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Module 4: Twin Transformations
Creation Care as a Matter of Morality
and a Means of Mission
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A Matter of
Morality
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ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
• Environmental ethics is the part of
environmental philosophy which considers
the ethical relationship between human
beings and the natural environment.
• Interestingly, both Science and Religion have
only recently begun to explicitly address
moral issues related to the environment.
• The Contemporary Environmental Movement
is often attributed to a biologist named
Rachel Carson, who wrote a book in 1962
called “Silent Spring”. This book changed the
world view of many as Carson questioned the
value of scientific progress and the often
negative effect humans have on the natural
world.
• The important point here, is that explicit
environmental ethics is a recent phenomena
both in the secular and religious world.
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Many believe that creation care very much
involves moral/ethical considerations
• “...climate change will test our moral character like little
before.”
- Naomi Klein, 2014: This Changes Everything, p.48
• “It is not right for us to destroy the world God has given us.
He has created everything; as the Bible says, 'The God
who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of
heaven' (Acts 17:24). To drive to extinction something He
has created is wrong. He has a purpose for everything...”
- Billy Graham, Detroit Free Press
• “Science alone will not be able to resolve the situation
because it is a moral, spiritual and ethical one requiring
major changes in our behaviour.”
Sir Ghillean Prance (former Director of the Royal Botanic
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Gardens at Kew)
MORAL OBLIGATIONS
“If ever there were an urgent moral and spiritual issue,
this is it. We risk a two-fold betrayal – of our
responsibility to the Creator for the good stewardship of
his creation, and of our responsibility to our vulnerable
neighbours, here and world-wide, who bear the brunt of
environmental degradation and looming crisis – not to
mention our responsibility to generations to come, our
own children and grandchildren. We need to show a
deeper faithfulness to God and our neighbour…”
Dr Rowan Williams, Former Archbishop of Canterbury, in
the C of E Diocesan Environment Officers’ campaign
leaflet, Hope for the Future
• In this statement, Rowan Williams identifies three parties
to whom we have moral obligations: the Creator,
vulnerable neighbours, and generations to come.
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Our Obligation to the Creator
• God appointed us stewards or managers of the earth,
and therefore expects, even demands, that we nurture
and preserve it.
• Many believe that God will hold us accountable for how
well we have fulfilled that role (Isaiah 24:4-6; Jeremiah
2:7; Ezekiel 34:1-20; Matthew 25:31-46; Mark 4:19; Luke
16:1-13; Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrew
9:27; James 1-5; Revelation 11:18).
“The Christian world view sees the universe as created
by God, and humankind accountable to God for the use
of the resources entrusted to humankind. Ultimate
values are seen in the light of being valuable to God.”
B.T. Adeney in the New Dictionary of Christian Ethics,
1995
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• “…people today have a sensitivity to suicide,
homicide and genocide, but they commit biocide (the
killing of the life systems of the planet) and geocide
(the killing of the planet itself) simply because they
have no morality to deal with it.”
- Thomas Berry
• “the external deserts in the world are growing
because the internal deserts have become so vast.”
- Pope Benedict
• “The seriousness of ecological degradation lays bare
the depth of man's moral crisis...Simplicity,
moderation and discipline, as well as the spirit of
sacrifice, must become a part of everyday life.”
- Pope John Paul II, Peace With God, Peace With
Creation
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Is environmental degradation
a confessional issue?
A confession is a decision of the church to take
up the struggle at a particular time, and it
involves repentance on the part of the church.
• Climate change now threatens the well-
being of life on earth
• The current global economy is the
principal driver of climate change
• The Church appears far too happy to side
with the global economy.
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Our Obligation to our Neighbour
“…today we are already triaging human
populations (who gets fancy cars and
clean water versus whose children must
walk far to gather firewood and could die
of waterborne diseases), and that
situation is likely to get much worse.”
- Paul Ehrlich: 2014, Hope On Earth, p.3
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People suffer external costs
External costs include pollution, health problems,
poor wages and conditions, property damage, and
harm to other organisms
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• “Do to others whatever you
would like them to do to
you. This is the essence of all
that is taught in the law and
the prophets.”
- Jesus: Matthew 7:12 NLT
• “A second is equally
important: ‘Love your
neighbour as yourself’. ”
- Jesus: Matthew 22:39 NLT
Loving our neighbour means nurturing the
Earth on which human flourishing depends!
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Act Justly
‘The Lord loves righteousness and justice’
Psalm 33:5
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This “Love your neighbour” thing...
I meant it.
God
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Al Mendoza
Our Obligation to Future Generations
• “...climate change is also about the inescapable
impact of past generations not just upon the present,
but on generations in the future.”
- Naomi Klein, 2014: This Changes Everything, p.15
• “As Christians, we pray that God’s concerns become
our concerns – no matter what our age. God is
intensely concerned with the needs of the next
generation. We who are older and have a greater
understanding of the negative changes occurring in
nature must be bold (Psalm 92:12-14 TNIV).”
- Matthew Sleeth, 2006, Serve God Save the Planet,
pp. 41-42
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“The ultimate
test of a moral
society is the kind
of world that it
leaves to its
children.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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RUDE AWAKENING
It’s sometime in the dead of night
and I’ve been woken with a fright.
My grandkids come to me in dreams
with searching questions, so it seems:
“Grandad, what things did you avoid
in case our planet was destroyed?”
“Grandad, how was your life re-shaped
to save the earth from being raped?”
“Grandad, how did you seek to care
once tragic trends made you aware?”
“Grandad, what actions did you take
when all our futures were at stake?”
“Grandad, we’d really like to know,
because you said you loved us so!”
- Phillip Donnell 2014
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“Those of us whose lives have spanned the
seven decades since the beginning of the
Second World War will be among the most
despised and cursed generations in the whole
history of humankind. The reason why we
will be hated by our own grandchildren and
by those who come after them is simple:
never before have human beings so
exploited, damaged and degraded the earth
to the extent that we have.”
- Paul Collins, 1995: God’s Earth: Religion as if
Matter Really Mattered, p.1
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ACCOUNTABILTY
It is not fair to ascribe
responsibility in the
backward-looking sense,
i.e. to blame individuals,
for environmentally
destructive actions
unless they have had
reasonable alternatives
and resources to act in
environmentally friendly
ways.
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ACCOUNTABILTY
• It is fair to ascribe forward-looking responsibility to
individuals, based on their capacity to contribute to
solutions to environmental problems.
• Furthermore, a considerable share of forwardlooking responsibility should be ascribed to
governments and corporations because they can
make the group of capable, hence responsible,
individuals larger.
If we ascribe responsibility to governments and
corporations we have a better chance of creating
an improved society.
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ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVES
To understand Christian
environmental ethics it is
important to differentiate
between four moral
postures...
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AnthropocentricHuman-centred
• Lynn White (1967) heavily criticised
the Judeo-Christian traditions for being
one of the major vehicles for the
destruction of the earth.
• Christians believed that the earth and everything on it
was given by God to man to rule over and subdue
because of the “take dominion” clause in Genesis 1:28.
• Christians therefore placed human concerns at the
centre and the earth was for humans to do whatever
they liked with.
•Some Christians still hold to this view.
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Gifford Pinchot had an anthropocentric viewpoint
"the art of producing from the forest whatever
it can yield for the service of man."
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Biocentric
Environment-centred
• The biocentric view places the
environment at the centre of concern.
• Extreme versions of a biocentric world
view, such as those by Deep Ecologists,
place the environment on equal or higher
importance than human needs.
Very few Christians adopt this deep
ecology stance.
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Ecocentric
System-centred
• Whole ecosystems
(including human and
non-human elements)have value.
• Human needs are important but they
are just one part of the overall
scheme of things, so we also need to
look after the natural order.
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Ecocentrism
The preservation ethic
• Unspoiled nature
should be protected for
its own intrinsic value
• John Muir was a
tireless advocate for
wilderness preservation
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Ecocentrism
The land ethic
• Healthy ecological systems
depend on protecting all
parts
– Aldo Leopold believed
the land ethic changes
the role of people from
conquerors of the land to
citizens of it
• The land ethic can help
guide decision making
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The global value of all ecosystem services
• The global economic
value of all ecosystem
services equals US$46
trillion/year
– More than double
the GDP of all
nations combined
(currently $18
trillion/Year)
• Protecting land gives
100 times more value
than converting it to
some other use
The Story of Stuff
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THREE MORAL POSTURES
• Anthropocentrism = only humans have intrinsic value
• Biocentrism = non-human life has intrinsic value
• Ecocentrism = whole ecological systems have value
– A holistic perspective that preserves connections
But wait, there’s
a 4th possibility...
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Theocentric
God-centred
• It is the belief that human beings
should look after the world as
guardians and therefore in the way
God wants them to.
• Linked with the idea of stewardship
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ETHICAL PRINCIPLES TO APPLY
Justice
• Are all human beings involved in this
situation being treated equally and,
if not, why not?
• Are all living creatures involved in
this situation being treated equally
and, if not, why not?
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Sustainability
• What are the immediate and
long-term effects of the
problem before us?
• Who - humans and otherwise is affected today by the problem
before us and who will likely be
affected by this problem in the
future?
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Sufficiency
• Will the decision permit all
those involved, especially the
poor, to have enough resources
on which to live and flourish?
• Is there any aspect of the
decision that indicates the
presence of waste or excess? Or
a failure to be creative?
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Compassion
• What duties do we have to the
other creatures likely to be affected
by our actions?
• What does sufficiency mean for
other creatures, especially those
threatened with extinction?
• What would it mean to extend the
principle of compassion to nonhuman creatures?
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Solidarity
• Who are all the human stakeholders
involved in this situation?
• Who are all the natural stakeholders?
• Is there a community of life
(ecosystem) involved?
• Are there any stakeholders - human
and non-human - who are especially
vulnerable?
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Participation
• Do all stakeholders in this decision
actually have a say in how the
decision is going to be made?
• Are there any stakeholders who
cannot represent themselves? Or
who have little power? How will their
interests be represented in the
decision-making process?
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• Commands, e.g. “Do no harm”
• Consequences of our actions
(beneficial v. harmful)
• Character: What kind of person
am I becoming by engaging in
these actions in relation to the
environment?
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A Means of
Mission
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Anglican Consultative Council (one of the
authoritative international bodies of the Anglican
Communion)
• ‘To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
• To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
• To respond to human need by living service
• To seek to transform unjust structures of society,
to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue
peace and reconciliation
• To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation
and sustain and renew the life of the earth.’
(Bonds of Affection-1984 ACC-6 p49. Mission in a
Broken World-1990 ACC-8 p10 and ACC Auckland
2012)
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• The Constitution of the Anglican Church in
Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia
(from the Preambles):
…the mission of the Church includes:
(a) proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
(b) teaching, baptising and nurturing believers
within eucharistic communities of faith,
(c) responding to human needs by loving
service and
(d) seeking to transform unjust structures of
society, caring for God’s creation, and
establishing the values of the Kingdom.
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“God’s missionary purposes are
cosmic in scope, concerned with the
restoration of all things, the
establishment of shalom, the
renewal of creation and the coming
of the kingdom as well as the
redemption of fallen humanity and
the building of the Church.”
- Anglican ‘Mission Shaped Church’ Report
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“Go into all the world
and proclaim the good
news to the whole
creation."
- Jesus: Mark 16:15 NRSV
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HOW PEOPLE COME TO CHRIST
MEANS (PRIMARY INFLUENCE) PERCENTAGE RANGE
Special need
1-3
Walk-in
2-4
Pastor or church staff
Visitation/telemarketing
Sunday School/Small group
4-6
Evangelistic crusade
Church programmes
Friends and/or relatives
75-90
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Environmental
stewardship
abounds with
opportunities to
build relationships
with non-believers
in order to
influence them
toward faith in
Christ...
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In early November 2012, sixty
people from six continents
gathered in Jamaica for the
Lausanne Consultation on
Creation Care and the Gospel,
co-sponsored by the World
Evangelical Alliance
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Two major convictions
* Creation Care is indeed a gospel issue
within the lordship of Christ.
* We are faced with a crisis that is
pressing, urgent, and that must be
resolved in our generation.
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Call to Action: 10 aspects
1. A new commitment to a simple lifestyle.
2. New and robust theological work.
3. Leadership from the church in the Global South.
4. Mobilization of the whole church and engagement of
all of society.
5. Environmental missions among unreached people
groups.
6. Radical action to confront climate change.
7. Sustainable principles in food production.
8. An economy that works in harmony with God’s
creation.
9. Local expressions of creation care
10. Prophetic advocacy and healing reconciliation.
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Environmental
mission affirmed and
recognised as a new
frontier of mission.
EM projects
encouraged in both
local and overseas
contexts.
(this type of mission
does not really have
any borders!)
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