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We find ourselves living on earth and surrounded by the gift of creation which sustains our bodieseach day. We also find ourselves surrounded by neighbors with whom we must share this planet and for whom we are free to serve in Christ Jesus. This paper will look at Lutheran perspectives for developing anethic for the environment and the implications that has on our neighbor.There used to be a time when communities had no idea of the effects various factories andindustrial work places would have on their health and the health of the earth. Within this centurycommunities have started to realize that polluted ground water, dust particles from factory work, andsmoke coming from various industries are responsible for a variety of cancers and asthma relatedillnesses. Not only that but within the last forty years more awareness has grown around the differentchemicals used on the soil to raise crops. Many of these chemicals then leak into nearby rivers andstreams which local communities use to draw their food and water. A clearer connection between thehealth of humanity and the health of the earth is being drawn more and more each year. This connectionalone would be enough to keep society busy with moral deliberation around policies here in the UnitedStates for many years. Looking outside of our own borders we then find a global community of scientistswho have on various occasions presented research showing how a countries fossil fuel consumption cancreate violent weather in other countries. How do we then craft an ethic for the environment that not onlytakes into account our own local communities but also the impact our actions have on other people aroundthe world?We can begin by looking at the laws of nature created by God that are a way of creating order outof chaos. Our class has looked at how an understanding of God's law brings us into the depth of humansin, which then has the potential for destroying creation and neighbor. Through using individualconscience, and communal reason, a person in community can come to know God’s universal and naturallaw. A Lutheran who is serious about engaging in an ethic for the environment will take seriously thecommunal reasoning presented by those who advocate for ways to reduce our impact on Global warming.An individuals actions now have global consequences. They always have, but now communal reason istrying to bring to everyone’s attention how our everyday lifestyles have moral consequences.

Not all agree with this reasoning, that simple lifestyle changes can help reverse the damage we arecausing through global warming. A recent interview with James Lovelock in the November 2007 copy of Rolling Stone looked at the term, “Gaia,” which he used thirty years ago to help people see the earth asone large living organism. His thoughts spurred a shift in how scientists viewed the planet and our connection to it. “You could look at climate change as a response of the system (Gaia) to get rid of anirritating species: us humans,” Says Lovelock. “Or at least cut them back to size.” He predicts massiveweather pattern changes around the globe over the next hundred years causing humanity to mass migrateto more appealing climates. His frustration is that many people put human existence above all else. InOxford he even corrected Mother Teresa's comments about taking care of the poor and leaving God totake care of the earth with his belief that the earth will take care of us if we don't tend to it.This brings us to not only an ethic of environment but also of all of creation, of which you and Iare a part. It seems to me that to deal ethically with the environment we must also have a grasp on theconcept of “Imago Dei,” and its impact on how we treat each other. In class we looked at how the Bible presents God as creating human beings and calling them “very good,” God created us to live in a thankfulrelationship with God, and has given us special responsibilities within creation. God has also looked uponall of creation and called it good, yet there are theologies in place within various Christian denominationsthat would hope to abandon this world in order to receive God in the next. This theology seems toabandon the task God has given us from the outset which was to be stewards of this earth until Christcomes again. Humanity is created in the image of God and born into an intimate balance with creationwhich means we cannot simply abandon one another in hopes of restoring balance to creation.The term used in Genesis that says humans should have “dominion,” over God’s creation has beenthe cause of much struggle and misunderstanding. This term may have been used to excuse rampantexploitation of earths resources for big profits. A better understanding would be to interpret “dominion,”as “stewardship of,” creation. This means humanity is intimately connected to creation and the care of it,to abandon or destroy creation would be a step in destroying ourselves. Mark Allen Powell, a NewTestament Professor at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Ohio uses a wonderful story to depict the way

society has distorted this understanding of relationship to creation. He tells a story about a Master leavinghis home to a good friend to take care of while he is away on a trip. The friend is to clean the house, andmake sure everything is still in working order when the Master returns. Upon the return of the Master,however, the locks have been changed and the friend has now claimed dominion of the Masters domicile.Powell shares that in many ways this is what humanity has done by locking God out and claiming as ourswhat was originally a gift to us. An ethic for the environment sees that to be a human being is not only to be created in the image of God and for relationship with God, but also for relationship to one another andto the creation. Both of which are God’s gifts to us for sustaining us in mind, body, and soul.An ethic for the environment must also take into consideration the role of sin in our own lives andthe lives of others. It has been suggested that there is more physical evidence for the reality of sin than for any other Christian doctrine. Most people don’t need to look too far to see the evidence of extremeclimate changes and natural disasters. The ELCA social statement on the Environment acknowledges thisreality as well when it talks about the depletion of non-renewable resources, loss of the variety of life,erosion of topsoil, pollution of air by toxic, increased volumes of wastes, and the prevalence of acid rain,which damages forests, lakes, and streams. A reading from the second section of the ELCA socialstatement on the Environment reads,“

Not content to be made in the image of God (Gen 3:5; Ezek 28:1-10), we have rebelled and disrupted creation. As didthe people of ancient Israel, we experience nature as an instrument of God's judgment (cf., Deut 11:13-17; Jer 4:23-28). A disrupted nature is a judgment on our unfaithfulness as stewards.

This communal ethic for the environment is being brought forward by scientists all over the world thatwarn about the depletion of the ozone and greenhouse gases causing global warming. An ethic for theenvironment takes into account that we are all born into a broken world distorted by sin. This is key because it keeps us centered on the fact that there are limits to what we are capable of doing.

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Upload Date:	01/22/2008
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Tags:	global Earth Ethics World pollution Creation Justice Care Stewardship Religion-Christianity global Earth Ethics World pollution Creation Justice Care Stewardship Religion-Christianity (fewer)

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