Classics English Literature

 

Environment

            In accordance to Christianity, the world was created by God for inhibition. In this case, the earth cannot be identified as a worthless unexpected accidental phenomenon. It should be identified as a habitat of high value, which requires outstanding preservation and restoration methods. Inherently, the Christians and the environment possess a close knit relationship based on the fact that both were created by the same God[1]. The biblical doctrines of Christianity found in the book of Genesis in the Bible provides Christianity with the stewardship role of taking care of the earth that God created and found to be good. Human beings however have been acting beneficially and detrimentally towards the earth, culminating into the economic crisis facing the modern world. For this reasons Christians should uptake specific actions for the earth’s preservation and restoration. This paper deals with the specific actions that the Christians should talk regarding the environment and its preservation or restoration.

For a sustainable ecosystem to be achieved the four principles of  recycling for waste disposal and nutrient replenishing, solar energy’s utilization, maintenance of consumer population to eliminate overgrazing as well as maintenance of bio-diversity have to be arrived at. When the four principles are compromised, an ecological crisis is culminates. Christians unlike the secular movements dealing with environmental protection can ask God for forgiveness for their environmental mistakes, and adopt different environmental protection principles. Christian imagination is the main factor that deters the participation of Christians in environmental protection. Consequently, the first action to be taken by Christians involves their declaration of individual support to environmental and habitat care due to its characteristic as a privilege, sacred and central duty.

The second action to be taken involves churches’ bodies in general, because they have been known to be greater influencers of Christian behaviors. Church bodies can begin by making affirmation statements on the importance of environmental sensitivity. In 1992, the seventh Adventist church body voted for the Caring for Creation document, which outlined the churches position regarding Christian stewardship of the environment. In this case, the statement regarded the fact that preserving the environment was one role of the Christians in serving God, their creator. Some Christian movements such as The Christian Environmental Association have embarked on becoming good stewards of the environment provided to them by God. The movement takes into heart the Bible’s stipulation that all Christians should love their neighbors as they love themselves. For this reason, they engage in activities that save the environment.

The movement has been polling resources to buy endangered land, it has been saving the endangered jaguars, feeding the hungry and re-foresting terrains while at the same time spreading the love of Jesus Christ[2]. The third action to be uptaken by the Christians involves, changing of individual lifestyle practices, in line with the elevation of the four factors of a sustainable ecosystem. This involves the uplifting of true sustainability. Christians should ensure that the resources they use are all renewable such that their wastes can be recycled. Instead of utilizing fertilizers, individuals should utilize manure, which is a form of waste recycling. Due to the rise of unsustainable consumptions, Christians should individually work to change the notion that resources have to be thrown away after their use. Many Christian homes have embraced on the use of energy efficient sources such as solar power.

In the same Christian homes, water wastage is forbidden and all used resources are recycled. For them to realize these simple environmental preservation and restorations goals, it has taken their individual efforts. Some churches have converted into the use of energy saving resources as an encouragement from the individual Christian families who have been utilizing the proposed methods successfully for a long time[3]. This serves as a good example to the society because many times, people look up to the church for moral guidance in terms of life experiences. Consequently, in the book of Deuteronomy, the Bible asserts that if the Israelites found a bird’s nest as they were farming they would be allowed to take the young birds but preserve the mother so that it can be a source of continuity and preservations. This clearly indicates to the Christians that their actions should be inclined towards preserving the earth. They should involve themselves in tree planting projects as a way of replacing the forests that have been destroyed for timber purposes.

For land to be fruitful, it needs rest in accordance to the Christian Bible. The principle of the Sabbath in the Bible is linked to human and ecological rests. This is because during the Sabbath, Christians are supposed to rest from all their other activities. When they rest from all other activities, the environment is supposed to be provided with the rest required for increased fruitfulness. This clearly indicates that Christians should take actions in allowing the environment to rest during the Sabbath. Resting comes in the form of environmental preservation and restoration. Practices such as set- aside agriculture should be embarked on as a form of allowing the environment to rest. Although Christians were given the orders to go and fill the earth, God was aware of the fact that the amount of land he had created would be enough to satisfy human beings.

Many people have overcome this order by increasing the world populations to extents that cannot be sustained by the land. For this reason, Christians should embark on the reduction of population because it has been the main reason behind overgrazing. Conversely, overgrazing reduces the productivity of the land hence, reducing its sustainability. Some Anglican Consultative Council in its bid to protect the environment has incorporated care for the creation as one of their fivemarks of its mission[4]. This has encouraged most of its followers to conserve the environment so that they can be deemed as qualified Anglican faithful. Christians should also pray for strength where the organizations talking care of environmental conservation are concerned. These are people who need both spiritual and physical strength in carrying out their work. Christians in their role as stewards should set out on changing their driving lifestyles to walking lifestyles. This works towards the reduction of pollution hence culminating into environmental preservation.

The Christian Bible states clearly that the earth habitat was created by God as evidenced by the creation story. Consequently, the same God was in charge of human creation. This means that human beings posses a clear cut relationship with their environment. After the creation story, God commanded human beings to uptake the role of being stewards of his creation. For this reason, environmental preservation was bestowed on the hands of human beings by God during creation. The detrimental interactions between human beings and the environment have been the main reason behind the ecological crisis the world is experiencing[5]. The specific actions uptaken by Christians in preserving the environment includes individual declaration of support to earth’s care, church bodies’ statement on environmental preservation and the changing of individual lifestyles where environmental conservation is concerned. In conclusion, Christians should always work towards environmental conservation because it is in line with their stewardship role.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography:

Beath, Andrew. Consciousness in Action: The Power of Beauty, Love and Courage in a Violent Time. New York, NY: Lantern Books, 2005.

Berry, Robert J. Environmental Stewardship: Critical Perspectives – Past and Present. London, UK: T&T Clark, 2006.

Chen, Jim. The Jurisdynamics of Environmental Protection: Change and the Pragmatic Voice in Environmental Law. Washington, DC: Environmental Law Institute, 2003.

Mugerauer, Robert, and Lynne Manzo. Environmental Dilemmas: Ethical Decision Making. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2008.

Van Dyke, Fred. Between Heaven and Earth: Christian Perspectives on Environmental Protection. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2010.