New Testament teaching on care of the environment

 New Testament teaching on care of the environment

Most of the usual teaching on what the Bible says about care of the environment is from the Old Testament. However, there are two passages from the New Testament that also argue that we should be caring carefully for the environment. They are indirect, but their urgency is important.
Romans 1:20 tells us that observing and learning about nature are part of God’s revelation to humans. (So does Psalm 19:1-4). If that is so, isn’t that another reason to try to preserve nature as well as we can? The Bible is one of the ways that God reveals Himself to us. For a long time, Christians have believed that the Bible should be translated into the language people are most familiar with, so that that revelation may be as clear as possible. Similarly, it would seem that God's revelation through nature should be as clear as possible. A person is more likely to see God in a pristine stream than in a polluted river. Probably seeing bison herds roam freely in Western North America gave people a glimpse of one aspect of God’s power and majesty that they can’t really get now. Therefore, helping to preserve nature in as good a condition as we can is one way to bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ. Not the most direct way, and probably not the most effective, for many people, but it is still a way to do this.

Colossians 1:15-20 says, of Christ, that “in Him all things hold together.” (ESV -- other versions have similar language.) That passage also says that He is working to reconcile all things to Himself, and working to make peace through the blood of the cross. As Christians, we believe that it is our duty to be His instruments in reconciling sinners to Christ, and to help Him in the ministry of making peace. In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, tell us that:  18 But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Doesn’t it follow that we should also participate in Christ’s work of sustaining, or holding “all things” together, including endangered species and ecosystems or biological communities? (I realize that there are other places in the New Testament where reconciliation and peacemaking are mentioned, or implied, and this is probably the only one that mentions Christ's sustaining work. But that doesn't mean that His sustaining work can be dismissed, or that we have no responsibility to be His instruments in doing it.)

This is an excerpt from a post on July 16, 2009, modified slightly.

Thanks for reading!

Sunspots 858

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Christianity: (or something) Relevant discusses rumors that satanism was somehow behind the Astroworld concert tragedy.

Environment: NPR reports that, although Pope Francis has been outspoken on fighting climate change, the Catholic bishops in the US have done little about it.

Health: Fox News reports on a study that shows that unvaccinated Texans were 20 times more likely to die of COVID than those who were vaccinated.

Humor:  (and food) Gizmodo tells us about 9 new kitchen appliances that you don't really need.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight discusses the proposed political map of North Carolina, which map gives Republicans a few more congressional seats than they deserve. In other words, the map is the result of Gerrymandering.

Relevant discusses work by the Pew Research Center, which suggests that, rather than being just Republican or Democrat, voters in the US fall into nine smaller ideological groups. There's a quiz to let you know where you belong.

Science: (or something) NPR reports that a roadrunner got onto a moving van in Las Vegas, and was discovered in Maine, 4 days later, during the unloading. It's being cared for.

Gizmodo reports that a small asteroid was probably once part of the moon.

Gizmodo also reports on an unusual effect of unusual weather, in Egypt: scorpions!

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 853

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Environment: Gizmodo considers the question of whether city living or country living is easier on the environment.

Health: (and Computing) Gizmodo reports on a watch that alerts you to breathing issues, including sleep apnea.

Politics: (And Christianity) an article on the dangers of populism, which affects both the left and the right.

Science: NPR reports that the ivory-billed woodpecker, and other species, have been declared extinct.

NPR also reports on a gene editing experiment that worked.

The Scientist reports on a study showing that barnacles don't always stay in the same place.

Relevant reports that bumblebees have disappeared from eight states. The states are widely distributed.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

 

New Testament teaching on care of the environment

New Testament teaching on care of the environment
Most of the usual teaching on what the Bible says about care of the environment is from the Old Testament. However, there are two passages from the New Testament that also argue that we should be caring carefully for the environment. They are indirect, but their urgency is important. 
Romans 1:20 tells us that observing and learning about nature are part of God’s revelation to humans. (So does Psalm 19:1-4). If that is so, isn’t that another reason to try to preserve nature as well as we can? The Bible is one of the ways that God reveals Himself to us. For a long time, Christians have believed that the Bible should be translated into the language people are most familiar with, so that that revelation may be as clear as possible. Similarly, it would seem that God's revelation through nature should be as clear as possible. A person is more likely to see God in a pristine stream than in a polluted river. Probably seeing bison herds roam freely in Western North America gave people a glimpse of one aspect of God’s power and majesty that they can’t really get now. Therefore, helping to preserve nature in as good a condition as we can is one way to bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ. Not the most direct way, and probably not the most effective, for many people, but it is still a way to do this. 
Colossians 1:15-20 says, of Christ, that “in Him all things hold together.” (ESV -- other versions have similar language.) That passage also says that He is working to reconcile all things to Himself, and working to make peace through the blood of the cross. As Christians, we believe that it is our duty to be His instruments in reconciling sinners to Christ, and to help Him in the ministry of making peace. In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, tells us that:  18 But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation. 
Doesn’t it follow that we should also participate in Christ’s work of sustaining “all things,” including endangered species and ecosystems or biological communities? (I realize that there are other places in the New Testament where reconciliation and peacemaking are mentioned, or implied, and this is probably the only one that mentions Christ's sustaining work. But that doesn't mean that His sustaining work can be dismissed, or that we have no responsibility to be His instruments in doing it.)

This post was taken, as is, from a longer post on what the Bible says about environmental stewardship. 

Sunspots 842

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Education: Grammarphobia discusses the origin of the phrase "tossing and turning."

Environment: NPR on recycling plastic -- what really helps, and what doesn't.

Gizmodo on why TV news does such a bad job at reporting on climate change.

Gizmodo also reports that poor neighborhoods, all over the USA, suffer more from heat waves.

And Gizmodo reports on how wild hogs are having a serious effect on climate.

Gizmodo also reports on the environmental costs of shipping goods into North America.

Ethics: (and Science) Gizmodo reports on guidelines for human genetic engineering, produced by a World Health Organization group. In summary, the group is not ready to approve such procedures.

Science: (or something) Relevant reports on a survey that indicates that most couples become romantically involved after months or years as friends, rather than falling in love the first time they see each other.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading. 

Sunspots 829

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: NPR on a book claiming that evangelicals have distorted Biblical teaching on women's roles. For related matters, see my "Female Headship in the Family: Biblical Examples."

Environment: Gizmodo reports on a study that found that the ecology of about 97% of the land areas on earth has been damaged.

Gizmodo also reports on how the Colorado River water flow has been reduced so much that restrictions on water use are being put in place.

Food: (or finance) Gizmodo reports that ketchup packets are selling for premium prices.

Humor: (or something) ListVerse shows and tells us some interesting history of chess.

Politics: Relevant reminds us that we've known about racism in the US, and its consequences, for at least 70 years, and nothing much has changed.

FiveThirtyEight discusses so-called independents in US politics, and finds that there aren't really very many.

Science: Gizmodo reports on a study that indicates that ermine (aka stoats) are not one species, but at least three.

NPR reports on entities made from a combination of monkey and human cells. There are ethical concerns.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 816

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Russell Moore, a Southern Baptist official, on the insurrection at the Capitol last week.

He Lives says that Uzzah, Ananias and Sapphira were not punished. An interesting idea.

Christianity Today on the bible used in incoming President Biden's inauguration.

Computing: (And politics) Gizmodo reports on "industrialized information," in other words, pumping out what's usually false or misleading stuff  as a business, or using such entities. It's growing. One of the worst offenders: Michael Bloomberg's unsuccessful run for President.

Environment: The Trump administration has enacted a rule that makes it easier for fossil fuel companies to pollute, according to Gizmodo.

And they have rolled back regulations that expected more efficiency in water heaters and gas furnaces.

And they have given a green light to a company that wants to mine on land considered sacred by the Apaches.

On the good news side, Gizmodo reports that a wolverine was photographed in Yellowstone National Park, and wolverines have also been seen at Mount Rainier National Park, for the first time in 100 years.

Ethics: Christianity Today considers three ethical questions related to COVID vaccines, and concludes that these should be taken.

Politics: Politico has a thorough article on 30 things that the Trump administration accomplished. My view is that some of them were for the good, some not. Yours probably would be the same, although perhaps we might differ on specifics.

Science: LiveScience on why it's so hard to swat a fly.

Gizmodo reports on the discovery of electric eels hunting in groups, something like wolves.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 799

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Relevant reports on a Barna study, which indicates that white Christians are less motivated to do something about racial injustice than they were a year ago.

Christianity Today tells us how we might commit one of the seven deadly sins in this political season.

Computing: Gizmo's Freeware recommends two bridge-building games, for iOS and Android.

Education: Grammarphobia tells us about the history and usage of "status quo."

Environment: Gizmodo reports that international plans to cut plastic pollution of the oceans just aren't good enough.

Gizmodo also reports on how the Trump administration is threatening wildlife, and indigenous peoples, across the US border.

Ethics: Gizmodo tells us how captive tigers are mistreated, and how most of them are  not really contributing to tiger conservation.

NPR interviews the author of a book on the finances of President Trump.

History: (and ornithology) Gizmodo reports on reflections on the life of John  James Audubon, who wasn't exactly a role model, scientifically, and in other ways.

Politics: (or something) Listverse tells us about the 10 safest large cities in the US.

FiveThirtyEight analyzes the Supreme Court situation, after Ginsburg's death.

FiveThirtyEight also analyzes the rural skew of the US Senate.

Science: Gizmodo reports that giraffes may be vulnerable to lightning strikes.

(or something) The Fall Foliage prediction map.

ListVerse has an essay on 10 gross things about the human body.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

Environmental Stewardship in the Bible, re-post

We have God-given responsibilities to non-human organisms
Genesis 1:26-28 seems to indicate clearly that humans were placed in charge of the non-human world. Psalm 8:6 reiterates that idea. Psalm 24:1 indicates that even though we are, in some sense, in charge, the world, and the things in it, are God’s. So does Psalm 50:10,11.* The story of Noah seems to indicate that, at one point, humans were directly responsible for the lives of many kinds of animals. Genesis 7:2-5, 14-16, Proverbs 12:10 and Proverbs 27:23 all have to do with caring for animals.

God seems to care not just for animals in general, but for kinds of animals. Psalms 104:24-25 praises God for the diversity of His creation, and His creatures. Since this explicitly includes the wide variety of ocean animals, it doesn’t seem possible that this praise is meant to be only because of their usefulness to humans. Genesis 7:3, 14-16 indicate God’s concern that the different kinds of animals would be preserved. Genesis 8:1 says that God had not forgotten Noah or the animals. Noah and his family were God’s agents in this care, of course, but they were God-directed agents. It would seem reasonable to argue that in our day, we also have responsibilities to the kinds of animals that exist in our time.

Does God care for individual non-human organisms? Perhaps. The question seems to be addressed in Matthew 10:29, which says that even individual sparrows do not fall without God’s knowledge. (Two verses later, Christ stated that the twelve were of more value than many sparrows. However, He didn’t say that sparrows were valueless.)

Does God’s care, and the care that humans are supposed to have, mean that we must refrain from killing animals deliberately? Apparently not. Jesus certainly condoned fishing (John 21:6, Matthew 17:27, Luke 5:4). He ate (Luke 24:36-43), and probably fished (John 21:9) even after His resurrection. Peter's vision, after the resurrection, and after Pentecost, used eating meat as a sign that God does not show favoritism (Acts 11:1-18). Paul referred disparagingly to people who forbid eating meat (I Timothy 4:1-3). There are no explicit commands forbidding the consumption of all meat in the Bible. This is not to say that the Bible condones killing of animals wantonly. That would be contradictory to benign dominion. Nor does the Bible condone consumption of animal flesh (or any other kind of food) selfishly, or to excess. But we are allowed to kill non-human organisms for cause, at least. Such causes include killing an animal because it threatens a human (Exodus 21:29), killing for meat (Genesis 9:2-3, Leviticus 11:1-22) and killing an animal for its skin (Genesis 3:21). Exodus 12:21-23 and 12:46, and Mark 14:12, indicate clearly that the Passover, one of the most important ceremonies of the Jews, and the last ceremony Jesus performed with His disciples, involved eating meat. The Bible is very clear that humans and animals are not equals. Christ came in human form, principally to redeem humans, although the effects of redemption will be felt through all of creation. We have dominion over animals, not the reverse. That dominion implies responsible use, including research and killing for good cause. (Nothing in this paragraph rules out the practice of vegetarianism. Some Christians may decide, or God may reveal to them, that they shouldn't eat meat. But they cannot prove that Scripture demands that Christians don't eat meat.)

Does God’s care extend to plants? To non-living entities? (The Bible, like present-day people, is more concerned with some kinds of animals than others. There is little, if any, mention of mollusks in scripture, for instance.) The Bible mentions God’s care of plants (Psalm 104:16, Matthew 6:30). It also states that everything He created was initially good (Genesis 1:31) and that creation as a whole, not just humans, groans, waiting for restoration (Romans 8:22). It is true that the Bible does not dwell on plants nearly as much as on animals. The creation of plants gets only one phrase in the Genesis account, whereas the creation of animals gets several. There is no mention of God’s concern for plants during the flood, nor are certain kinds of plants declared unclean in the Mosaic dietary laws. All this means that the Hebrews, like ourselves, were more interested in animals than in plants. Perhaps it means that God is also more interested.
From the above, we conclude that God’s care extends beyond humans, certainly to animals. Scripture is less explicit about God’s care for plants, and even less so about His care for rocks, streams, and clouds. However, there seems no reason to expect God to condone wanton destruction of any kind. If God cares for non-human creations, and we are responsible for His creation, then it behooves us to care for non-human creations as well. Proverbs 12:10 says that good people care for their domestic animals, and bad people are cruel to theirs. Caring for animals is usually consistent with caring for plants, or for rocks, streams and clouds. II Chronicles 36:21 tells us that the 70 years that the Israelites were to spend in captivity was not an arbitrary figure. God chose that because his people did not care for the land as he instructed them to. Jeremiah 2:7 and Habakkuk 2:17 condemn the Israelites because they hadn’t taken care of their land.

New Testament teaching on care of the environment
Most of the usual teaching on what the Bible says about care of the environment is from the Old Testament. However, there are two passages from the New Testament that also argue that we should be caring carefully for the environment. They are indirect, but their urgency is important. 
Romans 1:20 tells us that observing and learning about nature are part of God’s revelation to humans. (So does Psalm 19:1-4). If that is so, isn’t that another reason to try to preserve nature as well as we can? The Bible is one of the ways that God reveals Himself to us. For a long time, Christians have believed that the Bible should be translated into the language people are most familiar with, so that that revelation may be as clear as possible. Similarly, it would seem that God's revelation through nature should be as clear as possible. A person is more likely to see God in a pristine stream than in a polluted river. Probably seeing bison herds roam freely in Western North America gave people a glimpse of one aspect of God’s power and majesty that they can’t really get now. Therefore, helping to preserve nature in as good a condition as we can is one way to bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ. Not the most direct way, and probably not the most effective, for many people, but it is still a way to do this. 
Colossians 1:15-20 says, of Christ, that “in Him all things hold together.” (ESV -- other versions have similar language.) That passage also says that He is working to reconcile all things to Himself, and working to make peace through the blood of the cross. As Christians, we believe that it is our duty to be His instruments in reconciling sinners to Christ, and to help Him in the ministry of making peace. In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, tell us that:  18 But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation. 
Doesn’t it follow that we should also participate in Christ’s work of sustaining “all things,” including endangered species and ecosystems or biological communities? (I realize that there are other places in the New Testament where reconciliation and peacemaking are mentioned, or implied, and this is probably the only one that mentions Christ's sustaining work. But that doesn't mean that His sustaining work can be dismissed, or that we have no responsibility to be His instruments in doing it.)

What must we do when our responsibilities seem to conflict?
One response is to ask, do they ever really conflict? We believe that our responsibilities do, in fact, appear to conflict, in these matters, and in others. As fallen, finite beings, we do not always interpret God’s directions correctly. We certainly do not know enough to always judge correctly. If we did possess the ability to decide correctly in all cases, perhaps God’s demands on us would never even seem to conflict. However, we can’t, and they do seem to conflict. Perhaps, this being a fallen world, they actually conflict.
The Bible does not present a formal hierarchy of principles to guide our behavior, in matters of environmental ethics, or in other matters. It does not tell us how to choose when, for instance, a decision we make will lead to either 5 minutes of misery for each of 2000 people, or 3 days of misery for a single individual. It does not tell us what to do when bringing a field under cultivation will help to feed hungry people, but also will kill native plants, deprive animals of homes, and use petroleum resources. As fallen beings in a fallen world, it is probably too much to expect that all our decisions will be correct.

Here are some attempts at principles which may be of help in making decisions about environmental matters:
This world is temporary. Temporal concerns of any kind should be carefully weighed against eternal values. The fossil record indicates that more species have become extinct than are now alive, and usually not because humans caused the extinction. This doesn’t excuse us from trying to save the organisms that live in our time, of course.

We should recognize that environmental concerns are sometimes overstated, not prioritized, or controversial. Some would have us believe that humans are choking to death and swimming in carcinogens. This is overstatement. The atmosphere may not be as clear as it ought to be, and we may indeed be exposed to cancer-causing substances, but people in North America are living longer than ever before. It seems certain that we can’t cure every ill, environmental or otherwise. Is it more important to try to stop global warming, to save the California condor, or to cut down on our consumption of fossil fuels? Is the cost, or risk, from pollution to landfills from disposable diapers more or less than the pollution to water from washing non-disposable ones? No one seems to know the answers. Solutions are not prioritized. We must be careful not to act precipitously just because someone has a concern.

Selfishness is wrong. Most North Americans seem to subconsciously believe that we are somehow entitled to more possessions than people in other parts of the world. Such a life style contributes to environmental degradation. It may also deprive people in other parts of the world, or future generations, of resources. It may mean that our church, and other charitable causes, do not have funds that we could well afford to give. We may not personally be able to change the way the world works very much. We can change it a little, and we should. We can avoid conspicuous consumption, we can avoid wanting things simply because they are newer than the things we already have. We can participate in recycling, even if it requires some effort on our part. We can think carefully about every purchase we make.
Isaiah 5:8-10 is a warning to the Hebrews. It tells them that God doesn’t condone selfishness in material things, including use of land. It predicts that the land will stop yielding enough, as God’s punishment for selfishness.

Knowledge is necessary. We are in God’s image. Part of the reflection of the omniscient God in us is the desire for knowledge. The Bible speaks approvingly of Solomon’s knowledge of the natural world (I Kings 4:32-33). We should learn to appreciate the world as God made it, and this requires knowledge of it. Knowledge is also necessary for wise alleviation of our own mistakes.

Unselfish love is a scriptural requirement. This unselfish love ought to color our relationships with others in every area, certainly including our environmental activities. It is not clear that we can, or ought, to have a relationship of unselfish love with non-human organisms, but it would seem consistent with God’s expectation of us that we act unselfishly toward non-human organisms.
We need guidance from God. All our important decisions need His help. Even with this guidance, we don’t always agree. God may well want some of us to be deeply involved in helping crisis pregnancies, but others to try to help clean up the environment. This doesn’t mean that both groups can’t assist in both efforts, but God may give our lives different emphases.

Having stated these principles, we realize anew that it is difficult to apply them to cases. In many cases, all we can say is “God help us.”

The Bible does not rule out the use of current technology, and the development of new technology
Since the development and use of technology has often been related to use of valuable resources, or contributed to greater “efficiency” in despoiling the landscape, we certainly need to be careful in developing and using technology, for our own sake, as well as that of the landscape. Is technology anti-God? The answer to that question seems to be “it depends.”
There are three biblical passages that indicate reasons why particular technological development may be wrong.
First, worshiping the results of our technology is clearly wrong, as well as just plain stupid (Isaiah 44:9-20).

Second, pride in our accomplishments is wrong (Daniel 4:30-32).

Third, supposing that there are no limits to human ability is wrong (Genesis 11:5-9).

On the other hand, there are biblical reasons for supposing that technological development is not always wrong, and, in fact, can sometimes glorify God. Noah’s ark, the tabernacle, and the temple, were technological constructs, and God gave instructions for the building of each of them. In fact, in the building of the temple, and other projects completed during the reign of Solomon, there was apparently extensive use of resources. Solomon sent 10,000 workers to Lebanon to cut down cedar trees each month (I Kings 5:14), in addition to the servants of King Hiram who helped them. They may have worked there for as long as seven (I Kings 6:38) or even twenty years (II Chronicles 8:1). All this was at least allowed by God, and some of it was directed by Him. Jeremiah 22:6 contains an amazing statement. This verse says that God finds the royal palace at Jerusalem as beautiful as the mountains of Lebanon. It would seem that technological development, by and of itself, is not wrong, although it may be done for wrong reasons, or with the wrong attitude.
Part of the image of God in humans is the desire to create things. The fact that we can create and use technology has certainly lead to some unfortunate consequences, such as deaths and injuries in highway accidents. However, it may also lead to some fortunate consequences, such as our being able to alleviate some of the consequences of our own mistakes of the past, or even some of the consequences of the fall.


+  +  +  +  +

April 23, 2011:

On an earlier date, links to all the scripture referenced in this post, using the English Standard Version, were added. (See here for the ESV policy on copyright.) The section on New Testament teaching on care of the environment was inserted on this date. It had been part of a previous post. That post is still on-line. I have not removed any of the comments from the previous version of this post.

Thanks for reading!

*Added October 15, 2014: More scripture on God's ownership, and our stewardship: Jeremiah 27:5 ‘I have made the earth, the men, and the animals that are on the surface of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm. I give it to whom it seems right to me. 6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant. I have also given the animals of the field to him to serve him. (World English Bible, public domain) 

Added April 20, 2017: E. Stephen Burnett has written a fine blog post on how care of the current earth relates to the New Earth.

Added December 27, 2019: Nancy Sleeth, in Relevant, demolishes some objections some Christians raise (such as "It's all going to be destroyed in the end, so why care for earth?")

This post originally appeared on April 22, 2006. I have re-posted it, after reading Sleeth's article. To see comments prior to December 2019, use the link in the previous sentence. Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 679

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: (and politics) Unfortunately, evangelical Christians are the least likely group to believe that the US should accept refugees, according to a poll reported in Sojourners.

Conversely, Relevant discusses reasons, including economic ones, why Christians (and others) should be more accepting of refugees.

Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength examines the nature of the Trinity.


Education: National Public Radio reports that some public school teachers, who thought they had received a grant to pay for their education, have discovered that it is being treated as a loan, that they have to pay back.

Health: Scientific American discusses the seriousness of losing a long-time pet.

Philosophy: Henry Kissinger (yes, that Henry Kissinger), writing in The Atlantic, tells us that we need to think carefully about the implications of artificial intelligence.

Politics: Michael Gerson on the intolerance of Donald Trump, and some other politicians.

NPR on how the Environmental Protection Agency's actions to give manufacturers more stability by rolling back regulations is actually causing unpredictability.

FiveThirtyEight on what might happen if Republicans keep control of both houses of Congress.

Several leading Christians are not at all happy with President Trump's statements about certain immigrants being "animals," according to Relevant.

Science: National Public Radio reports that some satellites measure changes in local gravity, and this can be used to study water flow, especially from melting ice.

FiveThirtyEight on the effects of e-cigarettes.


Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

What's wrong with the political left/with the political right in the US

Before getting into the problems of the left and right, here’s the biggest problem, for all of us:
█ We forget that the Good News of the Gospel is far more important than any current news that we can hear, see, or read about.

Who won the game, which celebrity or politician got caught doing what, who got shot, who got elected, what laws were passed, what natural and man-made disasters occurred, what acts of terrorism happened, are insignificant beside that Good News!

But there are other problems with the two most widely held political viewpoints in our country:

Problems with the Left
The Left:
█ seems to ignore Biblical teachings on sex and marriage;

█ tends to treat any lack of acceptance of homosexual activity, or of people who practice such, as hatred (See here for more on homosexuality); 

█ seems to believe that no one who is receiving “welfare” is in that position because they have made bad choices; 

█ tends to want to weaken property rights;

█ believes government action is the solution for almost any problem, although government is often inefficient, costs lots of money, and may not respond as it is supposed to.

The Left also: 

█ Often acts as if it believes that businesses and manufacturers are intrinsically evil;
 
█ Often acts as if it believes that labor unions are right, and have always been right;
 
█ often dismisses concerns about jobs and living space, in order to protect endangered species that are probably doomed to extinction, no matter what we might do;

█ favors government-run healthcare, even though there are problems with it, in other countries;

█ usually believes that it is wrong to interfere with a woman’s right (under Roe v. Wade) to have an abortion, and that abortions should be publicly funded, even though abortion may be murder, and some abortions are for frivolous reasons – the fetus is the wrong sex, or the woman wants to go on a ski vacation. (For more on abortion, see here.);

█ tends to be suspicious of police and other law enforcement bodies;

█ sometimes acts as if Christianity wasn't a special religion, the only one offering an effective cure for sin, and a relationship with the King of the Universe.

█ sometimes seems to ignore the rights of Christians, and favor other groups. 

Problems with the Right
The Right:
█ often ignores the problems of the less privileged, and wants to cut or eliminate government help for them (See Psalm 72 and Jeremiah 22 for evidence that government has an obligation to help the poor. A post here gives statistics on how much Christians are giving to the poor, and argues that being for government help makes sense, since the church is doing so little.) Often acts as if being less privileged is the fault of the poor, even though many poor people are children, or disabled;

█ often acts as if all resident non-citizens are here illegally, and are a grave economic, or social, threat to our way of life, or are out to murder us, seemingly forgetting that most of us are the offspring of immigrants, that many illegal immigrants are doing work that citizens won’t do, and that many of them live lives that are consistent with “family values.” (Note Leviticus 19:33 “‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.... Here’s the result of a search for “stranger” in the ESV Bible. Some of those verses also seem to be relevant.);

█ forgets that Jesus didn’t say “stand your ground!,” (with a gun) but did say “turn the other cheek.” (See here for more scripture, in a post by John Piper, who responded to a speech by the President of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell, jr., who had advocated the threat of use of privately held guns by Christians.);

█ believes that armed might is the solution for many problems, of all sorts, even though wars always kill or ruin the lives of innocent people, destroy property, harm the environment, and separate the families of those in the military (Some wars may have been, or be, just – and, therefore worth the cost. The Second World War, and perhaps other recent conflicts seem to have qualified. For more on just war theory, see here.);

█ tends to believe that the police should not be questioned, even when it is likely that they have acted illegally, or that they have violated police procedures;



█ may confuse not getting special treatment with persecution -- as in the so-called "War on Christmas." When some person, or some store, uses "Happy Holidays," rather than "Merry Christmas," that's not persecution;

█ may want to advance Christian beliefs by force of legal action, rather than by gentle persuasion and example. Example -- wanting official Christian prayer in public schools, when there may be non-Christians affected, when doing so might open the door for Muslims, Wiccans, and others to demand that their prayers be offered, and when some of the teachers who would be expected to lead prayer might not be Christians. (Currently, according to US law, student groups can pray, adults can teach Christian doctrine to students whose guardians want them to receive such teaching, in the schools, and individuals can pray privately, or bring a Bible to school, at any time.)
 
The Right also:
█ claims to get its ideas from scripture, when some of them come from Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, etc., and some of those ideas ignore, or contradict, the Bible;

█ acts as if it believes that labor unions are, and always have been, detrimental to the public good;

█ doesn't seem to understand that there are millions of people who work every day, but don't earn enough money from their jobs to pay for housing, clothes, food, transportation and healthcare for themselves, let alone for their families;

█ often dismisses the plight of millions of people, including many who work, who have no health insurance, and claims that our health “system” is the best in the world, in spite of the evidence;

█ believes that free enterprise can solve all problems, in spite of the evidence (the BP Gulf Oil spill, the economic collapse of 2008, the widening gap between the well off and those who are not, etc.);

█ often does not protect the environment, when we have a Biblical duty to do so;

█ tends to treat homosexual tendency as if it were homosexual activity (which, according to the Bible, is sinful) and to view homosexual sin as especially evil – more so than adultery (which is condemned in the Ten Commandments, while homosexual behavior is not), and to deny the possibility that homosexual tendency is influenced by heredity and home environment;

█ dismisses accepted scientific claims, including global climate change, (see also here), and that the earth is very old;


█ wants to cut taxes, preferably to zero, and wants to eliminate government drastically, or entirely, in spite of Biblical support for taxes, and for governments; (For a cautionary tale on the dangers of cutting taxes too much, see here.)

█ sometimes acts as if Muslims not only have a different faith than Christians, but as if all Muslims are terrorists who want to destroy those who don't agree with them. (Michael Gerson discusses such claims, and defends Presidents Obama and G. W. Bush, although he thinks President Obama's response to terrorism has not been serious enough. An article in Christianity Today is similar.)

Problems of both the Left and the Right:
█ using the Bible to find excuses for their beliefs, rather than following Biblical principles because they are right;

█ confusing their political and cultural beliefs with Christianity;

█ not seeking guidance, on issues that are controversial, from the Bible; (An article on immigration says that only about 10% of evangelical Christians say that the Bible has been the main influence on their position on immigration, for example.)

█ refusing to consider that their position might be wrong, or to believe that another side may have some valid reasons for disagreeing (This is often because they pay attention to only one “side” in getting their news and opinions about the world. See here for the effect of this on Congress.);

█ forgetting that those in power, even those you fully supported during an election, are going to make mistakes, or perhaps even deliberately do wrong things. (They, like the rest of us, are sinful, fallible, humans.);

█ not praying for those in power, especially if they don’t agree with their positions. (The Bible says that we should, and this was written when pagan emperors, and Roman invaders, were in power.);

█ distorting the truth, or just plain ignoring it, or passing on distorted truth, lies, or slander about politicians and political positions not agreed with. (For instance, most political ads, if you can stand them, and a great deal that is passed on through Facebook.);

█ not respecting leaders, and those seeking high office, even mocking and ridiculing those in authority:
Exodus 22:28 You shall not blaspheme God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
Ecclesiastes 10:20a Don’t curse the king, no, not in your thoughts
Romans 13:1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. 2a Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God
2 Peter 2:13 Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; 14a or to governors 17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. (Quotations from the World English Bible, public domain. In Peter’s time, the king, or emperor, was a pagan, who probably encouraged worship of himself by his subjects. But Peter said that he was still to be honored.)
 
President Obama has been the butt of all sorts of disrespectful mockery and ridicule on the Internet, on Facebook and elsewhere. President Bush was, when he was President, and, to some extent, he still is.
Does the Bible say that we have to agree with our elected leaders on all points? No. See here, and here. But disagreement should be honest, and respectful.

Most of us, whether strongly left- or right-oriented, or somewhere in the middle, agree on at least a few goals, such as:

█ Our troops should be cared for promptly and effectively, when they return;

█ Something must be done to make the Social Security program more financially stable, or to replace it;

█ The tax code should be simplified.

But our elected leaders, Congress and Presidents, don’t seem to be willing to really talk about these issues with each other, and with us, or to make serious proposals, constructively criticize, compromise, and fix these problems. (There are, of course, many other issues – make your own list – where disagreement between Left and Right means that it is difficult to even decide on worthwhile goals. That’s another problem.);

█ Most elected officials seem to be more concerned with getting re-elected than they are with acting on principle;
 
Reminder: the biggest problem of all, for all of us:

█ We forget that the Good News of the Gospel is far more important than any current news that we can hear, see, or read about.


Thanks for reading! Pray for our leaders:
1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men: 2 for kings and all who are in high places; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence.

Cal Thomas, a Bible-believing Christian, and politically right-oriented columnist, warns against supposing that a Bible-believing politician will do much to change public morals. He cites scripture (Psalm 146:3 Don’t put your trust in princes, each a son of man in whom there is no help.) to back this up. He also proposes a Christian platform, namely James 1:27 (Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world), but doubts that anyone would run on it, or win if they did.

Thanks for reading! This is a post revised from the original, which appeared in January 2015. Slightly revised on August 25, 2015, December 7, 2015, December 24, 2015, and February 8, 2016.

December 30, 2015: Ken Schenck, Bible scholar, has posted on how the different portrayals of Jesus in the Gospels seem to support various political agendas. 

In this post, I have tried to quote all of the Bible passages that relate to politics in general.

December 12, 2017: Mark Galli, editor of Christianity Today, has written an essay, which criticizes both the left and the right, and says that Christianity is going to get a black eye, no matter what happens. This essay was prompted by the election to fill the Senate seat of Jeff Sessions, in Alabama. It was written, and published, before the result of the election was known.

The Bible and protecting the environment

This blog didn't have any Earth Day post this year. Sorry. The above graphic is an attempt to make up for that failure. But, just as Christ is risen every day of the year, the earth should be cared for every day of the year.

For an essay on what the Bible says about caring for the environment, and it says a lot, see here.

Thanks for looking!

My essay published

An essay, "New Testament Motivation for Environmental Stewardship," by me, has been published in God and Nature, an on-line publication of the American Scientific Affiliation.

Thanks for reading! Here is my most important post on caring for the environment.

Environmental Stewardship in the Bible: What the Bible says about care of the environment

We have God-given responsibilities to non-human organisms
Genesis 1:26-28 seems to indicate clearly that humans were placed in charge of the non-human world. Psalm 8:6 reiterates that idea. Psalm 24:1 indicates that even though we are, in some sense, in charge, the world, and the things in it, are God’s. So does Psalm 50:10,11.* The story of Noah seems to indicate that, at one point, humans were directly responsible for the lives of many kinds of animals. Genesis 7:2-5, 14-16, Proverbs 12:10 and Proverbs 27:23 all have to do with caring for animals.

God seems to care not just for animals in general, but for kinds of animals. Psalms 104:24-25 praises God for the diversity of His creation, and His creatures. Since this explicitly includes the wide variety of ocean animals, it doesn’t seem possible that this praise is meant to be only because of their usefulness to humans. Genesis 7:3, 14-16 indicate God’s concern that the different kinds of animals would be preserved. Genesis 8:1 says that God had not forgotten Noah or the animals. Noah and his family were God’s agents in this care, of course, but they were God-directed agents. It would seem reasonable to argue that in our day, we also have responsibilities to the kinds of animals that exist in our time.

Does God care for individual non-human organisms? Perhaps. The question seems to be addressed in Matthew 10:29, which says that even individual sparrows do not fall without God’s knowledge. (Two verses later, Christ stated that the twelve were of more value than many sparrows. However, He didn’t say that sparrows were valueless.)

Does God’s care, and the care that humans are supposed to have, mean that we must refrain from killing animals deliberately? Apparently not. Jesus certainly condoned fishing (John 21:6, Matthew 17:27, Luke 5:4). He ate (Luke 24:36-43), and probably fished (John 21:9) even after His resurrection. Peter's vision, after the resurrection, and after Pentecost, used eating meat as a sign that God does not show favoritism (Acts 11:1-18). Paul referred disparagingly to people who forbid eating meat (I Timothy 4:1-3). There are no explicit commands forbidding the consumption of all meat in the Bible. This is not to say that the Bible condones killing of animals wantonly. That would be contradictory to benign dominion. Nor does the Bible condone consumption of animal flesh (or any other kind of food) selfishly, or to excess. But we are allowed to kill non-human organisms for cause, at least. Such causes include killing an animal because it threatens a human (Exodus 21:29), killing for meat (Genesis 9:2-3, Leviticus 11:1-22) and killing an animal for its skin (Genesis 3:21). Exodus 12:21-23 and 12:46, and Mark 14:12, indicate clearly that the Passover, one of the most important ceremonies of the Jews, and the last ceremony Jesus performed with His disciples, involved eating meat. The Bible is very clear that humans and animals are not equals. Christ came in human form, principally to redeem humans, although the effects of redemption will be felt through all of creation. We have dominion over animals, not the reverse. That dominion implies responsible use, including research and killing for good cause. (Nothing in this paragraph rules out the practice of vegetarianism. Some Christians may decide, or God may reveal to them, that they shouldn't eat meat. But they cannot prove that Scripture demands that Christians don't eat meat.)

Does God’s care extend to plants? To non-living entities? (The Bible, like present-day people, is more concerned with some kinds of animals than others. There is little, if any, mention of mollusks in scripture, for instance.) The Bible mentions God’s care of plants (Psalm 104:16, Matthew 6:30). It also states that everything He created was initially good (Genesis 1:31) and that creation as a whole, not just humans, groans, waiting for restoration (Romans 8:22). It is true that the Bible does not dwell on plants nearly as much as on animals. The creation of plants gets only one phrase in the Genesis account, whereas the creation of animals gets several. There is no mention of God’s concern for plants during the flood, nor are certain kinds of plants declared unclean in the Mosaic dietary laws. All this means that the Hebrews, like ourselves, were more interested in animals than in plants. Perhaps it means that God is also more interested.
From the above, we conclude that God’s care extends beyond humans, certainly to animals. Scripture is less explicit about God’s care for plants, and even less so about His care for rocks, streams, and clouds. However, there seems no reason to expect God to condone wanton destruction of any kind. If God cares for non-human creations, and we are responsible for His creation, then it behooves us to care for non-human creations as well. Proverbs 12:10 says that good people care for their domestic animals, and bad people are cruel to theirs. Caring for animals is usually consistent with caring for plants, or for rocks, streams and clouds. II Chronicles 36:21 tells us that the 70 years that the Israelites were to spend in captivity was not an arbitrary figure. God chose that because his people did not care for the land as he instructed them to. Jeremiah 2:7 and Habakkuk 2:17 condemn the Israelites because they hadn’t taken care of their land.

New Testament teaching on care of the environment
Most of the usual teaching on what the Bible says about care of the environment is from the Old Testament. However, there are two passages from the New Testament that also argue that we should be caring carefully for the environment. They are indirect, but their urgency is important.
Romans 1:20 tells us that observing and learning about nature are part of God’s revelation to humans. (So does Psalm 19:1-4). If that is so, isn’t that another reason to try to preserve nature as well as we can? The Bible is one of the ways that God reveals Himself to us. For a long time, Christians have believed that the Bible should be translated into the language people are most familiar with, so that that revelation may be as clear as possible. Similarly, it would seem that God's revelation through nature should be as clear as possible. A person is more likely to see God in a pristine stream than in a polluted river. Probably seeing bison herds roam freely in Western North America gave people a glimpse of one aspect of God’s power and majesty that they can’t really get now. Therefore, helping to preserve nature in as good a condition as we can is one way to bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ. Not the most direct way, and probably not the most effective, for many people, but it is still a way to do this.
Colossians 1:15-20 says, of Christ, that “in Him all things hold together.” (ESV -- other versions have similar language.) That passage also says that He is working to reconcile all things to Himself, and working to make peace through the blood of the cross. As Christians, we believe that it is our duty to be His instruments in reconciling sinners to Christ, and to help Him in the ministry of making peace. In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, tell us that:  18 But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Doesn’t it follow that we should also participate in Christ’s work of sustaining “all things,” including endangered species and ecosystems or biological communities? (I realize that there are other places in the New Testament where reconciliation and peacemaking are mentioned, or implied, and this is probably the only one that mentions Christ's sustaining work. But that doesn't mean that His sustaining work can be dismissed, or that we have no responsibility to be His instruments in doing it.)

What must we do when our responsibilities seem to conflict?
One response is to ask, do they ever really conflict? We believe that our responsibilities do, in fact, appear to conflict, in these matters, and in others. As fallen, finite beings, we do not always interpret God’s directions correctly. We certainly do not know enough to always judge correctly. If we did possess the ability to decide correctly in all cases, perhaps God’s demands on us would never even seem to conflict. However, we can’t, and they do seem to conflict. Perhaps, this being a fallen world, they actually conflict.
The Bible does not present a formal hierarchy of principles to guide our behavior, in matters of environmental ethics, or in other matters. It does not tell us how to choose when, for instance, a decision we make will lead to either 5 minutes of misery for each of 2000 people, or 3 days of misery for a single individual. It does not tell us what to do when bringing a field under cultivation will help to feed hungry people, but also will kill native plants, deprive animals of homes, and use petroleum resources. As fallen beings in a fallen world, it is probably too much to expect that all our decisions will be correct.

Here are some attempts at principles which may be of help in making decisions about environmental matters:
This world is temporary. Temporal concerns of any kind should be carefully weighed against eternal values. The fossil record indicates that more species have become extinct than are now alive, and usually not because humans caused the extinction. This doesn’t excuse us from trying to save the organisms that live in our time, of course.

We should recognize that environmental concerns are sometimes overstated, not prioritized, or controversial. Some would have us believe that humans are choking to death and swimming in carcinogens. This is overstatement. The atmosphere may not be as clear as it ought to be, and we may indeed be exposed to cancer-causing substances, but people in North America are living longer than ever before. It seems certain that we can’t cure every ill, environmental or otherwise. Is it more important to try to stop global warming, to save the California condor, or to cut down on our consumption of fossil fuels? Is the cost, or risk, from pollution to landfills from disposable diapers more or less than the pollution to water from washing non-disposable ones? No one seems to know the answers. Solutions are not prioritized. We must be careful not to act precipitously just because someone has a concern.

Selfishness is wrong. Most North Americans seem to subconsciously believe that we are somehow entitled to more possessions than people in other parts of the world. Such a life style contributes to environmental degradation. It may also deprive people in other parts of the world, or future generations, of resources. It may mean that our church, and other charitable causes, do not have funds that we could well afford to give. We may not personally be able to change the way the world works very much. We can change it a little, and we should. We can avoid conspicuous consumption, we can avoid wanting things simply because they are newer than the things we already have. We can participate in recycling, even if it requires some effort on our part. We can think carefully about every purchase we make.
Isaiah 5:8-10 is a warning to the Hebrews. It tells them that God doesn’t condone selfishness in material things, including use of land. It predicts that the land will stop yielding enough, as God’s punishment for selfishness.

Knowledge is necessary. We are in God’s image. Part of the reflection of the omniscient God in us is the desire for knowledge. The Bible speaks approvingly of Solomon’s knowledge of the natural world (I Kings 4:32-33). We should learn to appreciate the world as God made it, and this requires knowledge of it. Knowledge is also necessary for wise alleviation of our own mistakes.

Unselfish love is a scriptural requirement. This unselfish love ought to color our relationships with others in every area, certainly including our environmental activities. It is not clear that we can, or ought, to have a relationship of unselfish love with non-human organisms, but it would seem consistent with God’s expectation of us that we act unselfishly toward non-human organisms.
We need guidance from God. All our important decisions need His help. Even with this guidance, we don’t always agree. God may well want some of us to be deeply involved in helping crisis pregnancies, but others to try to help clean up the environment. This doesn’t mean that both groups can’t assist in both efforts, but God may give our lives different emphases.

Having stated these principles, we realize anew that it is difficult to apply them to cases. In many cases, all we can say is “God help us.”

The Bible does not rule out the use of current technology, and the development of new technology
Since the development and use of technology has often been related to use of valuable resources, or contributed to greater “efficiency” in despoiling the landscape, we certainly need to be careful in developing and using technology, for our own sake, as well as that of the landscape. Is technology anti-God? The answer to that question seems to be “it depends.”
There are three biblical passages that indicate reasons why particular technological development may be wrong.
First, worshiping the results of our technology is clearly wrong, as well as just plain stupid (Isaiah 44:9-20).

Second, pride in our accomplishments is wrong (Daniel 4:30-32).

Third, supposing that there are no limits to human ability is wrong (Genesis 11:5-9).

On the other hand, there are biblical reasons for supposing that technological development is not always wrong, and, in fact, can sometimes glorify God. Noah’s ark, the tabernacle, and the temple, were technological constructs, and God gave instructions for the building of each of them. In fact, in the building of the temple, and other projects completed during the reign of Solomon, there was apparently extensive use of resources. Solomon sent 10,000 workers to Lebanon to cut down cedar trees each month (I Kings 5:14), in addition to the servants of King Hiram who helped them. They may have worked there for as long as seven (I Kings 6:38) or even twenty years (II Chronicles 8:1). All this was at least allowed by God, and some of it was directed by Him. Jeremiah 22:6 contains an amazing statement. This verse says that God finds the royal palace at Jerusalem as beautiful as the mountains of Lebanon. It would seem that technological development, by and of itself, is not wrong, although it may be done for wrong reasons, or with the wrong attitude.
Part of the image of God in humans is the desire to create things. The fact that we can create and use technology has certainly lead to some unfortunate consequences, such as deaths and injuries in highway accidents. However, it may also lead to some fortunate consequences, such as our being able to alleviate some of the consequences of our own mistakes of the past, or even some of the consequences of the fall.


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April 23, 2011:

On an earlier date, links to all the scripture referenced in this post, using the English Standard Version, were added. (See here for the ESV policy on copyright.) The section on New Testament teaching on care of the environment was inserted on this date. It had been part of a previous post. That post is still on-line. I have not removed any of the comments from the previous version of this post.

Thanks for reading!

*Added October 15, 2014: More scripture on God's ownership, and our stewardship: Jeremiah 27:5 ‘I have made the earth, the men, and the animals that are on the surface of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm. I give it to whom it seems right to me. 6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant. I have also given the animals of the field to him to serve him. (World English Bible, public domain) 

Added April 20, 2017: E. Stephen Burnett has written a fine blog post on how care of the current earth relates to the New Earth.