Sometimes we can get so into the thick of things that we miss the big picture. We get our priorities out of balance—family overwhelms church, or church family; work overwhelms fellowship, or fellowship work; nutritional precision overwhelms enjoyment of God’s good gifts of foods—or vice versa! With regard to Earth stewardship—fulfilling the mandate for godly dominion—it’s easy to get narrowly focused on either of two balancing tasks: subduing, ruling, tilling, and keeping the Earth (Genesis … [Read more...]
The Climate Skeptic Who Wasn’t
You might have read in the last month that America is dying amid severe drought and unprecedented heat, and the world will flood from Greenland’s repeated bouts of “unprecedented” melting ice. As Mark Twain said, “If you do not read the newspaper you’re uninformed. If you do read the newspaper you’re misinformed.” Such is the case with these stories. In October 2011 Richard Muller announced in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that, based on preliminary measurements from Berkley Earth … [Read more...]
Good Stewards, Good Samaritans
The environment is again an important election issue. Some candidates have claimed religious support for their views, but there is no single “Christian” perspective on the environment. It is a question of fact and prudence, not theology. We all have a stake in a healthy environment. God gave humanity dominion over the earth and called us to be good stewards of his creation. But he gave us no particular policy agenda. Rather, we must work together to balance environmental protection, economic … [Read more...]
God, Man, and the Environment
On April 22nd, much of the world will celebrate international Earth Day. Like many fads, the popularity of this event has waned throughout much of the West. This may owe something to the fact that the dire consequences predicted by many ecologists have not eventuated. Despite this, many people of faith continue to preach a type of “Green Gospel,” claiming that an ecological apocalypse will be upon us unless various policies – usually involving various forms of government regulation – are … [Read more...]
Dominion and Stewardship: Believers and the Environment
“Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. The other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him in attaining the end for which he is created. Hence, man is to make use of them in as far as they help him in the attainment of his end.” St. Ignatius of Loyola A welcome development of the past thirty years has been the emergence of less-utilitarian attitudes towards the environment by believers and non-believers alike. No … [Read more...]
