Transcript ChrPerspSci_CalvinCo..

Christianity and Climate Change:
Understanding the Range of
Responses
Janel Curry
Calvin College
Christian Worldviews and
the Environmental
Background to the Debate
“…but the land for us is not as important…We
are just so far away from the concept (living
where our grandparents have lived), and I think
it has just lost its importance. And it’s right for
it to be that way.”
--Seminarian
“Even though we have ownership of land…in the end
it’s God’s, …it bothers me sometimes to have all
these lines of things put into the earth. You have
water lines, you have electricity lines…I don’t like
them all up above you either, but in Des Moines…it’s
just paved over with concrete. And it’ll never again
see the light of day. I groan, I feel the earth groan; I
groan with it, for being covered so…and you know
that it’ll never be free again.”
--Farmer
How Are We to Understand
This Range in Attitudes?
The Challenge
“Who are you people, and what in heaven’s
name are you talking about?”
Hummer Email
Christian Worldviews and
the Environmental
Goals
 Increase understanding of the
complexity
 Lay a groundwork for civil dialogue
Factors Affecting Attitudes
and Approaches to
Environmental Problems
I. Eschatology
II. Integration
III.Responsibility
Factors Affecting Attitudes
and Approaches to
Environmental Problems
I. Eschatology
Conservative Christianity:
Creation, Fall, Redemption,
Consummation
 Authority of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
 God’s creation of the universe
 Humans and nature fell from perfection with the sin
of Adam and Eve
 Restoration or redemption of humankind occurred
through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
 God’ plan and promises will be fulfilled with the
return of Christ
Calvinism
“...we've begun our eternal life...the opening
chapter...The whole thing of stewardship, is certainly
part of now and, or a part of eternity. The comparison
between the seed and the full grown tree and our body
and our resurrection body --there's a connection, but
still, you wouldn't believe that a huge oak tree could
come from a little tiny acorn. And I don't think you can
even begin to fathom what the life hereafter will be, if
you think of our cells, now, as the seed.”
--Calvinist Farmer
Quaker





Beliefs
Humans are basically good
Some level of perfection of society is
possible
Grace is universal
Here and now is the place of God’s
redemptive activity
Humankind is responsible to establish
God’s kingdom on earth
Quaker




Results
Intense desire to improve society
Optimistic worldview and belief in the
forward march of progress
Activism in the public arena
Emphasis on education
Dispensational Beliefs
 No continuity between the present earth and the
future earth after the return of Christ
 Increasing violence and natural disasters are signs to
mark the coming of Christ
 The earth is a backdrop for the actions of God in
saving humans
Dispensationalism
[Reported, but unsubstantiated statements]
“My responsibility is to follow the Scriptures which call
upon us to occupy the land until Jesus returns.”
“We don't have to protect the environment, the Second
Coming is at hand.”
--James Watt, Secretary of
the Interior under Reagan
Dispensational
Seminarians:
“The other thing is that this world is not the end. I’m not
saying that we shouldn’t try to get too comfortable on
this land, and I am not trying to sound like we can
disregard our stewardship, but ultimately it is going
to be God who is going to redeem, and we shouldn’t
look to make this world our end or eternal home.”
“(Our) relationship to God is what makes the land
important. It’s not the land that is important in and of
itself.”
Seminary Student Diagram
American Theocracy and
Dispensationalism
 Christian Dispensationism/Fundamentalism is
home-grown
 This traditions includes a strong anticommunist/socialist ideology
 This tradition both shapes and reflects the
larger American individualistic ideology
Dominant Social
Paradigm*
The package includes:
1) utilitarian views of nature
2) support for individual property rights
3) anti-government sentiments
4) belief in the free market
*Defined by Dunlap and Van Liere as the dominant “American” worldview
Composite: Views of Nature
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
Co-Equal
Stewardship
50%
Dominion
Utilitarian
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Western
Reformed
Calvin
GR Baptist
Christian Reformed Baptist
McCormick
Presbyterian
Is this Religion or American
Culture?
Both Supporters of the Cornwall Declaration
Worldview: Interfaith
Stewardship Alliance (ISA)
and Acton Institute
 The world is soaring in health and wealth
toward perfection
 God’s design of creation minimizes or quickly
repair environmental damage
 Christians will rise to power and
compassionately use free-market capitalism
to create an earth fit for Christ
Critique of ISA and Acton by
Creation-Care Community
(Sider-Ohlman)
 Eschatology is a free-market eschatology
 Assumption is that the free-market system will solve
all economic and social ills
 Undying faith is in amoral capitalism and the
unfettered market.
 If the world is indeed on the threshold of this biblical
“millennium,” the suffering we see must be an illusion
Worldview: Creation-Care
Community
 Mainstream evangelicals believes that “we and our
worldview will likely become even more out of sync
with the predominant materialistic worldview.”
 Mainstream evangelicals believe that a theocracy will
come, but it will be at Christ’s making, not ours.
 Being wise and compassionate stewards of God’s
creation involves living the Gospel before the
watching world and preparing us for our future roles
in the coming Kingdom.
Eschatology Implications
Factors Affecting Attitudes
and Approaches to
Environmental Problems
II.
Human/Nature/God
Integration
The Houma Tribe of
Southern Louisiana
Impacts of Oil Industry on
Environment and Mythology
Northwest Iowa Farmer
God is Sustaining People and Nature
People and Nature are Part of God’s
Plan for Shalom
Reformed Seminary
Student Diagram
Baptist
Seminary
Student
Diagrams
The National
Catholic Rural Life
Conference
The National Catholic Rural Life Conference is a
membership organization grounded in a spiritual
tradition that brings together the Church, care of
community and care of creation.
Established in 1923
NCRLC Principles Related to
Economic, Social and Environmental
Policies that affect Rural
Communities
Human Dignity
The Common Good
Preferential Option for the Poor
Universal Destination of Goods
Integrity of Creation
Subsidiarity
Solidarity
Human/Nature/God Integration
Implications
Factors Affecting Attitudes
and Approaches to
Environmental Problems
III. Responsibility:
Routes to Social Change
The Individual and Society:
The Route to Social Change
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
Communitarian
50%
Individualistic
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Western
Calvin
GR Baptist
McCormick
Seminaries
Reformed
Christian Reformed
Baptist
Presbyterian
Structural Sin vs. Individual Morality
Problem Analysis Scale
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
Structural Analysis
50%
Individual Morality
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Western
Reformed
Calvin
Christian Reformed
GR Baptist
Baptist
McCormick
Presbyterian
Draw on Christians
Traditions that:
Are grounded in a covenantal
theology
Recognize “structural” sin
Recovering what it means for
humans to be made in the
“Image of God”
Church History and Structure
Evangelical Environmental Network
Evangelical Climate Initiative
Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action
Church History and Structure
Factors Affecting Attitudes
and Approaches to
Environmental Problems
I. Eschatology
II. Integration
III. Responsibility
Goals
 To convince you that: “Every complex
problem has a simple solution, and it is
wrong.”
 Suggest directions to encourage civil
dialogue and coalition-building amongst
groups across the political and religious
spectrum in order to address climate
change
Suggestions
To be effective in engaging the Christian community on the
issue of Climate Change
 Understand the range of basic assumptions that the different
groups bring to the discussions
 Discern the difference between religious beliefs and
dominant cultural beliefs
 Listen
 Find arguments that resonate with the various traditions
 Build a diversity of on-the-ground strategies to match the
range of church structures and cultures
The Challenge of Global Climate
Change
We Need All Parties at the Table
Thank you