Saving the Environment via the Bible

BethG
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Saving the Environment via the Bible

www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/4859/

 

Saving the environment via the Bible
Forums probe faith, science

Do we have a moral obligation to protect the Earth?

A growing number of religious leaders think so, and they’re incorporating that idea into their faith...

The panel includes Holmes Rolston III, a Colorado State University professor who is often referred to as the "father" of environmental ethics. A Presbyterian minister before he entered academia, Rolston has written several of the key texts in his field and co-founded the journal Environmental Ethics. He won the Templeton Prize in Science and Religion in 2003...

Other panelists at Monday’s forum include Bryan Norton, a philosophy professor at Georgia Institute of Technology who specializes in environmental policy; and the Rev. Bill Coates, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Gainesville.



Coates said he’s excited to be serving on a panel with people whose work has been so influential...

Five local churches are acting as co-sponsors, along with Brenau University, Center Point and Gainesville State College.



Timpone said she noticed during her trip out West last year that churches in that region seemed quite comfortable with melding environmentalism and religion. But the South has been slower to embrace the idea.



"I have heard of ministers in Georgia who preach that you can’t be both a Christian and an environmentalist," Timpone said.



Coates said many Southern churches are conservative or fundamentalist, and their members are taught not to worry about problems here on Earth because true believers will go to heaven.



"‘The whole world is going to end anyway, so it doesn’t really matter,’" said Coates, summing up that view. "That kind of absolves us of responsibility.

"

Coates said he feels such an attitude is "anthropocentric" (human-based) and "selfish.

"

"I would say we need to look at it from a theocentric (God-based) perspective," he said. "This is God’s world, and let’s take good care of it because it doesn’t really belong to us.

"

Coates said it’s time to re-evaluate a passage in the Book of Genesis which says that man shall have dominion over the Earth.



In the past, that biblical verse was sometimes used to justify destructive environmental practices. But Coates said "dominion" means more than conquering and subduing.



"It requires also responsibility and respect," he said.



Rolston said the Bible doesn’t explicitly say that humans should preserve the environment, but that’s only because it wasn’t an issue back when the Scripture was written.



"The Bible does have quite a number of passages that address our responsibility to the environment," he said. "Noah’s story (in which he saves a breeding pair of every species) shows God’s interest in preserving nature.

"

Rolston said if there had been widespread environmental problems several thousand years ago, the Bible might have spelled out our responsibility in the Ten Commandments.



"Maybe we need an 11th commandment, such as ‘thou shalt recycle’ or ‘thou shalt not pollute,’" he said.



However, Rolston believes that one of the existing commandments could be applied to today’s frenzied consumerism.



"‘Thou shalt not covet’ does sort of address wanting more than you need," he said.



And the commandment against killing humans could come into play, Rolston said, if we pollute the planet so badly that it becomes uninhabitable.



"We need air. We need soil. We need water. It’s all part of our life support system," he said.



And yet there are other reasons to take care of the Earth, beyond what’s needed to sustain human life.



Rolston said the things in nature that benefit humans are known as "instrumental" values. But we shouldn’t forget the intrinsic values of plants and animals, "independent of their usefulness to humans," he said.



Rolston said he’s happy to see that environmental awareness has become much more mainstream over the past couple of years.



"I think environmental ethics is front and center in our culture now," he said. "You can see that we have put the landscape, and thus human welfare, in jeopardy. It’s kind of a wake-up call.

"

But among some churches, there is still a distrust of science that can pose a barrier to education. Just as religion and science have sometimes clashed over evolution, the same debate is occurring over global warming.



Coates said having a strong faith in God doesn’t mean you have to reject science.



"Let’s take faith and reason and put them together, and we come out with a much more balanced view," he said. "We can’t be sure that (global warming) is not caused by humans. The best thing is to act responsibly, regardless.

"


Loc
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Leda wrote:"The Bible does

Leda wrote:





"The Bible does have quite a number of passages that address our responsibility to the environment," he said. "Noah’s story (in which he saves a breeding pair of every species) shows God’s interest in preserving nature.

"


Seriously? A story where millions of people,animals,and plants are destroyed is an example of preserving nature? Can you imagine the damage if the world was completely covered by water.This seems like circualr logic- god saved two of every animal! Never mind he killed the other several billion for no good reason.

That said, I guess it's good christians seem to be realising maybe the earth will be around longer than they think and our descendants aren't going to want a dump. When I was xtian I couldn't give a damn about recycling etc. The earth was going to be destroyed after the second coming anyway.I'm a lot more enviromentally concious these days.

Was it just me or did the people in that article seem really condecending? Like, " As christians we pretty much own the world and even though the bible doesn't tell us to we'll try make it abit nicer for you sinners. Enjoy it when we get raptured.''

Psalm 14:1 "the fool hath said in his heart there is a God"-From a 1763 misprinted edition of the bible

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This is getting redudnant. My patience with the unteachable[atheists] is limited.

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Monotheism:  Constantly

Monotheism:  Constantly changing, morphing, adapting to maintain its chokehold in a world that becomes increasingly more explainable through science.

An awful lot like a virus.

You don't want to allow the cultural memes (environmental movement) to leave your religious ideology appearing as if it is archaic or no longer relevant.  In the same way, scientific revelations must be addressed to appear as if they coexist with the xtian ideology or if this cannot be done, then attack these revelations as unsubstantiated or untrue (hello creationism, ID).

Must always adapt to maintain its relevance and increase the # of adherents or run the risk of whithering away.

** Puts on favorite xtian rap CD **

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BethG
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Some of the comments in that

Some of the comments in that article could fall in the "stupid things that theists say" category.

 

While I think this is a positive thing, Christians seem to be very good at re-interpreting scripture to fit their own agenda.


Hambydammit
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[Theist hat ON]Well, the

[Theist hat ON]

Well, the Bible has always been about environmentalism  (cough... cough... We've never been at war with Eurasia...) but the beauty of it is that it reveals its truths when they are needed.  This is proof of God's wisdom, that he has made the Bible adaptable to the times, and that God is actually constant.  People have changed, not God.  In his infinite wisdom, he knew when the Bible was written that this would be an issue, and only gave people the wisdom to see that he had instructed us as to what to do when it was time for us to need it.

[Theist hat OFF]

Man... I would make a good theist.

 

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thingy
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Hambydammit wrote:[Theist

Hambydammit wrote:
[Theist hat ON]

Well, the Bible has always been about environmentalism  (cough... cough... We've never been at war with Eurasia...) but the beauty of it is that it reveals its truths when they are needed.  This is proof of God's wisdom, that he has made the Bible adaptable to the times, and that God is actually constant.  People have changed, not God.  In his infinite wisdom, he knew when the Bible was written that this would be an issue, and only gave people the wisdom to see that he had instructed us as to what to do when it was time for us to need it.

[Theist hat OFF]

It's also why the bible wasn't written down for the first 4000 years, just imagine all the paper that would have been wasted and all the trees cut down if it was.  People look at the measurements for noah's ark and claim it's no where near big enough.  He was just being efficient!

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From my experience theists

From my experience theists have always had very little interest in saving the enviornment and it hasn't gotten any better recently that I've noticed.

They either think the whole purpose of our natural resources' existence is so we can rape, pillage and plunder: "God made them there trees for us to chop down!"

Or, they think the Book of Revelations is coming true, the end is near, so what's the point of preserving anything for a future that doesn't exist?

 

"The Bible looks like it started out as a game of Mad Libs" - Bill Maher


ronin-dog
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I don't really give a crap

I don't really give a crap if the zealots need to reinterpret their bible before they do anything new (ever think about doing something just coz it's the right thing to do without consulting that large piece of pulpfiction). What worries me is the churches once again telling people what to think and telling them NOT to care about the environment. Makes me sick.

If they really want to help the environment they should stop printing bibles and propoganda.

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Jesus said, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division." - Luke 12:51