Environmentalism as a Religion (1)

Environmentalism as a Religion (1)
Tim Haile, for the Parkway church of Christ

It was just a matter of time before the popular New Age philosophies of spiritualism, mysticism and holism would converge with environmentalism. They have now converged in a huge way. In fact, New Ageism and environmentalism are virtually inseparable in many circles. Thus we are witnessing the rise of a new religion – the religion of “mother earth.” To these new religionists, God is not the personal God that is revealed in the Scriptures. Rather, “God” is seen as the “substance” that binds the universe together. It is thought that one can only know God by knowing nature. A similar concept of God is portrayed in the popular Star Wars movie series under the description of “the force” (“may the force be with you”). The “Jedi knight” was taught to “be one with the force.” The Bible, conversely, describes God as personal and transcendent. His existence does not depend upon material things, nor does it depend upon man’s opinion of Him. The God who is revealed in the Bible is a God that existed before the universe even existed!

A person can be an “environmentalists” without subscribing to New Age views. We must define our terms. Technically, “environmentalism” is activity or advocacy in the interest of protecting the natural world from pollution and destruction. By this definition, a person can be a devoted Christian and still be an environmentalist. In fact, there is a sense in which Christians are “environmentalists.” On the sixth day of creation, God created mankind (Genesis 1:26). Man was made in the spiritual image and likeness of God. Among other qualities, this endowed man with self-awareness and the ability to engage in rational thought. These abilities, which were peculiar to man among all of God’s creatures, enabled man to occupy a special place among all of the other creatures. Man was to exercise “dominion over” all other life forms (Psalm 8:6-8). Along with this, man was also given the task of “dressing and keeping” the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). Reason tells us that we are similarly responsible for our environment today. Incidentally, one does not have to worship nature in order to see the harm that is done by poisoning lakes, streams and air! Our next article will show the fallacy of environmentalism as a religion.

View past articles at http://parkwayarticles.blogspot.com. Please join us for worship and Bible study at our building located at 125 Hilltopper Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101. We meet each Sunday at 10:00AM and 6:00PM for worship, and Sundays at 9:00AM and Wednesdays at 7:00PM for Bible study. Our radio program is aired each Sunday morning at 8:00AM on the WKCT 930AM band. Phone: (270) 842-2049 – Email: timhaile@mac.com.