Christianity and the Survival of Creation

Essay by beckjainUniversity, Bachelor'sB+, September 2007

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The author Barry Wendell discusses how the conservationmovement blames Christianity for the destruction of the natural world,and how the conservationist indictment of Christianity is a problem,because of the bible and the cultural traditions that descend from thebible.

One thinks that since the bible is an inspired book written by humanhands man can change it to best fit their needs. That is what theanti- Christian environmentalists use to criticize without even reading thebible. One thinks that anyone that blames the bible for the destruction ofnature should read, and study the bible before making theseaccusations.

One thinks humans can interpret the bible any way they want, is nothard to make anything look bad, whether is a movie book or a person aslong as there is some publicity involved there are always people listeningand sooner or later they will catch someone’s attention and plant badseeds in their thoughts.

One found interesting what it says in Psalm 24:1 that the earths is theLord’s and the fullness thereof.

The world and they that dwell. This right ofhuman ownership is limited by mortality and by natural constraints uponhuman attention and responsibility; it quickly becomes abusive when usedto justify large accumulations of "real estate," and perhaps for that reasonsuch large accumulations are forbidden in the twenty-fifth chapter ofLeviticus. In biblical terms, the "landowner" is the guest and steward ofGod: "the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me" (Lev.

25:23). (Wendell)We will discover that God found the world, as he made it, to begood; that he made it for his pleasure; and that he continues to love itand to find it worthy, despite its reduction and corruption by us.

One thinks that is interesting what Wendell says about the churchbeing incompatible with the scripture, and I have to disagree. One thinksthat God is everywhere. God does not like idolatry whether is toward thetemple or a statue. The reason why we say that God is present in churchesor temples is because he says: Jesus church is “Where two or three aregathered together in my name” (Matt18:20) One has never read theentire book of the bible but the chapters that one has read one has onlyfound good things written about nature such as poetry and reverence.

Wendell talks about Genesis 2:7, "the Lord God formed man of thedust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: andman became a living soul." Is interesting that he mentions this chapterbecause when we rub our hands together for a while dust develops in ourpalms. Wendell says that dualistic minds deal with this verse Theyconclude that the formula for man-making is: man = body + soul. I believeis soul = dust + breath. One thinks is all about blind faith. The breath ofGod is only one of the divine gifts that make us living souls; the other is thedust.

If we think of ourselves as merely biological creatures, whose story isdetermined by genetics or environment, and that there is no higher beingimagine what the world would be like; it would be total disaster. Onelearned in a psychology class that we act better as human beings whenwe have some type faith and that we tend to be healthier when webelieve in something.

One thinks that we would feel alone and unprotected in this biguniverse without anyone that listens to our problems and helps us getthrough our rough moments in life, without expecting anything in return.

Also how can good work be accomplished by people who think thatour life in this world either signifies nothing or has only a negativesignificance.

But if in the other hand we believe that we are children ofGod and that we all have a purpose here in earth, let’s just think abouthow perfect our bodies and organism are. To me that is more thanenough proof that God does exist, and that we are all creatures made ofthe same dust and breath, and that we all have free will to do evil orgood to ourselves and to the other creatures therefore all our acts have asupreme significance.