The Counter-Argument For Christian Environmentalism

Environmental stewardship is often view as the sole province of left-wing secular political thought. To extend this stereotype, it is often presumed that explicit care for the environment stands in opposition to principles of Christian thought, or worse, that Christian theology is one under which the exploitation or destruction of the environment is advocated. This is dangerous thinking which diminishes the true message and potential for environmental reform Christian doctrine provides. This work will argue that Christianity offers a strong means by which faith can be exercised in the service of environmental restoration. Once this imperative has been shown, Christian environmental actions can take regarding the environment will be explored. Finally single-issue movements (such as those which advocate for solar power) will be shown as a poor solution, before showing that the answer to this granular failure is the promotion a grand vision of environmentalism which hinges on Christian values.

This argument for Christian environmentalism is warranted by a general point: Christianity provides a strong basis by which environmental message can be both conveyed and interpreted. The backing for this generalization is the idea

Counterarguments fall under several lines, the first of which is the Utilitarian Earth View. First espoused by the evangelical James Watt, who espoused in his article “Ours Is The Earth” (1982) the fundamental irrelevance of the earth given the promise of the “eternal hereafter” (Watt, 1982, p. 74). This author argued that the earth -- far from a God-given human responsibility -- was “put here by the Lord for His people to subdue and to use for profitable purposes on their way to the hereafter” (Watt, p. 74). The second argument in refutation of such stewardship conceptualizes the material world as evil, and by this view, argues for its fundamental irrelevance from