Christianity’s Denial of Our Climate Crisis

I agree with Dr. Timothy Beal (Professor of Religion at Case Western Reserve University), who has said, “In some circles of Christianity, there is this notion that God created the entire rest of creation for us humans, who were created in God’s image to be rulers of it.  And then the Second Coming is going to come and we’re all going to get swept off into Heaven… [In effect the Christians say,] ‘So, God pumped all that oil down in there [in the ground] for us to use up… If it causes global warming, that’s fine because the End of Times and the Second Coming will come before we use all the oil [and other natural resources] up. And so, we Christians are good to go with this chain of events.’ ” (The quotation from Dr. Beal also appears on the website, www.ContinuingCreation.org.) I regard the inherent minimization of Global Warming as a clear shortcoming of Christianity, but a shortcoming that Pope Francis has worked to remedy with his Encyclical, On Care for Our Common Home, which builds on the Bible’s “stewardship verse” at Genesis 1:28, and on Saint Francis of Assisi’s love for plants and animals.