In Chapter 7 of For the Beauty of the Earth, author Steven Bouma-Prediger gives ten arguments for why we should "worry about spotted owls and the Pacific yew." All of his arguments have validity to some degree---the author points out weaknesses of some arguments---but I'll focus on the ones that I think are strongest for …
Category: Environment
Divorce is bad for the environment
Divorce is bad for the soul. Divorce is bad for the children. Divorce is bad for the environment too. Headline on Yahoo News: Mother Nature feels the pain of divorce. Divorce can be bad for the environment. In countries around the world divorce rates have been rising, and each time a family dissolves the result …
For the Beauty of the Earth — Chapter 6
Chapter 6 of For the Beauty of the Earth by Steven Bouma-Prediger is "What kind of people ought we be?" In this chapter, the author develops seven ecological virtues: 1. Act so as to preserve diverse kinds of life. Biodiversity is an intended result of God's wise and orderly creative activity. Creatures exist to praise …
For the Beauty of the Earth — Chapter 5
Chapter 5 of For the Beauty of the Earth, by Steven Bouma-Prediger is called "How should we think of the earth? A theology and ethic of care for the earth." The most promising ecological ethic is one that asks not primarily, What do we need to do? but Who do we need to be? Neither …
For the Beauty of the Earth — Chapter 4
Chapter 4 of For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care by Stephen Bouma-Prediger is called Is there a connection between scripture and ecology? --- Biblical wisdom and ecological vision. Some lessons from Genesis 1-2: God is the creator of all things. Humans are given the delegated, royal responsibility of ruling …
Lynn White on Francis of Assisi
In my previous post, I referred to Lynn White's 1967 essay "The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis." Here is an extended quote from the end of the article regarding Francis of Assisi: Possibly we should ponder the greatest radical in Christian history since Christ: Saint Francis of Assisi. The prime miracle of Saint Francis …
For the Beauty of the Earth — Chapter 3 — Complaint #4 and “Some Better Explanations”
"The ecological crisis is the fault of Christianity." I'm continuing to read For the Beauty of the Earth, by Stephen Bouma-Prediger. The fourth complaint against Christianity given by environmentalists is that because the Christian worldview is largely responsible for the rise of science and technology, Christianity is to blame for the ecological crisis that is …
Wiping away environmental guilt
From grist.org: The Wipe Stuff: Which recycled TP brand is best? We wipe away all doubt. Deciding what kind of toilet paper to buy is a delicate issue. Perhaps most significantly because you want to protect those delicates---but what about this delicate planet of ours? According to the NRDC, if every household in the U.S. …
For the Beauty of the Earth — Chapter 3 — Complaint #3
I'm continuing my summary and review of For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care by Steven Bouma-Prediger. The third reason that many environmentalists blame Christianity for the ecological crisis is eschatological: If this world is going to burn, why take care of it? If Jesus is coming back soon, why …
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More Conservative Environmentalism: Newt Gingrich
A book on the environment by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (and Terry Maple): A Contract With the Earth. I haven't read it yet (unlikely to be in bookstores in Bucharest any time soon) but it looks like a good read. Here is the beginning of chapter one, which is on Amazon's site: …
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Pollute the air, God doesn’t care
My previous post was about Chuck Colson's "Breakpoint" radio broadcast for today: Just Do It: Good Stewardship and Global Warming. In this broadcast, he refers to a disagreements among Texas Baptists regarding the construction of coal-fired power plants in their state. A pastor was quoted as saying: The pastor, in turn, assures [an opponent of …
More Conservative Environmentalism
Today's "Breakpoint" radio commentary by Chuck Colson is Just Do It: Good Stewardship and Global Warming. Colson is looking for common ground among Evangelicals: We evangelicals are so busy disagreeing with each other that we have lost sight of what can agree on:” good stewardship of the earth. Amen. Even in areas where there is …
Compassionate Environmentalism vs. Plunder the Earth
There is a growing awareness among Evangelicals of the importance of environmental issues. There are good Biblical arguments for the importance of taking care of the creation as part of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Increasingly, this is true among politically conservative Evangelicals; it …
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Toilet House
From Yahoo News/AFP: Clean loo campaigner to open toilet-shaped home Seoul -- Sim Jae-Duck was born in a restroom and now he plans to live and die in one -- a 1.6 million dollar toilet-shaped house designed to promote his tireless campaign for cleaner loos worldwide. Click on the link for the full story and …
Al Gore — Nobel Peace Prize (part 2)
The Evangelical Ecologist (not normally a pro-Al Gore site) also approves of the choice of Al Gore and the IPCC for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Read it here: Credit where it's due. Grace and Peace
Maybe the Sky Isn’t Falling
From Christianity Today: Maybe the Sky Isn't Falling: New UN study says that reports of the world's death have been greatly exaggerated. My previous post was about Al Gore and the Nobel Peace Prize. Some environmentalists look as global warming and a dozen other ecological crises that face us and say, "The sky is falling." …
Al Gore — Nobel Peace Prize
Unlike many in the conservative blogosphere, I am not upset that Al Gore shared in this year's Nobel Peace Prize. I believe that the evidence is fairly strong that some degree of global warming is occurring, and that part of this is not natural; i.e. that it is due to human emissions of greenhouse gases. …
For the Beauty of the Earth — Chapter 3 — Complaint #2
Last week I started summarizing the complaints that some environmentalists have against Christianity as presented in chapter 3 of For the Beauty of the Earth, by Steven Bouma-Prediger. In my previous post on this, I presented the first complaint, which was that the Genesis 1:28 mandate that gave humans dominion over the creation leads to …
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For the Beauty of the Earth — Chapter 3 — Complaint #1
A continuation of my review of For the Beauty of the Earth, by Steven Bouma-Prediger. I'm going through chapter 3, which is "Is Christianity to Blame? The Ecological Complaint Against Christianity." The author discusses four common complaints that environmentalists have against Christianity, starting with: The first is that monotheism in general, and Christianity in particular, …
Continue reading For the Beauty of the Earth — Chapter 3 — Complaint #1
For the Beauty of the Earth — Chapter 3
Chapter 3 of For the Beauty of the Earth by Steven Bouma-Prediger is called "Is Christianity to Blame? The Ecological Complaint Against Christianity." Among many environmentalists, the strong emotions felt against Christianity is as strong as that which many conservative Christians have against "tree-hugging enviro-wackos." Consider these statements from the Sierra Club's magazine Sierra: To …
GeoChristian 