Christians and Environmental Stewardship Essay

I believe that as a Christian we should be as concerned, if not more so, than any other concerned non-believers. We as Christians, have been given the truth about God, His creation and His will. When it comes to His creation He is very detailed about His plans in creating the earth for His people and His purpose (HCSB. Genesis 1:26-30). Sadly, many Christians have fallen into the category quoted by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., “Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good." Their time here on earth has been fogged by the aspirations of glory. The contributors of this wasted life is ignorance, greed, and selfishness. Furthermore, our environment suffers for the cause. Nonetheless, this is a major topic of conversation

It is said that Lynn White felt that “the worlds environmental problems,” were at their root caused by Christianity. When considering this opinion, many will turn to the beginning of Scripture, pondering the words of Genesis 1:26, “which gives humans dominion over the earth,” thus determining that God has given mankind permission to do as they desire with His creation, making it ethically acceptable to use nature in any way they so desire. It is this verse that remains at the center of the debate as to whether a Christian should be an environmentalist or not. Furthermore, it is also believed that “religious conservatives” are merely “awaiting the coming of a New Heaven and Earth,” thus, why would they feel a need to remain concerned about the one which mankind dwells upon now Consequently, those who believe that the verses of Genesis give them the right to do with the earth as the please, go about “treating our planet in an anti-human, god-forsaken manner.” Thus, human actions go on adding to the groanings of the earth, which it hath endured since the fall of Adam and Eve. Although some choose to proclaim that Genesis reveals their misuse of earth as morally sound, I do not agree, instead I feel that mankind is called to have “respect for God and God’s creation, therefore, man is not simply ruler, set apart from nature, but should instead be view “creation as a

Another problem that we may stumble upon would be relying on other people to be ecologically responsible instead of ourselves. We often believe that there are other people out there in the world who are making a difference and so we passively sit back and do nothing. However, we are all accountable for our own actions. Palmer (2015) is a man who worked around the world with people from every major religion from Daoism to Zoroastrianism. He has witnessed many religious environmental movements emerge and grow. He states that the basis of the environmental

The food we eat and the quantity of it is what industries base their investments on; they use this to their advantage and produce more quantity than quality for us to consume, without taking into consideration the effect this might have on us or on the world as a whole. In the article “When a Crop Becomes King” written by Michael Pollan we see what the excessive use of a crop can do to our health and the environment. The vast production of products made with corn has made it the crop which is grown more than any other in the United States, but the process of adapting to the high consumption of corn came at a high cost. While corn is the easiest and cheapest substitute for sugar and animal food it is also linked to the cause of chronic diseases and serious, long-lasting damage to our ecosystems. The production of certain things is something we might not have control of but what we should have control of is our health and what better way than denying anything that we know might give us a hard time the power to do

Case (2000, p. 25) mentions, a T.V. commercial when the Native American weeps, because of the pollution, he explains, not only should the Native Americans weep, but all of us should, as we witness tragedies that are taking place on the land God wants deemed as “very good”. In many countries, not only are we not honoring what God deemed as “very good” with pollution,

I believe that we need to think of the Earth as a gift and a home. We must take care of our Earth but our personal health must come before Earth’s. Lastly, our decision making should be guided by the Bible and my common sense. Our Earth is truly a gift and it is a good gift from God. Genesis 1:31 states, “God saw all that we made, and it was very good”. We need to change the way that we look at the Earth. Normally if we get a really nice gift we treasure it and do our best to protect it. This is the same mindset that we need to have about our land. Secondly, we do need to recognize that we have dominion over the Earth. God created us to take care of the Earth. In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth and then he created man to be stewards of it. It is important not to get to crazy and do things to harm the Earth but we must also remain healthy. Humans come before the land and they always should. Lastly, when living on Earth we must make good decisions. These decisions should be based on what our teachings tell us and our common sense. It is just common sense that cutting down a tree or throwing a wrapper out the yard will harm the Earth. This semester I have learned so much, and thought deeply about many topics. I know that the Earth is a gift and we are so blessed to have this beautiful creation to live in. The many field trips that we went on made me realize many things about our Earth that I didn’t realize. Specifically the wastewater treatment we went on made me realize how much waste we produce and it makes me feel like we are hurting our Earth. Too often people don’t think about the things that they are doing to our Earth. Psalm 8:6 states, “You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet”. The Bible states many times in context that we are to care for the Earth we have been

The issue of Deforestation has been high on the global environmental agenda for many years, and remains a serious problem today. In the tropics and many other parts of the world, nations continue to lose the valuable biodiversity, soil and water conservation, and climate regulation that natural forests provide. Christianity can only address this matter by continuing to combine an acceptance of the command to people to ‘multiply and replenish the earth’ (Genesis 1:28) with a balancing injunction to act as stewards of the environment. Charities such as Christian Ecology Link and World Vision work to increase awareness of the current ecological crisis and encourage adherents to live sustainably and make ‘green’ consumption choices.

She begins with the misconception of one of the creation stories found in Genesis and how literalist Christians interpret this passage. Delgado describes a conversation with a conservative Christian who pointed to Genesis 1:26 that states, “Then God said, ‘let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping things that creeps upon the earth.” This scripture does seem to have obvious meaning when read in a literal sense, but when placed in the context of climate change, Delgado says that this interpretation ignores the exploitation of the earth and the needs of the poor and oppressed. Delgado then includes passages of the Bible that do not assign human domination over creation, such as Psalm 104, Job 12:7, Matthew 6:26-30, Genesis 6:1-9:19, etc. Delgado challenges the reader to explore the scripture in ways that honor creation, make the reader question whether their lifestyle honors creation, and changes those ways that are harmful to the world around

Like a farmer, a disciple of Christ is heavily involved in creation as they produce crops and care for animals. While farmers deeply love creation, pest, disease, and bad weather are constantly attempting to destroy everything the farmer has accomplished. Despite all their good work, crops fail, animals die, and the land is slowly degraded. Yet, farmers continue to work towards sustainability, undeterred by the multitude of challenges they face.

The author describes a global food revolution that began years ago from New York and Paris to London and Toronto. Consumers are becoming aware of the food they are purchasing at their local grocery store and realizing the grocery store is just a facade. Many small time organic farms started disappearing because of the mass producing large scale industrial farms which became possible after the industrial revolution. Large scale industrial farms are producing food in large quantities with low quality while polluting the earth and harming consumers because they are focused on one thing: profit. It makes it difficult for grocery stores to say no to these industrial farms just because of how cheap and convenient their product is. It also allows the grocery stores to supply produce year-round that normally would not be in season in a specific area. The sustainable factors and health of the consumers and the planet were of no concern when it came to higher produce yields and lower costs for both the conventional industrial farms and grocery stores. In 1996, industrial farms introduced genetically modified crops to increase yields and make more profit. Since then, more than 70% of foods produced contain genetically altered ingredients which has led to consumers being more prone to illnesses like cancer, diabetes, and obesity. This idea from Food and the City makes me furious because there are so many processed foods today that are hard to get away from. Mass industrial farms and manufacturers have found ways to extend food’s shelf life and alter the basic ingredients that would normally be considered healthy. With all of the additives, who knows what the food actually is and the harm it could do to your

Creation care is the idea that God calls Christians to care for the Earth. Even though all Christians acknowledge that God created the Earth, not everyone agrees about the responsibilities Christians have for this creation. In Genesis 1:28, “God blessed them, and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” For some, this verse means that God created this Earth so that we can use it how we wish. Even though “dominion” does imply you have control and power over the Earth, it is crucial to understand that this does not mean we are called to destroy this world. God claimed everything he made “was very good” so he would not have wanted for his creation to be destroyed (Genesis 1:31). Instead, this specific role God gives to humans requires respect and appreciative behavior. For, damaging God’s creation would mean insulting the very thing he designed for us.

“The Believers Church: A Natural Resource Worth Conserving” by Jason G. Duesing is an article about protection and preservation of the church doctrine. President Theodore Roosevelt’s words, not only addressed “Conservation as a National Day” , but he “was not concerned with any immediate threat to the existence of the growing nation, but rather the present population’s reckless indifference toward a vital problem that threatened its future existence”. Duesing states that culprit indifferences and climate of ecclesiological relativism is on the rise as “believers engaged in old wasteful methods with regards to natural resources of the doctrine of the church”. The doctrine of believer’s experiences indifferences while being intentionally

Genesis 1 begins with the creation of the earth. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. He saw everything he had made and “it was very good”. God created man and woman in his image. In this way, God made human beings higher than every other creature. He gave them dominion over the earth and every living thing on it. Genesis 2:15 says, “He placed the man in the garden to cultivate and keep it”. This is why we as humans ought to take care of the Earth. We pollute the earth and neglect to care for what God has given us dominion over- what God has created to bring him glory. Being good stewards of the earth not only protects the natural environment and animals on the earth, but also all the other people that God created. Pollution has the most negative impact on the poor, and we know from scripture that we are to care for the least powerful of people. Therefore, we know

One growing environmental issue my local community faces is unsustainability. People are leading a less sustainable lifestyle to live comfortably. Problem is that the natural resources such as water are being depleted quickly. These people are Anthropocentrism and Materialistic in how they way the live and act. Peoples whose thoughts lean toward Anthropocentrism believe they need to use up all available equity of land causing destruction of surrounding ecosystems in our area. The cause ecological destruction through overpopulation causing the extinction of many important species. Humans are more involved in their personal assets then in the environment itself. Materialism is their drive to take over. They do not concern themselves with environmental issues our communities and others are facing. Natural resources are

Mr. White believed religion, specifically Christianity, was the root to the entire ecological crisis today. He states that “…ecology is deeply conditioned by beliefs about our nature and destiny- that is, by religion.” He then continues and states, “Christianity inherited…not only a concept of time…but also a striking story of creation.” This story, and the beliefs of Christianity, “…not only established a dualism of man and nature but also insisted that it is God’s will that man exploit nature for his proper ends.” This belief does have some fact in it, and I do not believe it is the most misguided portion of this reading, however it is still incorrect. It is wrong in the fact that the entire picture isn’t painted and Lynn White is allowing a narrow focus of Christianity to cloud his judgment on the bigger picture.