Christians and Environment

Question 1

Creation/ the Environment is a Gift from God and He is in control of it (Genesis/ Job/Psalm)

Answer 1

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1)

Question 2

God’s anger and Judgement

Answer 2

“I brought them into fertile land to eat its fruit and its produce. They came and made my land unclean. They made my property disgusting.” (Jeremiah 2:7)
we should not destroy God’s creation
on Judgement day we will be judged on how we treated God’s creation, the world, as well as fellow humans
should look after and keep the environment clean as it is God’s creation

Question 3

Stewardship: “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children.” (Proverbs 13:22) Also Genesis 2:15

Answer 3

should not exploit the planet by harming or wasting its resources
people should work in harmony with God’s creation rather than against it
humans are looking after the earth temporarily for God — must keep it in the condition God wants it
“Then the Lord God placed man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and guard it.” (Genesis 2:15)
idea backed up by rules further in the Old Testament e.g. it says working animals must be allowed to rest on the seventh day; fruit trees are not be destroyed when attacking a city etc…

Question 4

Church Teachings support Environmentalism

Answer 4

“For the Church of the 21st century, good ecology is not an optional extra but a matter of justice. It is therefore central to what it means to be a Christian” (Dr Rowan Williams, while Archbishop of Canterbury)

Question 5

Genesis 1:26: “…so that they may have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds in the sky…”

Answer 5

dominion = Hebrew word often translated from Radah, sometimes translated to mean ‘rule over’
Peter Singer (Utilitarian and Environmentalist) argues that this view had led to huge environmental exploitation 
he thinks that the greatest good for the greatest number of people includes animals also
“dominion” has caused a huge problem for the environmental movement as it seems to give human beings the power to use the earth and its resources as they like
others argue that “dominion” gives the weight of responsibility — Christians, Muslims and Jews are likely to disagree with him
Genesis, the passage that introduces “dominion”, shifted the thinking of 3,000 years ago — monotheistic religions shifted the previous mindful thinking of animals and plants of having spirits to inanimate objects and a value system