Where does Christianity fit?
Does not the Bible tell mankind to subdue the earth? Multiply and fill the earth?
What version of the Bible dominated the last half millennia? The King James Version (KJV). Guess when that was published: 1611. Francis Bacon was born in 1561 dying 15 years after the KJV was published. Think he had any influence there? Yep.
What about this seventh seal stuff? Is not the Bible teaching that God will destroy the world? Are you good with that? How do you think an ecologist would approach Revelation 8:7-12? Does Christianity teach that we have no need to care for the environment? Is that at least a derivative of the teachings of Revelation?
My answers to these things
If we would be true to ourselves claiming allegiance to Jesus Christ as God we must be careful not to subjugate what we call the Holy Scriptures to our modern sympathies. That does not mean go shoot an elephant and sell its tusks. It does mean that we look at the Holy Scripture with an eye to understand what God arranged to be written there.
In the early text of Genesis we see that God put man on earth and tasked him with caring for it. While the KJV Bible would say dominate that does not mean, “Go forth and fill the earth with smog.” We are to tend the earth, to direct its development training it to be something more than it naturally is. A child needs to be entrained in the ways of life and so do our plants. Have not beautiful gardens been crafted from wild things? Are not the breeds of dogs but ancestors of the wild?
So I think it is our task to go forth and care for the things put under our jurisdiction. Tyranny is ungodly, benevolent direction and training is godly.
Coming back to the environment we need to recognize that to have no regard for the things God gave us is to sin. We do not know when the events of Revelation will occur. Even if we did, though, to use up the environment without regard is to put it to ill-use.
Does God enjoy the task of the seventh seal?
Destruction of the earth is no pleasure for God. It is, rather, a part of his plan of renewal. See as I understand the world humanity is in the animal order having many things similar to the creatures of the world, BUT, mankind is something different, something more. Because humanity prefers their own way to God’s way the outflow of their lives is not Utopian excellence. Many humans harm. Remember God told the first parents to care for the world.
The real problem with our world is that mankind took its uniqueness and went his own not-so-merry way. That put humanity squarely in the rebellion corner, and God will have to come and draw it all to a conclusion. We say, “Vengeance is the Lord’s” when we talk of man-man squabbles. Well in man-earth squabble we could say, “Earth cleansing is the Lord’s.”
Carrying this further the destruction is more demolition. The earth was condemned by the actions and allegiances of its inhabitants. The earth, being God’s, will not stay condemned. There will be a celestial remodeling show and that is what is being seen in Revelation 8.
What about us?
Serve the Lord by living a godly life. Pick up litter. Don’t hate those who have a very high regard for the environment. Balance the extremes which can sometimes be preached in your churches. God loves the sockeye salmon and he loves people. He died for one and gave the other. Look forward to the great rebuild. Revelation calls it the new heavens and the new earth. Don’t let the promise of future renewal diminish your attention to your local here and now.
Ashley Cozart says
I have taken care of and subdued my small portion of earth! And…I do not litter! ?
lulrich says
Awesome! I don’t either (on purpose, that is…a pickup truck will sometimes have a mind of its own). I used to pick up a lot of litter till I developed a repetitive motion thing in my right shoulder.