If God is not concerned with his physical world, then the doctrine of resurrection makes no sense at all. Much to the contrary, our world is the same physical world, which in the Creator’s estimation, was “very good” ( Genesis 1:31), and though it now writhes under the curse of man’s rebellious heart, the Creator has not relinquished his good world to destruction. This physical world that God created is not disposable as though it were an empty toothpaste tube that had outlived its usefulness. Scripture passages which we’ve read out of context for generations ( 1 Corinthians 15:48-50 2 Corinthians 4:16 2 Peter 3:11-12) seem to support the erroneous theories of annihilation, but when studied faithfully and contextually, a different reality begins to emerge.
There seems to be this underlying Christian belief, unconscious though it may be, that the physical world will one day be discarded and annihilated when it is used up and no longer needed. This is the fruit from the seed of Gnosticism which has germinated for centuries in the soil of careless biblical exposition, and its taste is not only bitter but deadly. However, nothing could be farther from the biblical truth than this. Whether we recognize it or not, we see our physical world, which includes our physical bodies, as something we will one day escape when we are set free. Who among us would dare contradict the proposal that Jesus died in order that he might take as many people as possible to heaven one day? In many Christian circles, we are explicitly taught that when Christ returns, we will shed the bondage of our physical bodies to inherit the glorious spiritual world of heaven. Because of our sinfulness, we need to be saved in order that we might be able to go to heaven when we die.Īlmost any Christian in the West will articulate the gospel message in similar terms as this. Mankind is in trouble because our father, Adam, sinned and consequently turned us all into sinners. If you have been part of the church at all in your life, doubtless you have heard the story of salvation articulated something like this. Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/kieferpix Gnosticism's Influence on the Christian View of Our Physical World Let me give you an example to see if this sounds familiar to you. We simply don’t want to be perceived as those who worship, or at least place a higher value on, the physical world than what is right. I suspect that this may play a small role in why some Christians may feel little responsibility for our physical world. Rightly or wrongly, my default is to associate one’s activism with worship of the creation rather than the Creator. This passage has nothing to do with environmental issues, and the occasion for its writing is nothing related to our discussion. Now, I didn’t say that my reaction was correct or even biblical. My default thought takes me to Romans 1:26 where the Bible says, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” If I may confess, I have a knee-jerk reaction almost every time I encounter an environmentalist. Do All Christians Champion Environmentalism? My purpose here is to explore possible reasons why Christians may be silent on issues related to the environment, and offer a possible correction. And I'm guessing there are other Christians who aren't exactly famous for their activism related to our physical environment.īut maybe it’s time.not only for me, but for the church collectively, to rethink our position on environmental issues-and to do so from a theological viewpoint. Though I admire the zeal with which Thunberg and her counterparts speak, and the sincerity that many environmentalists display, I find that my biblical worldview seldom leads me to show the same degree of concern for the environment as they do. Thunberg and many like her are not lacking in passion when they speak of such things as clean air, reduced emissions, ozone layer depletion, greenhouse gases, global warming, and deforestation. Thunberg is the 17-year-old Swedish environmentalist who made headlines last year when she gave a scathing speech to the United Nations in New York. Greta Thunberg may not necessarily be a household name, but her face and characteristic braided pigtails are certainly recognizable to most people by now.
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