Evangelicals and Global Warming: Not a match made in Heaven?
Gary Loftis
February 27, 2008
I have watched with interest as the idea that the earthīs apparent warming is the result of manīs industrial progress has swept through the media community, the political community, and the "science is our religion" community. It was bound to happen because of our collective propensity for guilt and need to "Do something!" If the planet is warming, it MUST be because of something we are doing wrong.
But lately, Evangelical Christian leaders Rick Warren and Joel Hunter have joined the movement, adding weight to the fear, the bluster, and the paranoia being generated by the pseudo science known as Anthropogenic (e.g., man made) Global Warming (AGW), despite the singularly un-Evangelical assumptions that provide the basis for AGW theory.
At its root, AGW is a humanistic idea, promoting the notion that manīs mind is the highest order of intelligence on the planet and that we are responsible for everything that occurs. Evangelical Christians believe that distinction belongs to a loving God, who is actively engaged in the world. Although He once chose to make the Earth uninhabitable because of Sin (the Great Flood), he promised:
"I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease." (Genesis 8: 21b-22, NASB)
To the best of my knowledge, Evangelical Christians believe Godīs promises, so there is no theological basis for an Evangelical to believe that God would allow man to destroy His handiwork. Likewise, the narrative in the Revelation does not lend itself to an interpretation of man destroying earth. Curiously, however, the discord being sown by AGW advocates and the distinctly religious nature of their exclusive dogma make one wonder if the AGW movement might spawn the Beast (Antichrist).
Biblical prophesy aside, AGW advocates have offered no empirical evidence that anything we do or stop doing will affect the Earthīs warming or cooling trends. Instead, they have offered opinions, largely based on computerized climate models. Herein lies the weakness of the AGW argument. Computers cannot yet create knowledge; they analyze phenomena based on the assumptions of the programmers who designed the models. For a computer model to conclude that manīs industrial progress is creating global climate change, that cause/effect relationship must be available as an assumption. Hence, an argument could be made that such a finding is nothing more than a preordained conclusion. The logic in their argument becomes: Manīs industrial progress creates greenhouse gasses that [we believe] create warming. The earth is getting warmer. Therefore, the greenhouse gasses being generated by manīs industrial progress are creating global warming.
The zealotry with which AGW "believers" attack skeptics is reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition, calling into question their intellect, their motivation, their integrity ad hominem attacks aimed wherever the attackers think they can cause the greatest political or professional damage. "Skeptics are being funded by big oil and big business," they charge, while AGW-friendly research is being funded by GE and the electrical generation industry, all of whom stand to make $ billions from the "reconstruction" of western, industrial economies that an AGW remedy requires.
In his first letter to Timothy, a tutorial in pastoring a church, Paul wrote, "But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion " (1 Timothy 1:5-6, NASB).
Iīll never forget my first Promise Keepers Conference. One of the speakersī subjects was, "Letīs keep the main thing the Main Thing!" In other words, the Great Commission — "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB) — gives us plenty to do, we donīt need to look elsewhere.
Rick Warren and Joel Hunter are free to ally themselves with any movement they can, in good conscience, endorse, but their alliance with the global warming movement influences Evangelicals to support a purely political idea with roots in secular humanism whose intent is domination of the world economy through fear and intimidation. Good stewardship of what we have received is a mandate for all Christians, and we should improve our performance in conserving and getting the greatest good from the natural resources we use. Likewise, we are obliged to validate against scripture any cause that we take up.
"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 1:11, NASB)
If God is loving, omniscient, and omnipotent, would He allow man to destroy his Creation? Every Christian must resolve that question for him/herself.
Đ Copyright 2008, Gary Loftis. All Rights Reserved.
But lately, Evangelical Christian leaders Rick Warren and Joel Hunter have joined the movement, adding weight to the fear, the bluster, and the paranoia being generated by the pseudo science known as Anthropogenic (e.g., man made) Global Warming (AGW), despite the singularly un-Evangelical assumptions that provide the basis for AGW theory.
At its root, AGW is a humanistic idea, promoting the notion that manīs mind is the highest order of intelligence on the planet and that we are responsible for everything that occurs. Evangelical Christians believe that distinction belongs to a loving God, who is actively engaged in the world. Although He once chose to make the Earth uninhabitable because of Sin (the Great Flood), he promised:
"I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease." (Genesis 8: 21b-22, NASB)
To the best of my knowledge, Evangelical Christians believe Godīs promises, so there is no theological basis for an Evangelical to believe that God would allow man to destroy His handiwork. Likewise, the narrative in the Revelation does not lend itself to an interpretation of man destroying earth. Curiously, however, the discord being sown by AGW advocates and the distinctly religious nature of their exclusive dogma make one wonder if the AGW movement might spawn the Beast (Antichrist).
Biblical prophesy aside, AGW advocates have offered no empirical evidence that anything we do or stop doing will affect the Earthīs warming or cooling trends. Instead, they have offered opinions, largely based on computerized climate models. Herein lies the weakness of the AGW argument. Computers cannot yet create knowledge; they analyze phenomena based on the assumptions of the programmers who designed the models. For a computer model to conclude that manīs industrial progress is creating global climate change, that cause/effect relationship must be available as an assumption. Hence, an argument could be made that such a finding is nothing more than a preordained conclusion. The logic in their argument becomes: Manīs industrial progress creates greenhouse gasses that [we believe] create warming. The earth is getting warmer. Therefore, the greenhouse gasses being generated by manīs industrial progress are creating global warming.
The zealotry with which AGW "believers" attack skeptics is reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition, calling into question their intellect, their motivation, their integrity ad hominem attacks aimed wherever the attackers think they can cause the greatest political or professional damage. "Skeptics are being funded by big oil and big business," they charge, while AGW-friendly research is being funded by GE and the electrical generation industry, all of whom stand to make $ billions from the "reconstruction" of western, industrial economies that an AGW remedy requires.
In his first letter to Timothy, a tutorial in pastoring a church, Paul wrote, "But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion " (1 Timothy 1:5-6, NASB).
Iīll never forget my first Promise Keepers Conference. One of the speakersī subjects was, "Letīs keep the main thing the Main Thing!" In other words, the Great Commission — "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB) — gives us plenty to do, we donīt need to look elsewhere.
Rick Warren and Joel Hunter are free to ally themselves with any movement they can, in good conscience, endorse, but their alliance with the global warming movement influences Evangelicals to support a purely political idea with roots in secular humanism whose intent is domination of the world economy through fear and intimidation. Good stewardship of what we have received is a mandate for all Christians, and we should improve our performance in conserving and getting the greatest good from the natural resources we use. Likewise, we are obliged to validate against scripture any cause that we take up.
"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 1:11, NASB)
If God is loving, omniscient, and omnipotent, would He allow man to destroy his Creation? Every Christian must resolve that question for him/herself.
Đ Copyright 2008, Gary Loftis. All Rights Reserved.
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