"The Bible tells us that 'the whole earth is the Lord’s, and everything that is in it' (Psalm 24:1-2). As an ecologist I have always had a great passion for the environment, yet I have never heard a sermon or talk on the extent to which God is interested in environmental issues."

19th September, 2003
God and Greenies. It might not be the first union you think of. But GRAHAM LEWIS argues that it’s only natural given that, after all, God is the Lord of Creation...

He’s got the whole world in his hands.

So goes the popular Sixties song (for those of us who can remember back that far). But what does the “whole world” mean? Is God only interested in the spiritual world and the salvation of human souls, or is He interested in the physical world as well?

The Bible tells us that “the whole earth is the Lord’s, and everything that is in it” (Psalm 24:1-2). As an ecologist I have always had a great passion for the environment, yet I have never heard a sermon or talk on the extent to which God is interested in environmental issues.

At university I heard many discussions on the matter, particularly in philosophy classes where all types of theories and beliefs were placed before me. In fact there was a great deal of information available on this subject. The humanists and agnostics presented the view that God did not exist, let alone create a planet. Evolution was firmly imprinted onto my academic brain with text books suggesting that all life slowly evolved from the primordial soup.

It was not until I undertook the “Search for Life” series (a course created by the Mount Evelyn Christian Fellowship) that my thoughts on evolution changed. Here I saw a unique, God-ordained purpose for my life and I finally threw evolution out of my belief system.

The issue became clear. I recognized that my passion for “saving the planet” was greater than my passion for “saving the souls of the people” on it. This required a degree of repentance on my behalf. However, I am still interested to know God’s thoughts on this issue.

So I ask the question: is God a conservationist? The Oxford Dictionary defines a conservationist as a “person who supports preservation of the natural environment”. The term preservation is defined as “to keep safe, to keep in an unchanged condition”. Is this what God intended for our planet? Its total preservation in an unchanged condition? To answer this question I had to turn to a book other than those recommended at university. The Bible.

Chapters one and two of Genesis provide a detailed description of the order in which God created the earth and all of the plant and animal life upon it (including man and woman). Genesis 1:31 states that “God saw all that He had made and thought that it was very good”. However, by chapter three, things go terribly wrong: the “fall of man” occurs and Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden, never again to live in a perfect world. God explains the curses under which Adam and Eve were to live as a result of their actions in verses 17 to 19: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return (thus the words of many a funeral)”.

The great pity is that prior to their banishment from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were given simple instructions as to how they were to look after it. As early as Genesis chapter one (verses 30 to 28) God blessed Adam and Eve and said to them: “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Further instructions are given in chapter two which states that “God took the man and placed him in the garden to work it and take care of it”. The footnotes in my NIV suggest that man was charged to govern the earth responsibly under God’s sovereignty. I believe that the words “work” and “take care of” are critical. To me they imply that man was to both tend and look after the garden. He was not to “over work” it but nor was he to neglect it.

To keep the earth in an unchanged or pristine condition as some conservationists advocate is somewhat difficult if man is to plough fields for food or cut down trees for timber. Certainly areas of world heritage significance and other national and state parks are worthy of such treatment. The problem is essentially that of balance: where one draws the line between what should be preserved and what should be tilled for food or felled for timber. It is here that the battle lines of conservation versus development are drawn.
The other key word in the Bible which has caused great debate in academic circles is “subdue”. Defined in the Oxford Dictionary as “to overcome, or to bring under control”, some have taken this to mean a heavy-handed type of dominion in which a tyrant wields an unlimited and destructive power against the subject they wish to subdue.

Others hold that this term gave the male the right to subdue or literally “rape” the female earth. The Gaia hypothesis, for example, suggests that the earth is feminine in nature: a self governing, living being, capable of controlling its own environment. Followers of this hypothesis suggest that the earth’s demise in environmental terms is solely the responsibility of a male-dominated, patriarchal society.

I personally believe that God is a conservationist. His intention was for humankind to take care of the earth and tend it gently. We were not to over-exploit it or damage it in any major way.

Clearly the fall of Adam and Eve greatly disrupted God’s original intention. We have been greedy, careless, exploitative, and destructive as a result of our fallen and sinful nature.

Consequently, we have suffered both spiritually and physically. The earth has also suffered greatly. We have turned land which is unsuitable for intense agriculture into deserts, salt-ridden paddocks and wastelands. We have turned the oceans and wetlands into dumping grounds for domestic wastes and pollutants.

In doing so, we have sinned against God and will reap the results of our greed and destruction in the form of disease and wasted harvests. Thank God, Jesus Christ is coming back soon. Along with us, the plants and animals require a second chance and a new heaven and earth. Surely they too groan for His return.