Orthodox Theology answer this question with an emphatic NO!

If we accept this premise of equivalence, we have taken the first step on a Slippery Slope descent into Pantheism.

Be good Stewards of the environment yes. But, we need to think with critical and prudent 'every thought captive' perspicuity on this topic. The exegesis I accomplish of the text is not equivalent to my enjoyment of the gorgeous Dogwoods that are bursting into bloom in my yard as I write.

Think on these things!

wow, do we christians have a knack for pointless debate or what? whether global warming is a myth or not (i tend to believe not), if we believe -- as paul writes in colossians 1:15-20 -- that jesus' death was about reconciling all things and setting the whole world right (as opposed to just giving us a home in heaven), then caring for our planet is most assuredly a kingdom issue. we miss so much fullness if we follow christ without realizing the amazing invitation we have to be part of his redemptive work -- and part of the way we can participate in that is by being good stewards of the planet he placed us on. if we fail to realize the importance of that, we're not only hurting future generations who will have to live with the consequences of the blazing hot trash heap we've created -- we're hurting ourselves by failing to realize the fullness of the life God offers us in the here and now.

Wow again. I'm surprised you all haven't heard of "metrospirituality." It's all the rage in mega-churches. The big thing is to "go green" by buying hyper-expensive organics, hormone-free milk and dairy, free trade products, recycle and compost all your garbage and waste, and of course make sure you're seen doing this while driving your hybrid or 'lower mileage' SUV. Now, the catch is that you threw out all your polyester or rayon clothing for earth-friendly cotton or organic silks, trashed your perfectly usable older appliances for the trendier energy-efficient, but sexier appliances, tossed the old lightbulbs and bought new ones that used less electricity, bought matching his-and-hers plastic composters instead of just getting yucky looking chicken wire and building one like they did in the 70's, and only buy coffee at Starbucks that pays farmers in Columbia fair trade prices instead of making it at home. Sure it costs you more, but its all 'for the environment'!

I am completely for being a good steward of the environment. Adam and Eve were charged with tending the Garden of Eden. They weren't allowed to buy carbon credits if they screwed up, like some modern day form of indulgences (the biggest scam , preying on those with a guilty conscience). The Earth is a thing of beauty and we need to take care of it. Throw out these silly arguments about global warming -- that's not the point anyway and you all know it -- and start taking care of it because we should, people!

Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—-the sixth day.

Sara, of course everything is about marketing and companies want us to spend our $$ on their stuff. So they are going to offer "eco-friendly" products. Almost every store I go into offers the "Paper or plastic? Neither!" cloth bag for a price. (How about reusing something you already have, even if it is a plastic bag??) Companies want you to buy and they will do whatever it takes for you to buy at their place.

I am sure there are people out there throwing away stuff just to buy eco friendly. Honestly, I would say - use up what you have and when it comes time to buy again, buy wisely even if it means spending some extra $$. Better yet - reuse or share! It is all about demand and if we can change the demand from sick cows to healtier ones, non-biodegradable products to biodegradable ones, and trash into recycle, then Amen and Hallelujah! The key is education and offering alternatives.

Buy less and live more~ that is what I would like to see the Protestants and Catholics saying.

"I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday." ~Abraham Lincoln