Christian Ecology

Animals and birds are dying because of the wickedness of our people, people who say "God doesn't see what we are doing" [Jeremiah 12.4] (Todays English Translation)

I've been doing some research about how Christianity and ecology fit together. I've been given a very strong ecological conscience and I've been frustrated by trying to find an environmental plea in the Bible. God created the earth and us for HIS pleasure-- not for ours. His intention was that of universal harmony. This seems to flow nicely with how the Lord speaks of love and living as one with your neighbor. The fall in Eden brought death and a need for one to die so another can live. We also need to remind ourselves that God can use ANY bad situation to demonstrate His good character. Food chains, the effect of the weather on our bodies/resources and our ability to effect the weather by our actions-- we're so intricately dependent upon everything. This in itself shows something about God's character. This leads me to conclude that this system was so lovingly crafted to teach US good character.

"The culpability of Christianity in the destruction of the natural world and uselessness of Christianity in any effort to correct that destruction are now established cliches of the conservation movement." --Wendell Berry

After looking into a connection between Christianity and ecology, our environmental position is all too clearly laid out in the Bible. There are three main positions held by Christians stepping into action in response to a conservationalist world that points the finger. The first position is known as Eco-Feminism. This is the belief that females as well as the rest of the world are dominated by patriarchal institutions and that salvation for all will come from making changes within these institutions. The second position is that of Creation Spirituality-- embracing natural mysticism (this was big in medieval times and I won't pretend to understand exactly how it works). The last and most commonly held position is that of Stewardship. Ultimately, God placed us in control of the earth, but we are to act as good stewards-- taking care of what we are given as a gift, and building good character. It's so easy to take advantage of our resources-- given that we have the capability to do so, but we need to exercise wisdom and care. We need to work against our selfishness and as I mentioned before, let God use this experience to teach us good character. This is also the position that I hold.

The following is an excerpt from an article I recently read..

"Catholic scholar John F. Haught, in his essay, 'Christianity and Ecology' argues that the universe is God's primary revelation, for it is still unfolding and revealing the nature of God through the nature of the earth. He says that the cosmos is neither a 'soul school' nor a straighforward epiphany of God's presence. It is a covenant of future fulfillment. Haught views nature as God's promise, and says we should be concerned with nature because the earth is the incarnation of this covenant. It seems consistent with Haught's model to say that abusing the environment becomes a sin, as a direct rejection of the promise of God."

So there you have it folks.. I'm done my environmental rant for now. See yah later. ;)