Global Warming and the Risen Lord


Book Description

Global Warming and the Risen LORD moves beyond the old debates about climate change to a new conversation focusing on the tremendous opportunities there are and the biblical and spiritual resources we have been given to meet this threat. Filled with inspirational stories and sobering scientific research, Rev. Ball shows us that global warming is one of the major challenges of our time, but one that can be overcome by following the Risen LORD.




Global Warming: A Christian Approach


Book Description

It is not an incongruous analogy with human disease to trace the historical root of the problem of global warming. Global warming outwardly appears as an environmental problem of the planet Earth. However, we cannot understand and take an appropriate approach to the problem without any reference to the origin and nature of our planet. The contextual work of the whole picture and underlying problem is the planet Earth. Some deny the reality of global warming and man’s contribution to it. Some see global warming and natural disasters as natural cycle consistent with the nature of our physical world. These are questions we should ask: Is global warming natural and an essential part of planet Earth? Is it a symptom of a serious, invisible condition of the earth? We seek an answer from two representative accounts of the origin of things, the big bang theory and creationism as described in the Bible. Many scientists claim that the rise in atmospheric temperature leading to global warming is due to the effect of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases. The gases are emitted into the atmosphere through the heavy use or burning of fossil fuels and through the deforestation. The United Nations (UN) believes that global warming is responsible for the melting glaciers and the natural disasters of floods, droughts, heat storms, and the list goes on. While the UN aims to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is concerned with ethical issues arising from the effects of natural disasters, particularly on poor nations. Unfortunately, the two organizations are so focused on their respective areas of interest that they cannot see the forest for the trees. The UN is convinced that human activities are to blame for climate change. This august body is leading the war against global warming and advocating a long-term solution through the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, the production of clean technology, and tough energy-efficiency standards for all nations. However, it is not the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that pose the greatest danger for our planet. The role of man, the heavy use and burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, and the motivation behind these man-made activities should be taken into consideration. This book affirms with human activity and its motivation that the problem of global warming is both moral and environmental. Therefore, the fight against global warming requires a two-front approach that recognizes its environmental and moral factors. The big bang theory is one of the theories about the origin of our universe. It is considered a contrast to the biblical account of creation. Our overview of the two different accounts of the origin of things is intended to provide a broader and objective consideration of the planet Earth in regard to the issue of global warming. From a layman’s understanding of the big bang theory, the universe began billions of years ago. A small infinitely hot and dense matter inflated and expanded to the size of our current universe. The hot universe cooled to retain its current temperature. The inflation and eruption effect of the big bang led to the formation of stars and galaxies. The theory claims that the combination of the nuclei of the stars turned into hydrogen and helium, causing complex elements that eventually prepared the way through millions of years for the emergence of the sun, earth, and humans. Proponents of this theory also claim that the stars produced the atoms found in humans. The theory implicitly credits the stars for human life and existence, thus making the big bang the master creator and source of the universe and all of life. Based on the inherent nature of the big bang and its product, one would expect a direct in




A New Climate for Theology


Book Description

Climate change promises monumental changes to human and other planetary life in the next generations. Yet government, business, and individuals have been largely in denial of the possibility that global warming may put our species on the road to extinction. Further, says Sallie McFague, we have failed to see the real root of our behavioral troubles in an economic model that actually reflects distorted religious views of the person. At its heart, she maintains, global warming occurs because we lack an appropriate understanding of ourselves as inextricably bound to the planet and its systems. A New Climate for Theology not only traces the distorted notion of unlimited desire that fuels our market system; it also paints an alternative idea of what being human means and what a just and sustainable economy might mean. Convincing, specific, and wise, McFague argues for an alternative economic order and for our relational identity as part of an unfolding universe that expresses divine love and human freedom. It is a view that can inspire real change, an altered lifestyle, and a form of Christian discipleship and desire appropriate to who we really are.




A Climate for Change


Book Description

Most Christian lifestyle or environmental books focus on how to live in a sustainable and conservational manner. A CLIMATE FOR CHANGE shows why Christians should be living that way, and the consequences of doing so. Drawing on the two authors' experiences, one as an internationally recognized climate scientist and the other as an evangelical leader of a growing church, this book explains the science underlying global warming, the impact that human activities have on it, and how our Christian faith should play a significant role in guiding our opinions and actions on this important issue.




Let Creation Rejoice


Book Description

The Bible is full of images of God caring for his creation in all its complexity. Yet experts warn us that a so-called perfect storm of factors threatens the future of life on earth. The authors assess the evidence for climate change and other threats that our planet faces in the coming decades while pointing to the hope God offers the world and the people he made.




Keeping God's Earth


Book Description

Diversity of life. Water resources. Global climate change. Cities and global environmental issues. We all know being a Christian involves ethical responsibility. But what exactly are our environmental obligations? This unique volume teams up scientists with biblical scholars to help us discern just not that question. What does the Lord require of us?




The Gospel of Climate Skepticism


Book Description

Why are white evangelicals the most skeptical major religious group in America regarding climate change? Previous scholarship has pointed to cognitive factors such as conservative politics, anti-science attitudes, aversion to big government, and theology. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, The Gospel of Climate Skepticism reveals the extent to which climate skepticism and anti-environmentalism have in fact become embedded in the social world of many conservative evangelicals. Rejecting the common assumption that evangelicals’ skepticism is simply a side effect of political or theological conservatism, the book further shows that between 2006 and 2015, leaders and pundits associated with the Christian Right widely promoted skepticism as the biblical position on climate change. The Gospel of Climate Skepticism offers a compelling portrait of how during a critical period of recent history, political and religious interests intersected to prevent evangelicals from offering a unified voice in support of legislative action to address climate change.




Pollution and the Death of Man


Book Description

At the creation of the world, God gave mankind the responsibility to exercise dominion over the earth. Man was to use the earth and its abundance of resources to satisfy his physical needs, but he was also to care for the earth and its creatures as a wise and godly steward. Reading about endangered species or another oil spill will make it abundantly clear that the human race has failed miserably in its God-given mandate. How did we get to this point? Where should we go from here? This classic by Francis Schaeffer, now repackaged, looks at contemporary ecological crises through the lens of theology and Scripture. Renowned for his work in applied philosophy and theology, Schaeffer answers serious philosophical questions about creation and ecology. He concludes that we must return to a profoundly and radically biblical understanding of God’s relationship to the earth, and of our divine mandate to exercise godly dominion over it. Repackaged and republished, Pollution and the Death of Man carries an important and relevant message for our day. With concluding chapter by Udo Middelmann.




Mere Environmentalism


Book Description

As debates over climate change rage in Washington and American consumers become ever more conscientious about 'going green,' evangelical Christians are increasingly concerned about the proper relationship between faith and environmentalism. The notion of human 'stewardship' over God's creation could be a groundbreaking opportunity for cooperation between evangelicals, the scientific community, and environmental activists. However, a deep understanding of environmental issues from a distinctively Christian perspective will inevitably complicate partnerships with those who approach the subject from conventional secular viewpoints. Although there is some common ground, there remain important differences between Christian and secular perspectives on the environment. Are human beings merely one 'part' of the undifferentiated whole of nature? Or, worse, are humans a blight and a drain on God's perfect creation? Do we really 'own' the land we live on and the plants and animals that provide our sustenance? The answers to these questions begin to form a Christian approach to solving ecological problems. In Mere Environmentalism: A Biblical Perspective on Humans and the Natural World, Steven F. Hayward provides a thorough examination of the philosophical presuppositions underlying today's environmentalist movement and the history of policies intended to alleviate environmental challenges such as overpopulation and global warming. Relying on Scripture to understand God's created order, Hayward offers an insightful reflection on the relationship between humans and the natural world.




Christianity in a Time of Climate Change


Book Description

What does climate change have to do with religion and spirituality? Even though a changing environment will have a dire impact on human populations--affecting everything from food supply to health to housing--the vast majority of Americans do not consider climate change a moral or a religious issue. Yet the damage of climate change, a phenomenon to which we all contribute through our collective carbon emissions, presents an unprecedented ethical problem, one that touches a foundational moral principle of Christianity: Jesus's dictate to love the neighbor. This care for the neighbor stretches across time as well as space. We are called to care for the neighbors of the future as well as those of the present. How can we connect the ethical considerations of climate change--the knowledge that our actions directly or indirectly cause harm to others--to our individual and collective spiritual practice? Christianity in a Time of Climate Change offers a series of reflective essays that consider the Christian ethics of climate change and suggest ways to fold the neighbors of the future into our spiritual lives as an impetus to meaningful personal, social, and ultimately environmental transformations.