God and Nature Summer 2022
The Case for Christian Environmentalism:
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By Caitlyn Kelley
The relationship between Christianity and environmentalism has long been marked with tension and confusion. Conflicting biblical interpretations within the fields of theology and environmentalism alike have led to a vast array of opinions about how Christians should treat the planet and the many threats that it faces. The modern church has been charged with debates over human domination, anthropocentrism, and nature’s role in spirituality. However, after examining the Bible and the theologians and environmentalists who comment on these issues, we can find strong evidence that the Bible compels Christians to fight for the environment.
The relationship between Christianity and environmentalism has long been marked with tension and confusion. Conflicting biblical interpretations within the fields of theology and environmentalism alike have led to a vast array of opinions about how Christians should treat the planet and the many threats that it faces. The modern church has been charged with debates over human domination, anthropocentrism, and nature’s role in spirituality. However, after examining the Bible and the theologians and environmentalists who comment on these issues, we can find strong evidence that the Bible compels Christians to fight for the environment.
Luke demonstrates that people should care for creatures because God cares for us... |
Genesis 1:26 instructs mankind to “fill the Earth and subdue it,” and to “rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” At first glance, this verse makes a very clear case for humanity’s domination of other species. The connotations of the word “subdue” imply ignoring the needs or desires of an animal in order to subjugate it to man’s will. The Hebrew word for “subdue,” radah, has also been translated to mean “dominate,” or to “rule” (Bible Study Tools). However, this verse is not the Bible’s only commentary on man’s relationship with other species. Genesis 2:15 states, “the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (New International Version, 2011). In this verse, the Hebrew word shamar can be translated not only as “take care,” but also as “preserve” or “protect” (Bible Study Tools). Therefore, Christians are charged with the task of reconciling these two concepts; how can we both subdue and take care of the natural world around us?
Perhaps the simplest answer would be to ask what Jesus would do. As John 3:30 charges Christians to “become less” while Christ becomes more within them, it is a valuable question to consider how this command can help us to discern how Christians should treat the planet. One theologian put it this way: “humans are made in God’s image—in the image of a just, holy, and loving God—and [are] therefore [expected] … to acknowledge duties to animals who cannot acknowledge them in return” (Gottlieb, 2006). If humans are to imitate God in all they do, they must emulate His relationship with creatures less powerful than Him. In the New Testament, Luke writes: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God … Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Additionally, in Deuteronomy, God instructs the Israelite people to respect nature even in the instance of war: “do not destroy [the besieged city’s] trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down.” The chapter continues, allowing the people to cut down trees that do not bear fruit in order to build instruments of war. The distinction between species of trees in this verse begins to answer the question of how to reconcile domination and preservation of the environment. While God allows His people to use trees for fruit and for construction, He does not allow them to destroy all the trees, so that they might continue to grow and serve future generations. While these are just two of many instances in which the Bible teaches on how to treat the earth, they illustrate humanity’s duty to take care of other species, considering the needs of animals and plants. Luke demonstrates that people should care for creatures because God cares for us, while Deuteronomy indicates that humans are benefitted the most when they take care of nature so that it can continue to provide for them.
In his article “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” Lynn White describes Christianity as “the most anthropocentric religion the world has seen” (White, 1967). While a case can be made that, in practice, Christians have allowed themselves to develop an overly anthropocentric mindset, is this true of the scripture their religion is based on? Theorists such as Lynn White would likely say so; Psalm 8 is perhaps the most commonly cited passage as an example of biblical anthropocentrism, which says that God has set humans “a little lower than the angels,” and has “crowned them with glory and honor,” making them “rulers over the works of [His] hands.” Despite seemingly obvious evidence of a human-centered mindset, in order to truly understand the meaning behind Psalm 8, one must also take into consideration the verses prior, in which the Psalmist writes to God, “what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”
The entirety of the Christian faith takes place under the dominion of God: Psalm 109:21 is an example of mankind’s dependence on God, in which the Psalmist pleads with the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, help me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.” While the Bible grants humans a place of authority over the rest of His creation, it remains His creation: the New International Version describes God as sovereign more than 200 times, making it clear that even though He allows humans to make choices about their environment, they are still held accountable to obey and rely upon God (Bible Gateway). Ronald Simkins wrote the following in response to Lynn White: “In its larger context, Psalm 8 is not a triumphal hymn, celebrating human ascendancy to near-God status. Rather, it is a hymn expressing the psalmist’s amazement that, given the human condition, God has blessed humankind with such a distinctive status” (Simkins, 2014). 2 Corinthians 9:12 states: “[God’s] power is made perfect in [human] weakness.” Dependence on and submission to the Lord is a strong theme throughout Christianity. Thus, though verses such as Psalm 8:5 and 6 cite the authority humans have over the rest of creation, they must be interpreted within the context of God’s authority over humans. This dependence on God ultimately places humans more within the realm of creation than in the realm of authority.
Finally, Christians are not only responsible for taking care of the rest of the Lord’s creation, but also are blessed with the benefits of nature within their own practice of religion. In “Liturgy, Cosmic Worship, and Christian Cosmology,” Elizabeth Theokritoff responds to Hippolytus’s Apostolic Tradition, which charges Christians to worship at midnight, when “all creation pauses for a moment to praise the Lord” (Hippolytus, 2014). Hippolytus believes this practice is beneficial, necessary even, as all creation worships the Lord; to worship, Christians are simply joining in with all other species.
Theokritoff expands upon this idea, writing that “all ranks of creatures, not just rational ones, literally praise the Lord” (Theokritoff, 2014). In Luke 19:40, Jesus states that if humans don’t praise God, “the stones will cry out.” Revelations 5:13 is another example of nature worshiping God; it provides an image of “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea” ascribing “praise and honor and glory and power” to God. Rather, as Pope Francis writes in his Laudato si. “For Christians, all the creatures of the material universe find their true meaning in the incarnate Word” (Francis, 2015). To all three theologians: Francis, Theokritoff, and Hippolytus, worship is joining in praise with the rest of creation, responding to His character and goodness as it is reflected in the natural world.
Therefore, based upon the writings of the Bible, Christianity should not be estranged from the natural world but deeply embedded within it. It is no mistake that God originally created humans to exist in a garden. However, how do these conclusions about the nature of Christianity relate to environmentalism as it is expressed today? Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist and chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy, believes that if one is Christian, one should be driven to action, stating that “[she is] a climate scientist because [she is] a Christian” (Segall, 2019). In a lecture about the impacts of climate change, Hayhoe references Genesis 1:26, stating “dominion is not domination.”
Despite traditions of evangelical resistance to belief in climate change, Hayhoe’s belief that Christianity can and should be aligned with climate science is gaining traction amongst evangelical populations. After giving presentations of clear, Christian arguments for environmentalism at Christian universities across the United States, Hayhoe reported dramatic increases in the number of students who believe in climate change: “the greatest change in view occurred at the institution with the most politically conservative respondents, Dallas Baptist University; the percentage of students who thought global warming was happening rose from 51% to 87% after seeing the presentation” (Ravilious, 2019).
It is not only feasible, but natural, that Christians should stand up to protect the natural world. The Bible points us to take care of and steward the planet well, holding us accountable to God as part of His creation and allowing us to join in worship as we engage with the natural world. As Christians continue to grapple with climate change and other modern environmental threats, they can take heart in knowing that God created humans to live in harmony with ecosystems around them; that the environment is both a gift and a responsibility, given to us by God. Not only does the Bible assert that humans were created with a duty to care for the environment, but that they were made to join with the rest of creation in worshiping Him. Thus, Christians should take joy in working to steward the natural world; for just as God takes care of us, we have been given the privilege of taking care of it.
References
Bible Gateway.
Bible Study Tools. Interlinear bible - Greek and Hebrew with concordance.
Pope Francis. (2015). Laudato si'
Gottlieb, R. S. (2011). The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology. Oxford University Press.
Hippolytus. (2014). Apostolic tradition of Hippolytus. (B. S. Easton, Trans.). Cambridge University Press.
New International Version Bible. (2011). Biblica.
Ravilious, K. (2019). Evangelical source changes evangelical minds on climate. Physics World.
Segall, P. (2019). Katharine Hayhoe reconciles Christianity and climate science. Juneau Empire.
Simkins, R. A. (2014). The Bible and anthropocentrism: Putting humans in their place. Dialectical Anthropology, 38(4), 397–413.
Theokritoff, E. (2013). Liturgy, cosmic worship, and Christian cosmology. Toward an Ecology of Transfiguration, 295–306.
White, L. (1967). The historical roots of our ecologic crisis. Science, 155(3767), 1203–1207.
Caitlyn Kelley is a third-year student at the University of Virginia, as well as an involved member of Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship. She is studying environmental science and environmental thought and practice. She hopes to use her degree to forge a greater intersection between the Christian and scientific communities of the world to combat modern environmental issues such as climate change and pollution.
Perhaps the simplest answer would be to ask what Jesus would do. As John 3:30 charges Christians to “become less” while Christ becomes more within them, it is a valuable question to consider how this command can help us to discern how Christians should treat the planet. One theologian put it this way: “humans are made in God’s image—in the image of a just, holy, and loving God—and [are] therefore [expected] … to acknowledge duties to animals who cannot acknowledge them in return” (Gottlieb, 2006). If humans are to imitate God in all they do, they must emulate His relationship with creatures less powerful than Him. In the New Testament, Luke writes: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God … Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Additionally, in Deuteronomy, God instructs the Israelite people to respect nature even in the instance of war: “do not destroy [the besieged city’s] trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down.” The chapter continues, allowing the people to cut down trees that do not bear fruit in order to build instruments of war. The distinction between species of trees in this verse begins to answer the question of how to reconcile domination and preservation of the environment. While God allows His people to use trees for fruit and for construction, He does not allow them to destroy all the trees, so that they might continue to grow and serve future generations. While these are just two of many instances in which the Bible teaches on how to treat the earth, they illustrate humanity’s duty to take care of other species, considering the needs of animals and plants. Luke demonstrates that people should care for creatures because God cares for us, while Deuteronomy indicates that humans are benefitted the most when they take care of nature so that it can continue to provide for them.
In his article “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” Lynn White describes Christianity as “the most anthropocentric religion the world has seen” (White, 1967). While a case can be made that, in practice, Christians have allowed themselves to develop an overly anthropocentric mindset, is this true of the scripture their religion is based on? Theorists such as Lynn White would likely say so; Psalm 8 is perhaps the most commonly cited passage as an example of biblical anthropocentrism, which says that God has set humans “a little lower than the angels,” and has “crowned them with glory and honor,” making them “rulers over the works of [His] hands.” Despite seemingly obvious evidence of a human-centered mindset, in order to truly understand the meaning behind Psalm 8, one must also take into consideration the verses prior, in which the Psalmist writes to God, “what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”
The entirety of the Christian faith takes place under the dominion of God: Psalm 109:21 is an example of mankind’s dependence on God, in which the Psalmist pleads with the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, help me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.” While the Bible grants humans a place of authority over the rest of His creation, it remains His creation: the New International Version describes God as sovereign more than 200 times, making it clear that even though He allows humans to make choices about their environment, they are still held accountable to obey and rely upon God (Bible Gateway). Ronald Simkins wrote the following in response to Lynn White: “In its larger context, Psalm 8 is not a triumphal hymn, celebrating human ascendancy to near-God status. Rather, it is a hymn expressing the psalmist’s amazement that, given the human condition, God has blessed humankind with such a distinctive status” (Simkins, 2014). 2 Corinthians 9:12 states: “[God’s] power is made perfect in [human] weakness.” Dependence on and submission to the Lord is a strong theme throughout Christianity. Thus, though verses such as Psalm 8:5 and 6 cite the authority humans have over the rest of creation, they must be interpreted within the context of God’s authority over humans. This dependence on God ultimately places humans more within the realm of creation than in the realm of authority.
Finally, Christians are not only responsible for taking care of the rest of the Lord’s creation, but also are blessed with the benefits of nature within their own practice of religion. In “Liturgy, Cosmic Worship, and Christian Cosmology,” Elizabeth Theokritoff responds to Hippolytus’s Apostolic Tradition, which charges Christians to worship at midnight, when “all creation pauses for a moment to praise the Lord” (Hippolytus, 2014). Hippolytus believes this practice is beneficial, necessary even, as all creation worships the Lord; to worship, Christians are simply joining in with all other species.
Theokritoff expands upon this idea, writing that “all ranks of creatures, not just rational ones, literally praise the Lord” (Theokritoff, 2014). In Luke 19:40, Jesus states that if humans don’t praise God, “the stones will cry out.” Revelations 5:13 is another example of nature worshiping God; it provides an image of “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea” ascribing “praise and honor and glory and power” to God. Rather, as Pope Francis writes in his Laudato si. “For Christians, all the creatures of the material universe find their true meaning in the incarnate Word” (Francis, 2015). To all three theologians: Francis, Theokritoff, and Hippolytus, worship is joining in praise with the rest of creation, responding to His character and goodness as it is reflected in the natural world.
Therefore, based upon the writings of the Bible, Christianity should not be estranged from the natural world but deeply embedded within it. It is no mistake that God originally created humans to exist in a garden. However, how do these conclusions about the nature of Christianity relate to environmentalism as it is expressed today? Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist and chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy, believes that if one is Christian, one should be driven to action, stating that “[she is] a climate scientist because [she is] a Christian” (Segall, 2019). In a lecture about the impacts of climate change, Hayhoe references Genesis 1:26, stating “dominion is not domination.”
Despite traditions of evangelical resistance to belief in climate change, Hayhoe’s belief that Christianity can and should be aligned with climate science is gaining traction amongst evangelical populations. After giving presentations of clear, Christian arguments for environmentalism at Christian universities across the United States, Hayhoe reported dramatic increases in the number of students who believe in climate change: “the greatest change in view occurred at the institution with the most politically conservative respondents, Dallas Baptist University; the percentage of students who thought global warming was happening rose from 51% to 87% after seeing the presentation” (Ravilious, 2019).
It is not only feasible, but natural, that Christians should stand up to protect the natural world. The Bible points us to take care of and steward the planet well, holding us accountable to God as part of His creation and allowing us to join in worship as we engage with the natural world. As Christians continue to grapple with climate change and other modern environmental threats, they can take heart in knowing that God created humans to live in harmony with ecosystems around them; that the environment is both a gift and a responsibility, given to us by God. Not only does the Bible assert that humans were created with a duty to care for the environment, but that they were made to join with the rest of creation in worshiping Him. Thus, Christians should take joy in working to steward the natural world; for just as God takes care of us, we have been given the privilege of taking care of it.
References
Bible Gateway.
Bible Study Tools. Interlinear bible - Greek and Hebrew with concordance.
Pope Francis. (2015). Laudato si'
Gottlieb, R. S. (2011). The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology. Oxford University Press.
Hippolytus. (2014). Apostolic tradition of Hippolytus. (B. S. Easton, Trans.). Cambridge University Press.
New International Version Bible. (2011). Biblica.
Ravilious, K. (2019). Evangelical source changes evangelical minds on climate. Physics World.
Segall, P. (2019). Katharine Hayhoe reconciles Christianity and climate science. Juneau Empire.
Simkins, R. A. (2014). The Bible and anthropocentrism: Putting humans in their place. Dialectical Anthropology, 38(4), 397–413.
Theokritoff, E. (2013). Liturgy, cosmic worship, and Christian cosmology. Toward an Ecology of Transfiguration, 295–306.
White, L. (1967). The historical roots of our ecologic crisis. Science, 155(3767), 1203–1207.
Caitlyn Kelley is a third-year student at the University of Virginia, as well as an involved member of Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship. She is studying environmental science and environmental thought and practice. She hopes to use her degree to forge a greater intersection between the Christian and scientific communities of the world to combat modern environmental issues such as climate change and pollution.