Welcome to the Eco-Faith theology and the environment page, here we will help connect the theology of faith groups to current debates on the climate change and the environment.

 

Please scroll down for more on Christian faith and the environment, however we are still constructing this page so please come back another time to see more on other faith groups. If you are involved with a faith group and would like to help us develop this part of the Eco-faith project, please contact us.

 

 

 

“You made us ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under our control”

(NIV version of the Bible).

 

When THE LORD made mankind in His image, man was commanded to manage the earth and its resources (Genesis 1:28-30). Part of this covenant was the message to care for the earth and to fill it with people.

However, Adam who was left to care for the Garden, fell into disgrace and was expelled, thus making His command to manage the earth and its resources much more difficult and that of our stewardship more onerous (Genesis 3:17-19).

 

Genesis chapter 2 lays out the continuing involvement between God and humans, and Gen 2:15 points out….. “took man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it”. The message is clear, to till and to keep means service and preservation, i.e. stewardship for future generations (this passage is often used to promote the notion of stewardship1). Time and time again “practices” regarding husbandry and farming are seen in biblical passages, e.g. (Ex. 23:10-12; Dt. 22:6-7) the story of Noah shows how God wanted to continue his patronage culminating in his covenant with future generations and all creation, hence the symbol of the rainbow (Gen.6:11-9:17). Moses, Job, the Psalms etc all show God’s willingness to help and to take delight in his creation for all generations.

 

 

It is with God’s creation in mind that we realise the huge task that our stewardship of the earth and its resources entails.

Yet, we are all born with gifts, which used wisely, can enhance God’s earth for future generations. As in the parable of the 10 talents (Mathew 25:14-30) we are urged to be proactive not just neutral, for the Lord’s work is all around us and we will be judged on what we have done.

 

Jesus in his parables is always using the analogies of the natural world to demonstrate what we have to do, e.g. the sower and the seed (Mt. 13:4-9, 18-23), there are many other examples; the fig tree, the vines, mustard seed, lilies in the field, even animals are included, such as birds in the air, the foxes and their lairs. All of these illustrate his closeness to nature and our well being, yet these do not come up without their warnings about our behaviour. Sean Mcdonagh sums this up well by saying “There is no support in the teachings of Jesus for the modern, throwaway, earth destroying consumer society”.

 

John Paul II in his address for World Peace Day in 1990 (www.catholic-ew.org.uk) went further by stating “Unfortunately, it is now clear that the application of these discoveries (advances in science and technology) in the fields of industry and agriculture have produced harmful long-term effects. This has led to the painful realisation that we cannot interfere in one area of the ecosystem without paying due attention both to the consequences of such interference in other areas and to the well-being of future generations”.

 

The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related “greenhouse effect” has now reached crisis proportions as a consequence of industrial growth, massive urban concentrations and vastly increased energy needs. Industrial waste, the burning of fossil fuels, unrestricted deforestation, the use of certain types of herbicides, coolants and propellants: all of these are known to harm the atmosphere and environment. The resulting meteorological and atmospheric changes range from damage to health to the possible future submersion of low-lying lands.

 

While in some cases the damage has already done may well be irreversible, in many cases it can still be halted. It is necessary; however, that the entire human community – individuals, States and international bodies – take seriously the responsibility that is theirs.

 

Ed Echlin in his book on Earth Spirituality that puts Jesus at the centre of not only our spirituality, but also of our earth community, asks five questions (pp175) regarding the future of the earth and offers the following Old Testament and New Testament passages as suggested means of reflecting on these issues:-