It's hard to read the newspaper or other sources of news without hearing about the issue of climate change and care of the environment. Some people believe this is one of the most important issues, if not the most important one. Conversely, some people say this isn't a particularly important issue. Moreover, at least some people question whether the issue of climate change is real or not.
What should Christians think about the issue? Is there any guidance in the Bible about it? I believe the answer is "yes", that humans are commanded to care for the environment. Assuming so, how can we humans best care for the environment? The answer to that question, I believe, depends at least to some extent on science and technology. As "The Unexpected Perspective" is focused on the intersection of Christianity, Science and Technology, I believe this is a relevant topic.
To begin a discussion on this, let's turn to what the Bible has to say. Here is a link to seven Bible verses, both from the Old and New Testaments, on the subject. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2015/06/23/top-7-bible-verses-about-taking-care-of-the-earth/. These verses definitely suggest that Christians need to be concerned about the environment.
Given what appears to be a Biblical imperative, what then should Christians be doing? Attention to the environment has been steadily growing since the very first Earth Day in April, 1970, and steps have been taken, both by all levels of government and through private initiative, to clean the water and air. The results are impressive! The water is generally much cleaner than it used to be, the air is certainly less obviously polluted, and far greater attention is being paid to care for the environment.
And it shows. I remember while in high school reading reports about literal fires on Lake Erie near Cleveland. There certainly weren't any fish living in the water. Today, the situation has completely changed! And at the same time, there appears to be greater concern today about a potential environmental catastrophe, than ever before. It appears the vast majority of scientists believe that excessive "greenhouse gases" such as carbon dioxide are creating conditions for irreversible climate change.
Why am I bringing up this topic? The reason is because it is very much at the intersection of Christianity and science. As noted above, the Bible exhorts Christians to be good stewards of the environment. Assuming Christians can agree on that, the question becomes, what things should we be doing to be good, or better, stewards? Because the issue of climate change is very much rooted in science, I believe its very relevant for "The Unexpected Perspective."
So what should Christians think about climate science and climate change? It appears we need to be concerned about the environment but, as I argue in my book, the Bible is clearly not a science text book and should not be used to address matters of science. John Calvin told his followers that if they wanted to learn something about astronomy, they should not rely on the Bible to inform them. I'd make the same argument about climate science: to understand that subject, we should listen to climate scientists, just as I argue that when it comes to understanding the emergence of humankind, we should study astronomy, biology, paleontology and related subjects, not what the Bible says on the subject.
I say this with certain qualifications. In the case of the study of evolution and human origins, I think we should study what the scientists study, but that doesn't mean we should necessarily draw the exact same conclusions. As an example, I agree pretty much with everything Richard Dawkins says about the science of humankind's emergence from lower life forms, but I certainly don't agree with him that it happened outside of the control of God. We can agree upon the same set of scientific observations, but still interpret things in different ways, and also draw different conclusions.
How does that apply to the question of climate change? Just as many Christians reject scientific data that seem to point to macroevolution, so do some people (Christians and non-Christians both) reject data that points towards climate change. In the case of evolution by natural selection and climate change, the following seems to be happening:
- The majority of scientists believe in both (i.e., macroevolution and climate change) while a group of conservative Christians appear to be highly skeptical of both
- In both cases, the skeptics point towards specific limitations in the data as evidence that the theories are wrong
- In both cases, the skeptics have failed to develop an overall scientific theory that could explain the data. In the case of evolution, Intelligent Design is a series of objections to Darwin, but not a fleshed out theory; and in the case of climate change, skeptics dismiss the evidence as "natural, normal variation."
So what am I suggesting? First, I believe it's important for Christians to take the issue of climate change seriously. The data and analysis should both be taken seriously. Perhaps the starting point is to go back and re-read those Biblical passages that exhort us to care for the environment, then realize that just as throwing toxic chemicals in our water supply is highly damaging, so is dumping high levels of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
To be clear, many Christians are very concerned about this topic. In fact a group called the Evangelical Climate Initiative has emerged (see http://www.christiansandclimate.org).
Just as Christians who believe that macroevolution is correct don't need to reach the same conclusions that Richard Dawkins does, so can Christians accept the reality of climate change without necessarily agreeing with some of the proposed solutions. This is where I believe the real problem is: embracing some of the proposed "solutions". One of the reasons some people object to this entire subject is because they believe it is simply another excuse for governments to intrude upon their lives with burdensome controls.
Many believe the only way to prevent irreparable, irreversible climate change is to adopt some pretty extreme measures. But are these proposed solutions the only ones? While I don't question the reality of climate change, I question the wisdom of some of the proposed solutions.
I definitely believe that we need to be good stewards of the Earth that God has given us. That stewardship includes taking care to control the level of greenhouse gases we emit into the atmosphere. As for how to solve the problem, I think Christians need to do two things. First, we should encourage our leaders to confront the problem, not spending our time saying that it is imaginary, or some type of "hoax". I'm afraid all that is doing is to reinforce old stereotypes that Christians are anti-science and that Christians are stupid.
Second, the other thing we should do is to be skeptical of some of the proposed solutions. Previous Malthusian "doomsday" scenarios failed to materialize because technology improved. In this case, I think we should encourage our leaders to pursue ways to improve technology, as well as identify ways to reduce the impact of greenhouse gases through better technology. Instead of spending our time questioning the science, let's question whether we've pushed hard enough to develop the best possible solutions to avoid or overcome the effects of greenhouse gases. I believe that would be far more productive.
