THE CHRISTIAN

AND THE

ENVIRONMENT
Lesson 12
Prepared by:
Mr. Alex C. Torreda®
 The problem is not
that we love animals
too much, but we love
God and other human
beings too little.
-C.S. Lewis
 Argues that we must
begin our thinking with
the proposition that we
are all gods.

-Shirley MacLaine Hollywood actress

,
 Turn from a theology
centered on sin and
redemption and develop a
“creation spirituality,”
with nature as our as our
primary revelation and sin
as a distant memory.

-Matthew Fox , Catholic theologian

 The Christian view of humans
as image-bearers and nature as
the servant of image-bearers that
created our current ecological
mess.

– Blamed Christianity for the

environmental crisis of the modern era.

-Lynn White, Jr. , historian

 The earth is a living
creature.

– “She” is alive and respect for

her is at the center of restoring
the right relationships
destroyed by male dominion.

-Rosemary Ruether, Gaia and God: An Ecofeminist Theology of Earth Healing

 Inadequate View on
Human Responsibility
toward Creation
1. Christian view, often associated
with St. Francis of Assisi

■All aspects of
God’s physical
creation are
equal.
■God’s creation are not equal.

– Humans are the crown of God’s creation

– He died for the human beings
– Jesus did not die for the birds
2. Pantheism
■All is God and
God is all.
■ The Bible does teach the immanence of
God – that He is present everywhere.

– But it rejects the teaching that all is God.

■ He created all things and yet is above and

beyond His physical creation (transcendence).
3. Platonic Dichotomy
■ The spiritual world is
all that is important.

– The material world

has no value to God or
to us as His disciples
■ Scripture details the goodness of God’s
creation.

– The physical body is of such importance to

God that He will one day resurrect it.
 A Word about
Climate Change
■ Carbon-dioxide
emissions have
been the
environmental
issue of the early
21st century.
■ Regardless of the cause
of the global increase
in temperatures, the
world simply must
produce a great deal
more energy to remain
productive and
comfortable.
■ The carbon
dioxide issue is
not about the
United States
anymore.
■ The world must
become more
efficient in its
energy
production – and
it is.
■ If we accept the
proposition that
carbon
emissions are
bad, it is not
really that clear
what we should
do about it.
 The Church and
Love for Animals:
Is It Biblical?
How should we think biblically about our pets? It is
time now to focus on several biblical principles to aid
Christian believers in thinking about animal life, the larger
physical world, and our relationship to both.
Biblical Principles
for a Proper View
of the Environment
Proper View of God
■ The challenge is to keep in
balance God’s
transcendence and His
immanence.
– To stress His immanence at
the expense of His
transcendence is to land in
pantheism where everything
is god.
Proper View of Human Beings
■ Human beings are both
interdependent with the
rest of creation and
unique within it.
– We alone bear His image
and have stewardship
responsibility over the
earth.
Nonhuman Creation is of Great
Significance to God
■ He created the physical world
as a deliberate act. God
takes pleasure in His
physical world.
– God has a covenant, not
only with humans, but also
with the nonhuman creation.
The Motivation for
Good Stewardship
 Pragmatic Moral

■ We should be good ■ The physical creation

stewards over God’s should not be
world because our exploited because it
very survival is morally wrong to
depends on it. misuse God’s created
order.
The Environmental
Solution
Humans Properly Related to God

■ Humans will never

exercise proper God-
honoring stewardship
without first being
reconciled to Him
through Christ.
Human Properly Related to Self
■ Humans must see
themselves as God
sees them – of infinite
value as creatures and,
in Christ, as redeemed.
Humans Properly Related to Other
Humans

■ Because we now have

Christ’s mind,
Christians also view
other humans
through God’s eyes.
Humans Properly Related Nature

■ Humans are to treat all

aspects of God’s
physical creation with
respect and honor.
Nature Properly Related Nature

■ It awaits the return of

Jesus when it will be
restored to its glory
and its productivity.