Here is a terrific essay by Wendell Berry on the responsibility of Christians to care for the natural world -- Creation -- a lot more than we do. Excerpt:
If we read the Bible, keeping in mind the desirability of those two survivals--of Christianity and the Creation--we are apt to discover several things that modern Christian organizations have kept remarkably quiet about, or have paid little attention to.
We will discover that we humans do not own the world or any part of it: "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof: the world and they that dwell therein" (Ps. 24:1). There is in our human law, undeniably, the concept and right of "land ownership." But this, I think, is merely an expedient to safeguard the mutuality of belonging without which there can be no lasting and conserving settlement of human communities. This right of human ownership is limited by mortality and by natural constraints upon human attention and responsibility; it quickly becomes abusive when used to justify large accumulations of "real estate," and perhaps for that reason such large accumulations are forbidden in the twenty-fifth chapter of Leviticus. In biblical terms, the "landowner" is the guest and steward of God: "the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me" (Lev. 25:23).
We will discover that God made not only the parts of Creation that we humans understand and approve, but all of it: "all things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made" John 1:3). And so we must credit God with the making of biting and dangerous beasts, and disease-causing microorganisms. That we may disapprove of these things does not mean that God is in error, or that the creator ceded some of the work of Creation to Satan; it means that we are deficient in wholeness, harmony, and understanding--that is, we are "fallen."
We will discover that God found the world, as he made it, to be good; that he made it for his pleasure; and that he continues to love it and to find it worthy, despite its reduction and corruption by us. People who quote John 3:16 as an easy formula for getting to heaven neglect to see the great difficulty implied in the statement that the advent of Christ was made possible by God's love for the world--not God's love for Heaven or for the world as it might be, but for the world as it was and is. Belief in Christ is thus made dependent upon prior belief in the inherent goodness--the lovability--of the world.
We will discover that the Creation is not in any sense independent of the Creator, the result of a primal creative act long over and done with, but is the continuous, constant participation of all creatures in the being of God. Elihu said to Job that if God "gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together . . . " Job 34:15). And Psalm 104 says: "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created.... " Creation is God's presence in creatures. The Greek Orthodox theologian, Philip Sherrard, has written that "Creation is nothing less than the manifestation of God's hidden being."(n1) Thus we and all other creatures live by a sanctity that is inexpressibly intimate. To every creature the gift of life is a portion of the breath and spirit of God. As the poet, George Herbert, put it,
Thou are in small things great, not small in any.... For thou art infinite in one and all.(n2)
We will discover that, for these reasons, our destruction of nature is not just bad stewardship, or stupid economics, or a betrayal of family responsibility; it is the most horrid blasphemy. It is flinging God's gifts into his face, as of no worth beyond that assigned to them by our destruction of them.
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Wendell Berry's scriptural argument appears sturdy, but it's the rage of the conclusion that really makes it stick in the memory. It raises the larger question: Why do so few of us (Christian or other) really care about the destruction of nature? What greater gift could we be given?
I thought that this was a very powerful essay. I don't know that people don't care about the destruction of nature, but we seem to value individual ownership and property rights over that of the larger community. In the last 2 places where I've lived(NJ and eastern PA), the community has been trying to preserve farmland and open space. It's hard to do because so many people think that people who own land should be able to do with their land what they want. There's a lot of discussion in NJ and eastern PA because the open land is becoming more and more scarce. When I lived in NJ, a developer received permission to put roads across wetlands so that he could build a house behind our home. I don't know who in the heck would want to live in a house surrounded by wetlands, but I'm sure that someone is the proud owner of the house in the swamp. I don't know, maybe it goes back to the idea of putting the individual & the right to profit over what's best for the community. I agree with Wendell Berry's assessment that those ideas aren't Biblical based. Christians should put the needs of God's creation(& that includes animals and plants)over the need to profit. So should Jews and Muslims.
Thanks for reprinting this, Rod. I read this essay many years ago when it appeared in a now-defunct Orthodox journal called Epiphany, and I credit it with starting my thinking along these lines. Another very good essay on this issue is one by Bishop Kallistos Ware called "Through the Creation to the Creator." I'm not sure if it's in print anymore but it is available as a taped lecture here:
http://www.orthodoxtapes.org/catalog/ware_bishop_kallistos.html
Wendell Berry is truly a national treasure. One of the great writers of our time. The "Bible as outdoor book" is a very powerful image. He writes, "What the Bible might mean, or how it could mean anything, in a closed, air-conditioned building, I do not know. I know that holiness cannot be confined."
Amen. I have visited a number of mega-churches and I'm always amazed at the techno-gadgetry and the size of the HVAC systems required to cool these places. The Dallas News ran an article recently about "green" churches and Prestonwood Baptist's efforts to use less energy. I was "shocked" to learn that Prestonwood's average utility bill is over $250,000.
I'm glad Rod posted this one.
I love this article. Philip Sherrard, (quoted by Berry) is one of my favorite authors and really got me thinking about my Republican/Capitalistic background, especially how Anti-Christian it really is. His work, "The rape of man and nature, an inquiry into the Origins and consequences of modern science" deals directly with how we got into this messed up state of affairs and why Christians missed the boat in condemning it.
As for "practical science", one must consider that one of the biggest reasons we are in this mess is due largely to the reductionism of science on the natural world. Starting with Descartes, scientist have been killing and dissecting (actually they dissected dogs while they were still alive) in order to "study" the natural world. How many of our environmental problems are due to the combined "science/industrial" monster! Wendell Berry's "Life is a Miracle" tries to remind us that life is more than its quantifiable parts.
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