Some groups are giving environmentalism a very bad name. For instance the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement goes by the motto, “May we live long and die out.”1 In other words, humanity should graciously leave the scene as soon as possible. Then there is the Earth Liberation Front, which burns ski lodges and sabotages high-tension lines.2 While this may be remotely gratifying to some who call themselves Christian, most believers feel that human procreation, slalom runs, and power grids are good things and that eco-terrorism is wrong-headed. Of course, all decent people are opposed to littering and the release of toxic chemicals into public waterways, but what of the bigger ecological picture? What overarching approach should a Christian take toward the environment? Not surprisingly, there are several environmental philosophies or principles vying for supremacy:

1. Preservation (seeing “nature as of intrinsic value, the greater for being untouched by humankind”).3 Such is the spirit behind the establishment of the U.S. National Park system, beginning with Yellowstone in 1872.4 Indeed, it is reflected in scores of governmental efforts, at every level, to secure certain lands and habitats from development—municipal forest preserves; state wildlife sanctuaries; federal wetlands. Yes, “islands” of relatively untouched wilderness can be wonderful both for their aesthetics as well as their role in conservation. But preservation cannot be pre-eminent in light of Genesis 1:28, where God mandates development.

2. Restoration (seeking “to reconstruct classical ecosystems”).5 In this vein, tall-grass prairie restoration is the project of choice in the American Midwest. For instance, 455 acres inside the nuclear accelerator ring at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, have been targeted for return to conditions common in the 18th century.6 While such actions share in the benefits of preservation, they cannot be the rule. For this would not only arrest the application of Genesis 1:28; it would reverse it.

3. Invention (maintaining “that it is both possible and desirable . . . when the occasion warrants and the knowledge is sufficient, to create new ecosystems, new landscapes, perhaps even new species”).7 Mankind’s creative capacities are considerable and honorable, having crafted idyllic settings (e.g., British Columbia’s Butchart Gardens),8 aids to commerce (e.g., the Panama Canal), and scientifically advantageous organisms (e.g., a bacterium designed to eat oil spills).9 Indeed, invention is a chief means of extending godly dominion—and conservation.

4. Conservation (which sees “nature as a vast resource, physical and spiritual, that must be wisely husbanded so that it may continue to yield a rich harvest for human beings”).10 This is stewardship, as directed by Scripture. It supposes that the earth, its flora, fauna, and minerals, are gifts from God, which must be used thoughtfully. For instance, this is the philosophy of Ducks Unlimited, organized by sportsmen/hunters, not wildlife liquidators.11

All four can be good. The problem arises when 1, 2, or 3 is given free rein. Only conservation can ground sensible, biblical environmentalism. Take, for instance, the question of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). If one makes the preservation of wilderness an absolute, he ignores the fact that God put both the oil and the Porcupine caribou in the ANWR for a beneficent purpose, and to ignore the blessings of either is to be more idolatrous than stewardly.

But what about the loss of a “pristine” ecosystem? First, after the Fall, nothing on earth is “pristine.” Second, even before the Fall, man was instructed to “subdue” that which was pristine. But did not God call his original creation “good?” Yes, but as His subsequent mandate showed, it was to be viewed in large measure as instrumentally good, fit for high human purposes under His Lordship. So man must exercise wisdom and prudence in marshaling preservation, restoration, and invention in the cause of conservation. This is the heart of Christian environmentalism.
Footnotes:
1  

See The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement Website, http://www.vhemt.org/ (accessed July 29, 2008).
2  

“Eco-Terror Indictments: ‘Operation Backfire’ Nets 11,” Federal Bureau of Investigation Website, http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan06/elf012006.htm (accessed July 29, 2008).
3  

Frederick Turner, “The Invented Landscape,” in Environmental Ethics: Divergence and Convergence, 2nd ed., eds. Richard G. Botzler and Susan J. Armstrong (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998), 330.
4  

“Yellowstone,” National Park Service Website, http://www.nps.gov/yell/ (accessed July 29, 2008).
5  

Turner, 330.
6  

“The Tallgrass Prairie in Illinois,” Illinois Natural History Survey Website, http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/prairierestoration.html (accessed July 29, 2008).
7  

Turner, 331.
8  

See “Image Gallery,” The Butchart Gardens Website, http://www.butchartgardens.com/the-gardens/image-gallery/image-gallery.html (accessed July 29, 2008).
9  

Cf. the material facts in the Supreme Court case Diamond v. Chakrabarty (447 U.S. 403).
10  

Turner, 330.
11  

See Ducks Unlimited Website, http://www.ducks.org/ (accessed July 29, 2008).

from Kairos Journal

posted by the First Baptist Church of Perryville located at 4800 West Pulaski Highway in Cecil County, Maryland.