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christianity and environmental ethics
christians and environmental stewardship
christianity and environmental ethics
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The lyrics of Michael Jackson’s Earth Song are sobering. Those who have seen the video of the song probably remember how vividly he passionately sang, “What have we done to the world? Look what we've done.” While understanding the risks involved, human beings seem to care little about the environment. Every day that passes seems to leave the world with more to be concerned with, the ever-increasing pollution, the deforestation, and the threat of nuclear waste. Taking responsibility for the environment is a duty that Christians should commit to. In fact, Christians should lead the world in taking specific actions in the preservation and restoration of the environment.
Some environmentalists have blamed Christianity for the abuse of the environment. The 1967 article by Lynn White suggests that Christianity’s theology of the domination of creation is based on the premise that God created everything that exists for the humankind’s use and should be exploited for that purpose. By this, White alleged that Christians do not feel the obligation to take care of the nature, because it was created to serve them. While it may not be entirely true, many Christians do not object to this accusation. They realize that either their faith has been minimalist in its approach to environmental involvement, or it has completely disregarded environmental issues as irrelevant to the fundamentals of the faith.
The Christian church however has realized, in recent times, its responsibility and stewardship of the earth. Allan Effa agrees, “the Christian community is reexamining some of its theological assumptions and filling in some gaping blind spots in its understanding of the missio Dei” (God’s purpose). Thus with a changing attitude, Christians are...
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Santa Clara University "The Common Good vs Individualism." Santa Clara University - Welcome. http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v5n1/common.html (accessed May 8, 2012).
Radford Ruether, Rosemary, "Ecology and Theology: Ecojustice at the Center of the Church's Mission," Interpretation: A Journal Of Bible & Theology 65, no. 4 (October 2011), 354-363. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 7, 2012).
Feuerbach, Ludwig and George Eliote. The Essence of Christianity. New York:Calvin Blanchad, 1855) Google Books, http://books.google.com/books?id=Lsvo-mgtuc0C (accessed May, 7 2012), 361.
Effa, Allan. "The Greening of Mission." International Bulletin Of Missionary Research 32, no. 4 (October 2008): 171. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed May 7, 2012).
McFague, Sallie. "New House Rules: Christianity, Economics, and Planetary Living."Subverting Greed: Religious Perspectives on the Global Economy. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2002. 125-40. Print.
In the journal of Environmentalism as Religion, Paul H. Rubin discuss about how environmental is similar to religion. Rubin want everyone to know that the environment and religion are somehow similar in a way, which they both have belief system, creation stories and original sin.
The Complete Green Letters by Miles J. Stanford is an assembly of five of Miles Stanford’s efforts into one collection. Published between 1970 and 1977, The Green Letters, The Principle of Position, The Ground of Growth, The Reckoning That Counts and Abide Above, were first published as a collection in1975. The shared subject of these books is the author’s theme of “Not I, but Christ.” (Stanford, 1983, ix) Stanford’s concept of “what it means to be a Christian” (Ibid) is exhibited all the way through this combined work.
To a significant extent, the statement “Religion is a set of variously organized beliefs concerning the relationships that exist between humanity and the supernatural dimension” represents the lived expression of Christian adherents as it is the principle beliefs and teachings of Christianity that shape the everyday lives of adherents by helping them to maintain right relationships with God and others. Specifically, this response will explore how significant people such as St Paul of Tarsus have shaped Christianity so that adherents focus on the intention rather than the letter of the law, so as to obtain a contemplative outlook. As well as how Christian adherents across the breadth of the tradition respond to their baptismal commitment in daily life, and how adherents honour this commitment to God when responding to issues concerning environmental ethics.
The environment is seen as a major issue in today’s society with many looming prospects, such as global warming and pollution. Christianity is the most followed religion in the world and its sacred book is the Bible. The bible’s creation story has been interpreted in modern society to elucidate that we as humans have complete control over the environment. This involves destroying, it, eradicating it and killing off anything that we disobey with. This is interpreted from the New international version Bible (NIV) and clearly states, “Humans were made in Gods image.” From this modern believers interpreted it mean we are here to act like God, we are the God of the Earth and thus can use it however we intend to and not how God intended us to. This can easily be proven by the fact that Pope Francis I stated made an address to modern believers they were doing anything towards the cleaning a...
The majority of this piece is dedicated to the author stating his opinion in regards to civilization expanding beyond its sustainable limits. The author makes it clear that he believes that humans have failed the natural environment and are in the process of eliminating all traces of wilderness from the planet. Nash points out facts that strengthen his argument, and quotes famous theologians on their similar views on environmental issues and policies. The combination of these facts and quotes validates the author’s opinion.
Over the years, writers such as Bill McKibben have raised up their voices to give their personal opinion on polemic topics that involve Christianity. McKibben is a writer, educator, environmentalist, and currently a scholar at Middlebury College in Vermont. He served as an editor of important articles for the Harvard Crimson, and, in 2005, he wrote “The Christian Paradox: How a Faithful Nation Gets Jesus Wrong” (264). All of his background information gives the impression that McKibben is an educated and environmentally conscious person who has envisioned a better future for America. As a member of the Christian community, McKibben has received direct insight into the problems of the Church. In his article, McKibben argues his standpoint that,
The teaching of the Bible should shape the church’s views on humanity. However, the teaching of the church should not be oblivious of the naturalist explanations of the important issues concerning Anthropology, because Christianity makes bold truth claims about the origin of humanity. It has to face the counter-claims with a fair consideration of their merits. For example the antiquity of humanity has been taken for granted for many years until only recently with the challenges coming from natural sciences. This forces Christians to re-evaluate their claims in order to reconcile what they have always believed with the new findings in science. In response, Christians have either rejected all anthropological data, or argued for the non-historical nature of the text of the Bible, or tried to reconcile biblical information with the scientific data.
Christian’s duties as being a responsible steward need to manage God’s belongings to the best of their ability. Only the Christian has the proper foundation for understanding people's true responsibility to ca...
A Natural Theology for Our Time, Charles Hartshorne, La Salle, Ill. Open Court, 1967, pp. 116-20
Vos, B. (2012). The spiritual disciplines and Christian ministry. Evangelical Review Of Theology, 36(2), 100-114.
The articles “The Environmental issue from hell” by Bill McKibben and “The Obligation to Endure” by Rachel Carson both talk about the environmental consequences that people have caused. However, McKibben writes about Global warming and argues that it is a moral responsibility to preserve the earth, while on the other hand, Carson writes about pollution of the earth caused by man. McKibben article makes good points and supports his claim with facts which makes his article valid. Carson supports her idea with adequate information and factual evidence which also makes her article valid.
The most obvious reason that the environment has moral significance is that damage to it affects humans. Supporters of a completely human-centered ethic claim that we should be concerned for the environment only as far as our actions would have a negative effect on other people. Nature has no intrinsic value; it is not good and desirable apart from its interaction with human beings. Destruction and pollution of the environment cannot be wrong unless it results in harm to other humans. This view has its roots in Western tradition, which declares that “human beings are the only morally important members of this world” (Singer p.268).
Anthropocentrism is the school of thought that human beings are the single most significant entity in the universe. As a result, the philosophies of those with this belief reflect the prioritization of human objectives over the well-being of one’s environment. However, this is not to say that anthropocentric views neglect to recognize the importance of preserving the Earth. In fact, it is often in the best interests of humans to make concerted efforts towards sustaining the environment. Even from a purely anthropocentric point of view, there are three main reasons why mankind has a moral duty to protect the natural world.
“The Historical Roots of Our Ecological crisis” has been the spark of a long standing debate about the impact of religion on environmental degradation. Comparing White and Whitney’s respective essay’s brings together two different perspectives ultimately shaping ones opinion on this subject of matter. Conclusively I can say Whitney’s points are valid and interesting as they identify the crucial flaws that White fails to take into account. Unlike most response papers, Whitney’s agreements with White are superficial in the broadest sense. The points that contend White’s thesis are all points that I agree as they pertain to the generation that I live in and I can see where her ideas stem from in day to day life.