Splendor and Crisis of Creation: The Biblical Vision

1. Environmental Awareness: Respect for Nature

There is a growing awareness that world peace is threatened not only by the arms race, regional conflicts and continued injustices among peoples and nations, but also by a lack of due respect for nature, by the plundering of natural resources and by a progressive decline in the quality of life. The sense of precariousness and insecurity that such a situation engenders is a seedbed for collective selfishness, disregard for others and dishonesty.

Faced with the widespread destruction of the environment, people everywhere are coming to understand that we cannot continue to use the goods of the earth as we have in the past. The public in general, as well as political leaders are concerned about this problem, and experts from a wide range of disciplines are studying its causes. Moreover, a new Environmental awareness is beginning to emerge which, rather than being downplayed, ought to be encouraged to develop into concrete programs and initiatives.

 Many ethical values, fundamental to the development of a peaceful society, are particularly relevant to the ecological question. The fact that many challenges facing the world today are interdependent confirms the need for carefully coordinated solutions based on a morally coherent worldview.

 In the Book of Genesis, where we find God's first self-revelation to humanity (Gen 1-3), there is a recurring refrain: "and God saw it was good". After creating the heavens, the sea, the earth and all it contains, God created man and woman. At this point the refrain changes markedly: "And God saw everything he had made, and behold, it was very good " (Gen 1:31). God entrusted the whole of creation to the man and woman, and only then -- as we read -- could he rest "from all his work" (Gen 2:3).

2. Development and Ecological Balance

Two decades ago it was common to speak of the need for economic "development" among "backward" nations. The assumption behind this language was that Western-style industrialization was the model of progress, and that all nations could be judged by how far they had come along on that road. Poor nations were poor because they were at some retarded stage of this evolutionary road of development. They needed economic assistance from more "developed" nations to help them "take off" faster.

In the mid-’60s there were two major movements of dissent from this model of "developmentalism." One of them occurred primarily among social thinkers in the Third World, especially Latin America, who began to reject the idea of development for that of liberation. They contended that poor countries were poor not because they were "undeveloped," but because they were miss-developed. They were the underside of a process in which, for five centuries, Western colonizing countries had stripped the colonized countries of their wealth, using cheap or slave labor, in order to build up the wealth which now underlies Western capitalism. One could not overcome this pattern of misdevelopment by a method of "assistance" that merely continues and deepens the pattern of pillage and dependency, which created the poverty in the first place.

A few years after this critique of development from a Third World standpoint, a second dissenting movement appeared, primarily among social thinkers in advanced industrial countries. This movement focused on the issue of modern industrialized societies’ ecological disharmony with the carrying capacities of the natural environment. It dealt with such issues as air, water and soil pollution the increasing depletion of finite resources, including minerals and fossil fuels; and the population explosion. This dissent found dramatic expression in the Club of Rome’s report on Limits to Growth, which demonstrated that indefinite expansion of Western-style industrialization was, in fact, impossible. This system, dependent on a small affluent minority using a disproportionate share of the World’s natural resources, was fast depleting the base upon which it rested: nonrenewable resources. To expand this type of industrialization would simply accelerate the impending debacle; instead, we must stop developing and try to stabilize the economic system and population where they are.

These two critiques of development -- the third World liberation perspective and the First World ecological perspective -- soon appeared to be in considerable conflict with each other. The liberation viewpoint stressed pulling control over the natural resources of poor countries out from under Western power so that the developmental process could continue under autonomous, socialist political systems. The First World ecological viewpoint often sounded, whether consciously or not, as though it were delivering bad news to the hopes of poor countries. Stabilizing the world as it is seemed to suggest stabilizing its unjust relationships. The First World, having developed advanced industry at the expense of the labor and resources of the Third World, was now saying: "Sorry, the goodies have just run out. There’s not enough left for you to embark on the same path." Population alarmists sounded as though Third World populations were to be the primary "targets" for reduction. Social justice and the ecological balance of humanity with the environment were in conflict. If one chose ecology, it was necessary to give up the dream of more equal distribution of goods.

2.1. Religious Responses to Environmental Crisis

In the late ‘60s there rose a spate of what might be called theological or religious responses to the ecological crisis, again primarily in advanced industrial countries. Two major tendencies predominated among such writers. One trend, represented by books, such as Theodore Roszak’s Where the Wasteland Ends, saw the ecological crisis in terms of the entire Western Judeo-Christian reality principle. Tracing the roots of this false reality principle to the Hebrew Bible itself, Roszak, among others, considered the heart of the ecological crisis to be the Biblical injunction to conquer and subdue the earth and have dominion over it. The earth and its nonhuman inhabitants are regarded as possessions or property given to "man" for "his" possession. "Man" exempts "himself" (and I use the male generic advisedly) from the community of nature, setting himself above and outside it somewhat as God "himself" is seen as sovereign over it. Humanity is God’s agent in this process of reducing the autonomy of nature and subjugating it to the dominion of God and God’s representative, man.

For Roszak and others, this conquest-and-dominion approach turned nature into a subjugated object and denied divine presence in it. Humanity could no longer stand in rapt contemplation before nature or enter into worshipful relations with it. A sense of ecstatic kinship between humanity and nature was destroyed. The divinities were driven out, and the rape of the earth began. In order to reverse the ecological crisis, therefore, we must go back to the root error of consciousness from which it derives. We must recover the religions of ecstatic kinship in nature that preceded and were destroyed by biblical religion. We must re-immerse God and humanity in nature, so that we can once again interact with nature as our spiritual kin, rather than as an enemy to be conquered or an object to be dominated. Only when we recover ancient animism’s I-Thou relationship with nature, rather than the I-It relation of Western religion, can we recover the root principle of harmony with nature that was destroyed by biblical religion and its secular stepchildren.

This neo-animist approach to the ecological crisis was persuasive, evoking themes of Western reaction to industrialism and technological rationality that began at least as far back as the romanticism of the early 19th century. But many voices quickly spoke up in defence of biblical faith. A variety of writers took exception to romantic neo-animism as the answer, contending that biblical faith in relation to nature had been misunderstood. Most of the writers in this camp tended to come up with the "stewardship" model. Biblical faith does not mandate the exploitation of the earth, but rather commands us to be good stewards, conserving earth’s goods for generations yet to come. In general, these writers did implicitly concede Roszak’s point that biblical faith rejects any mystical or animist interaction with nature. Nature must be regarded as an object, not as a subject. It is our possession, but we must possess it in a thrifty rather than a profligate way.

2.2. Economic Considerations and Environmental Crisis

One problem with both of these Western religious responses to the ecological crisis; there was very little recognition that the crisis took place within a particular economic system. The critique of the Third World liberationists was not accorded much attention or built into these responses; the ecological crisis was regarded primarily as a crisis between "man" and "nature," rather than as a crisis resulting from the way in which a particular exploitative relationship between classes, races and nations used natural resources. The "stewardship" approach suggested a conservationist model of ecology. We should conserve resources, but without much acknowledgment that they had been unjustly used within the system that was being conserved. The counter cultural approach, on the other hand, did tend to be critical of Western industrialism, but in a romantic, primitive way. It idealized agricultural and handicraft economies but had little message for the victims of poverty who had already been displaced from that world of the pre-industrial village. Thus, it has little to say to the concerns of Third World economic justice, except to suggest that the inroads of Western industrialism should be resisted by turning back the clock.

Is there a third approach that has been overlooked by both the nature mystics and the puritan conservationists? Both of these views seem to me inadequate to provide a vision of the true character of the crisis and its solution. We cannot return to the Eden of the pre-industrial village. However, many those societies may possess elements of wisdom, these elements must be recovered by building a new society that also incorporates modern technological development. The counter cultural approach never suggests ways of grappling with and changing the existing system. Its message remains at the level of dropping out into the pre-industrial farm -- an option that, ironically, usually depends on having an independent income!

The stewardship approach, with its mandate of thrift within the present system, rather than recognition of that system’s injustice, lacks a vision of a new and different economic order. Both the romantic and the conservationist approaches never deal with the question of eco-justice; namely, the reordering of access to and use of natural resources within a just economy. How can ecological harmony become part of a system of economic justice?

 

3. Protecting the Environment for Future Generations

 

The common good calls us to extend our concern to future generations. Climate change poses the question "What does our generation owe to generations yet unborn?" As Pope John Paul II has written, "there is an order in the universe which must be respected, and . . . the human person, endowed with the capability of choosing freely, has a grave responsibility to preserve this order for the well-being of future generations."1
A more responsible approach to population issues is the promotion of "authentic development," which represents a balanced view of human progress and includes respect for nature and social well-being.2 Development policies that seek to reduce poverty with an emphasis on improved education and social conditions for women are far more effective than usual population reduction programs and far more respectful of women's dignity.3

 

Developing countries have a right to economic development that can help lift people out of dire poverty. Wealthier industrialized nations have the resources, know-how, and entrepreneurship to produce more efficient cars and cleaner industries. These countries need to share these emerging technologies with the less-developed countries and assume more of the financial responsibility that would enable poorer countries to afford them. This would help developing countries adopt energy-efficient technologies more rapidly while still sustaining healthy economic growth and development.4 Industries from the developed countries operating in developing nations should exercise a leadership role in preserving the environment.

 

4. Misinterpretations of Scripture

To find a theology and/or spirituality of eco-justice, I would suggest that, in fact, our best foundation lies precisely in the Hebrew Bible -- that same biblical vision which, anachronistically, the romantics have labeled as the problem and which the conservationists have interpreted too narrowly and un-perceptively. Isaiah 24 offers one of the most eloquent statements of this biblical vision that is found particularly in the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Puritan conservationists have too readily accepted a 19th century theology that sets history against nature -- a theology which is basically western European rather than biblical. The biblical vision is far more "animistic" than they have been willing to concede. In Scripture, nature itself operates as a powerful medium of God’s presence or absence. Hills leap for joy and rivers clap their hands in God’s presence or, conversely, nature grows hostile and barren as a medium of divine wrath.

The romantics, on the other hand, have blamed Scripture for styles of thought about nature that developed in quite different circles. The concept of nature as evil and alien to humanity began basically in late apocalyptic and Gnostic thought in the Christian era. The divine was driven out of nature not to turn nature into a technological instrument, but rather to make it the habitation of the devil; the religious "man" should shun it and flee from it in order to save "his" soul for a higher spiritual realm outside of and against the body and the visible, created world. Christianity and certainly Judaism objected to this concept as a denial of the goodness of God’s creation, though Christianity became highly infected by this negative view of nature throughout its first few centuries, and that influence continued to be felt until well into the 17th century.

The new naturalism and science of the 17th century initially had the effect of restoring the vision of nature as good, orderly and benign -- the arena of the manifestation of God’s divine reason, rather than of the devil’s malice. But this Deist view of nature (as the manifestation of divine reason) was soon replaced by a Cartesian worldview that set human reason outside and above nature. It is this technological approach -- treating nature as an object to be reduced to human control -- that is the heart of modern exploitation, but it does not properly correspond to any of the earlier religious visions of nature. Any recovery of an appropriate religious vision, moreover, must be one that does not merely ignore these subsequent developments, but that allows us to review and critique where we have gone wrong in our relationship to God’s good gift of the earth. In my opinion, it is precisely the vision of the Hebrew prophets that provides at least the germ of that critical and prophetic vision.

4.1. A Covenantal Vision: Eco Justice

The prophetic vision neither treats nature in a romantic way nor reduces it to a mere object of human use. Rather, it recognizes that human interaction which nature has made with nature itself. In relation to humanity, nature no longer exists "naturally," for it has become part of the human social drama, interacting with humankind as a vehicle of historical judgment and a sign of historical hope. Humanity as a part of creation is not outside nature but within it. But this is the case because nature itself is part of the covenant between God and creation. By this covenantal view, nature’s responses to human use or abuse become an ethical sign. The erosion of the soil in areas that have been abused for their mineral wealth, the pollution of the air where poor people live, are not just facts of nature; what we have is an ethical judgment on the exploitation of natural resources by the rich at the expense of the poor. It is no accident that nature is most devastated where poor people live.

When human beings break their covenant with society by exploiting the labor of the worker and refusing to do anything about the social costs of production -- i.e., poisoned air and waters -- the covenant of creation is violated. Poverty, social oppression, war and violence in society, and the polluted, barren, hostile face of nature -- both express this violation of the covenant. The two are profoundly linked together in the biblical vision as parts of one covenant, so that, more and more, the disasters of nature become less a purely natural fact and increasingly become a social fact. The prophetic text of Isaiah 24 vividly portrays this link between social and natural hostility in the broken order of creation: Behold the Lord will lay waste the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants . . .The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly despoiled; . . . The earth mourns and withers, the world languishes and withers; . . .The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes. Broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; the city of chaos is broken down, every house is shut up so that none can enter . . .Desolation is left in the city; the gates are battered into ruins. [Is. 24:1, 3, 4-5, 10, 12]

                                         

But this tale of desolation in society and nature is not the end of the prophetic vision, when humanity mends its relation to God, the result must be expressed not in contemplative flight from earth but rather in the rectifying of the covenant of creation. The restoration of just relations between peoples restores peace to society and, at the same time, heals nature’s enmity. Just, peaceful societies in which people are not exploited also create, peaceful, harmonious and beautiful natural environments. This outcome is the striking dimension of the biblical vision. The Peaceable Kingdom is one where nature experiences the loss of hostility between animal and animal, and between human and animal. The wolf dwells with the lamb, the leopard lies down with the kid, and the little child shall lead them. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. . . . (Is. 11:9).

The biblical dream grows as lush as a fertility religion in its description of the flowering of nature in the reconciled kingdom of God’s Shalom. The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. [Is. 35:1-2] "The tree, bears its fruit, the fig trees and vine give their full yield. Rejoice in the Lord, for he has given early rain the threshing floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil." [Joel 2:22-24]  "Behold the days are coming." says the Lord, "when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the trader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it." [Amos 9:13]

In the biblical view, the raping of nature and the exploitation of people in society are profoundly understood as part of one reality, creating disaster in both. We look not to the past but to a new future, brought about by social repentance and conversion to divine commandments, so that the covenant of creation can be rectified and God’s Shalom brought to nature and society. Just as the fact of nature and society grows hostile through injustice, so it will be restored to harmony through righteousness. The biblical understanding of nature, therefore, inheres in a human ethical vision, a vision of eco-justice, in which the enmity or harmony of nature with humanity is part of the human historical drama of good and evil. This is indeed the sort of ecological theology we need today, not one of either romance or conservationism, but rather an ecological theology of ethical, social seriousness, through which we understand our human responsibility for ecological destruction and its deep links with the struggle to create a just and peaceful social order.

We could make it a national policy to wean agriculture from its dependence on fossil fuels as rapidly as possible. This effort would merge with existing movements for sustainable agriculture and organic farming. We should also encourage the production of food near the places where it is consumed, reducing dependence on packaging and transportation. Systematic national programs of these sorts would lead to a steady and substantial decline in the emission of greenhouse gases and greatly increase our ability to lead the family of nations into international agreements on the environment. We need to reexamine our basic commitment to economic growth. Why are we so convinced that growth is needed? It does not contribute to general economic betterment. Most of the monetary gains go to the wealthiest 1 percent, and it is doubtful that they are any happier as a result. Why not redirect our emphasis from economic growth to economic improvement as one element in a total improvement of the human and ecological situation?

Our God has for so long been in economic growth that such a proposal may seem heretical and unrealistic. We are called to worship God, not wealth. God cares for the earth. Surely we should put the long-term well being of the earth and all its inhabitants above the enrichment of the rich. If we did so the solution to the problem of global warming would be far easier. We could make it a national policy to wean agriculture from its dependence on fossil fuels as rapidly as possible. This effort would merge with existing movements for sustainable agriculture and organic farming. We should also encourage the production of food near the places where it is consumed, reducing dependence on packaging and transportation. Systematic national programs of these sorts would lead to a steady and substantial decline in the emission of greenhouse gases and greatly increase our ability to lead the family of nations into international agreements on the environment.

We need to reexamine our basic commitment to economic growth. Why are we so convinced that growth is needed? It does not contribute to general economic betterment. Most of the monetary gains go to the wealthiest 1 percent, and it is doubtful that they are any happier as a result. Why not redirect our emphasis from economic growth to economic improvement as one element in a total improvement of the human and ecological situation?  Our god has for so long been economic growth that such a proposal may seem heretical and unrealistic. Christians, however, are called to worship God, not wealth. God cares for the earth. Surely we should put the long-term well being of the earth and all its inhabitants above the enrichment of the rich. If we did so the solution to the problem of global warming would be far easier.

5. Splendor of Creation: Biblical Vision

In Genesis, God said, "till it and keep it", (Gen 2:15) this should be understood not as dominion over the whole world, but as the ‘stewardship’ of human beings over the creatures. We must have a relationship of mutuality with other creatures and we must empathies and participate with, delight in, and accompany the creatures to bring about a communion of all sections of creation whose head is God himself.13 Genesis teaches us that the Lord God formed us "out of the dust of the ground" (Gen 2:7; 3:19). Psalm 139 thanks God for fashioning us fearfully and wonderfully "in secret", "in the depths of the earth". The Psalms delight at and are full of awe over the mystery of our intimacy with the earth, our intimacy with "fire and hail, snow and mist", "mountains and all hills", "sea monsters and all depths" (Ps 148). Psalm 104, one of the most lyrical praises, sings the glory of God "robed in light as with a cloak", who "spread out the heavens like a tent cloth" and "made the moon to mark the seasons".

5.1 Creation: Story of Ecological Balance

When we read the Bible we understand that the entire story of creation of the world is so intrinsically connected with the story of ecological balance from within. At His command the earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it and the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and birds fly above the earth and the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. …Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping things that creeps upon the earth.” So God created humankind in his image in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Gen 1:1- 1:28) The covenant with Noah is indicative of God’s concern for all living creatures along with human beings. Strange but true! (Gen 8:18–9:17)

Seasons of the year and productivity of the land are intrinsically connected with God. You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. If you follow my statutes and keep my commandments and observe them faithfully, I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit (Lev 26:2–4). But if you will not obey me, and do not observe all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and abhor my ordinances, so that you will not observe all my commandments, and you break my covenant, I in turn will do this to you: I will bring terror on you; consumption and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it (Lev 26:14–16). Human beings conduct has direct connection with nature’s blessings. “I will break your proud glory, and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like copper. Your strength shall be spent to no purpose: your land shall not yield its produce, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit” (Lev 26:19–20). Sensitivity to animals in trouble is appreciated and acknowledged in the Bible. “You shall not watch your neighbor’s ox or sheep straying away and ignore them; you shall take them back to their owner. If the owner does not reside near you or you do not know who the owner is, you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until the owner claims it; then you shall return it. You shall do the same with a neighbor’s donkey; you shall do the same with a neighbor’s garment; and you shall do the same with anything else that your neighbor loses and you find. You may not withhold your help.” (Deut 22:1–4) Again we read: “If you come on a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, with the mother sitting on the fledglings or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. Let the mother go, taking only the young for yourself, in order that it may go well with you and you may live long.” (Deut 22:6–7)

The Bible shows nature’s link with God who created it, blessed it, and shows himself through it. He appears in fire, in wind, and in water. God also uses nature to bring humans closer to him and to punish them when they go astray. Everything in the world, therefore, remains sacred since it is linked with God and leads to him. Various texts in the Psalms (Ps 19:1-7; 98:7-9; 104:1-5, 13-25; 148:3-13) show that all things on earth are seen as God’s handiwork, which bring him honor and praise by their very existence. However, there is also the perception that creatures can really praise God only through human beings.

The prophet Daniel in a canticle calls on all the "works of the Lord" to bless him: "Let the earth bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. Mountains and hills, bless the Lord, everything growing from the earth bless the Lord" (Dan 3:74-76). The last chapters of the Book of Job call upon the animals, nature, birds, etc., and praise God for their presence. Chapter 12 urges humans to learn humbly from the earth:  “But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of sea will declare to you. (Job 12:7–8). The Bible is concerned with salvation or life-giving blessings not only in the afterlife but also within this world and within present history, individual and collective. It envisions a new world and a new history. Its salvific concern embraces nature, that is, the earth, air, trees, seas and birds.

5.2 Jesus, an Ecologist

The cosmos is God’s ‘womb’, as it were. The intimate relationship between God and the cosmos explodes with seminal energy that generates and regenerates life. God, as it were, energizes the cosmos and the cosmos in return dances with the creator. In Jesus’ teaching, one can see his ecological concern in his language. He used ordinary creatures such as birds, lilies, grass, etc., to help to put his message of concern for the world across. He also shared his experience of a loving God dynamically present in the world. He is encouraging his listeners to have eyes that see and ears that hear the movement of God in the world. Jesus was passing on to his listeners what he had discovered about God’s reign in the natural things around him.

The miracles of Jesus (thirty seven of them in the Synoptic Gospels and seven in John) form a major section of the Gospels and reveal Jesus’ concern for the world as such. Through the miracles Jesus destroys the "domination" of Satan over the created realities and establishes the "dominion" of God, which is liberating. In this sense all the miracles have ecological resonance. The nature miracles (Mk 4:35-41; 6:45-62, etc.) invite us to trust in the absolute power of God in the midst of ecological disasters. The feeding miracles (Mk 6:30-44; 8:1-10) tell us about the abundant resources of nature, which provide us with food and drink, and which need to be evenly distributed according to the needs of the people. The miracles of exorcism (Mk 5:2-20; Lk 4:35-41, etc.) reveal that cosmic ecological harmony is on the agenda of God who directs the forces of ecocide. The healing miracles (Mk 5:25-34, etc.) call us to be God’s stewards in the restoration of the disfigured images of God in creation, especially, human beings. The resuscitation miracles (Mk 5:21-21, 35-43, etc.) challenge us not to be silent spectators of the world-wide ecological holocaust that is taking place, but to be active agents in the creation of "a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev 21:1-4).  A serious reflection on the life-events of Jesus Christ, his teaching and his miracles from an ecological point of view is very inspiring. Today, if one reads the Gospel from an ecological perspective one can see Jesus of the Gospel as an ‘Ecologist.’

6. Estrangement of Humans from Nature

In the Bible's account of Noah, the world's new beginning was marked by the estrangement of humans from nature. Hosea, for example, cries out: There is no fidelity, no mercy and no knowledge of God in the land. False swearing, lying, murder, stealing and adultery! In their lawlessness, bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore, the land mourns, and everything that dwells in it languishes: The beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and even the fish of the sea perish (Hos 4:1b-3).

The idea of social justice is inextricably linked in the Scriptures with ecology. In passage after passage, environmental degradation and social injustice go hand in hand. Indeed, the first instance of "pollution" in the Bible occurs when Cain slays Abel and his blood falls on the ground, rendering it fallow. According to Genesis, after the murder, when Cain asks, "Am I my brother's keeper?" the Lord replies, "Your brother's blood calls out to me from the ground. What have you done?" God then tells Cain that his brother's blood has defiled the ground and that as a result, "no longer will it yield crops for you, even if you toil on it forever!"

In today's world, the links between social injustice and environmental degradation can be seen everywhere: the placement of toxic waste dumps in poor neighborhoods, the devastation of indigenous peoples and the extinction of their cultures when the rain forests are destroyed, disproportionate levels of lead and toxic air pollution in inner-city ghettos, the corruption of many government officials by people who seek to profit from the unsustainable exploitation of resources.

In the biblical vision, therefore, injustice results in suffering for all creation.
To curb the abuse of the land and of fellow humans, ancient Israel set out legal protections aimed at restoring the original balance between land and people (see Lev 25). Every seventh year, the land and people were to rest; nature would be restored by human restraint. And every seventh day, the Sabbath rest gave relief from unremitting toil to workers and beasts alike. It invited the whole community to taste the goodness of God in creation. In worship, moreover, the Sabbath continues to remind us of our dependence on God as his creatures, and so of our kinship with all that God has made. But people did not honor the law. A few went on accumulating land, many were dispossessed, and the land itself became exhausted. God then sent his prophets to call the people back to their responsibility. Again the people hardened their hearts; they had compassion for neither the land nor its people. The prophets promised judgment for the evil done the people of the land, but they also foresaw a day of restoration, when the harmony between humanity and the natural world would be renewed (see Is 32:15b-20). Saints like Benedict, Hildegard, and Francis showed us, that we form a community with all creation.

7. Conclusion: Respect the Dynamic Balance in Nature

Theology, philosophy and science all speak of a harmonious universe, of a "cosmos" endowed with its own integrity, its own internal, dynamic balance. This order must be respected. The human race is called to explore this order, to examine it with due care and to make use of it while safeguarding its integrity. On the other hand, the earth is ultimately a common heritage, the fruits of which are for the benefit of. In the words of the Second Vatican Council, "God destined the earth and all it contains for the use of every individual and all peoples" (Gaudium et Spes, 69). This has direct consequences for the problem at hand. It is manifestly unjust that a privileged few should continue to accumulate excess goods, squandering available resources, while masses of people are living in conditions of misery at the very lowest level of subsistence. Today, the dramatic threat of ecological breakdown is teaching us the extent to which greed and selfishness -- both individual and collective -- are contrary to the order of creation, an order that is characterized by mutual interdependence. Our ancestors viewed the earth as rich and bountiful, which it is.  Many people in the past also saw nature as inexhaustibly sustainable, which we now know is the case only if we care for it.  It is not difficult to forgive destruction in the past that resulted from ignorance.  Today, however, we have access to more information.  It is essential that we reexamine ethically what we have inherited, what we are responsible for, and what we will pass on to coming generations.

Clearly this is a pivotal generation.  Global communication is possible, yet confrontations take place more often than meaningful dialogues for peace.  Our marvels of science and technology are matched, if not outweighed, by many current tragedies, including human starvation in some parts of the world and extinction of other life forms.  Exploration of outer space takes place at the same time the earth’s own ocean, seas and freshwater areas grow increasingly polluted, and their life forms are still largely unknown or misunderstood.

Many of the earth's habitats, animals, plants, insects, and even microorganisms that we know as rare may not be known at all by future generations.  We have the capability and the responsibility.  We must act before it is too late. The concepts of an ordered universe and a common heritage both point to the necessity of a more internationally coordinated approach to the management of the earth. In many cases the effects of ecological problems transcend the borders of individual States; hence their solution cannot be found solely on the national level. Recently there have been some promising steps towards such international action, yet the existing mechanisms and bodies are clearly not adequate for the development of a comprehensive plan of action. Political obstacles, forms of exaggerated nationalism and economic interests -- to mention only a few factors – impede international cooperation and long-term effective action. Hence we need to take pro-active steps at the personal, national and international level to keep up the dynamic balance in nature

Bibliography

1)         Bailey, Liberty Hyde. The Holy Earth. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1915.

2)         Bergant, Dianne. The Earth Is the Lord’s: The Bible, Ecology, and Worship. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1998.

3)         Berry, Thomas, and Thomas Clarke. Befriending the Earth: A Theology of Reconciliation between Humans and the Earth. eds. Stephen Dunn and Anne Lonergan. Mystic, Conn.: Twenty-Third Publications, 1991.

4)         Berry, Thomas. The Dream of the Earth. San Francisco, Calif.: Sierra Club Books, 1988.

5)         Bhagat, Shantilal P. Creation in Crisis: Responding to God’s Covenant. Elgin, Ill.: Brethren Press, 1990.

6)         Black, John. The Dominion of Man: The Search for Ecological Responsibility. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1970.

7)         Boff, Leonardo. Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor. Translated by Philip Berryman. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1997.

8)         Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Creation and Fall: A Theological Exposition of Genesis 1–3. ed. John W. de Gruchy. Translated by Douglas Stephen Bax. vol. 3 of Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress, 1997.

9)         Burrell, David B., and Elena Malits. Original Peace: Restoring God’s Creation. New York: Paulist Press, 1997.

10)       Carmody, John. Ecology and Religion: Toward a New Christian Theology of Nature. New York: Paulist Press, 1983.

11)       Christiansen, Drew, and Walter Grazer, eds. “And God Saw That It Was Good”: Catholic Theology and the Environment. Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1996.

12)       Clinebell, Howard J. Ecotherapy: Healing Ourselves, Healing the Earth. Philadelphia, Pa.: Fortress, 1996.

13)       Clines, David J. A., ed. The Bible and the Future of the Planet: An Ecology Reader. The Biblical Seminar, no. 56. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998.

14)       Cohen, Jeremy. “Be Fertile, Fill the Earth and Master It”: The Ancient and Medieval Career of a Biblical Text. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1989. Reprint, Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1991.

15)       DeWitt, Calvin B. Caring for Creation: Responsible Stewardship of God’s Handiwork. eds. James W. Skillen and Luis E. Lugo. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1998.

16)       Edwards, Denis. Jesus the Wisdom of God: An Ecological Theology. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1995.

17)       Elsdon, Ron. Greenhouse Theology: Biblical Perspectives on Caring for Creation. Tunbridge Wells, England: Monarch, 1992.

18)       Faricy, Robert. Wind and Sea Obey Him: New Approaches to a Theology of Nature. London: SCM Press, 1982. Reprint. Westminster, Md.: Christian Classics, 1988.

19)       Gottlieb, Roger S., ed. This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment. New York: Routledge, 1996.

20)       Granberg-Michaelson, Wesley. Redeeming the Creation: The Rio Earth Summit: Challenges for the Churches. Geneva: World Council of Churches Publications, 1992.

21)       Gray, Elizabeth Dodson. Green Paradise Lost. Reprint. Wellesley, Mass.: Roundtable Press, 1981, c1979.

22)       Gregorios, Paulos Mar. The Human Presence: Ecological Spirituality and the Age of the Spirit. New York: Amity, 1987. Originally published as The Human Presence: An Orthodox View of Nature (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1978).

23)       Hiebert, Theodore. “Re-imaging Nature: Shifts in Biblical Interpretation.” Interpretation (January 1996): 36–46.

24)       Jegen, Mary Evelyn, and Bruno V. Manno, eds. The Earth Is the Lord’s: Essays on Stewardship. New York: Paulist Press, 1978.

25)       John Paul II, Pope. “Peace with God the Creator-Peace with All of Creation.” World Day of Peace Message, 1 January 1990. Origins, CNS Documentary

26)       Jung, L. Shannon. We Are Home: A Spirituality of the Environment. New York: Paulist Press, 1993.

27)       Vorster, W. S., ed. Are We Killing God’s Earth? Pretoria, South Africa: University of South Africa, 1987.

Ecological Stewardship: The Biblical Perspective

Rev. Dr. Davis George

Abstract

The effects of ecological degradation surround us: the smog in our cities; chemicals in our water and on our food; eroded topsoil blowing in the wind; the loss of valuable wetlands; radioactive and toxic waste lacking adequate disposal sites; threats to the health of industrial and farm workers. The problems, however, reach far beyond our own neighborhoods and work places. Our problems are the world's problems and burdens for generations to come. Poisoned water crosses borders freely. Acid rain pours on countries that do not create it. Greenhouse gases and chlorofluorocarbons have affected the earth's atmosphere for many decades, regardless of where they are produced or used.

The ecological crisis, at its core, is a moral challenge. It calls us to examine how we use and share the goods of the earth, what we pass on to future generations, and how we live in harmony with God's creation. Caught in a spiral of poverty and environmental degradation, poor people suffer acutely from the loss of soil fertility, pollution of rivers and urban streets, and the destruction of forest resources. Overcrowding and unequal land distribution often force them to overwork the soil, clear the forests, or migrate to marginal land. Their efforts to eke out a bare existence adds in its own way to environmental degradation and not infrequently to disaster for themselves and others who are equally poor. Sustainable economic policies that reduce current stresses on natural systems and are consistent with sound environmental policy in the long term, must be put into effect. At the same time, the world economy must come to include hundreds of millions of poor families who live at the edge of survival. In the face of these challenges, a new spirit of responsibility for the earth has begun to grow.

 

We have become more aware that we share the earth with other creatures. But humans, made in the image and likeness of God, are called in a special way to "cultivate and care for it" (Gen 2:15). Thus the Creator of this Universe made human beings stewards of his creation. Men and women, therefore, bear a unique responsibility under God: to safeguard the created world and by their creative labor even to enhance it. Safeguarding creation requires us to live responsibly within it, rather than manage creation as though we are outside it. The human family is charged with preserving the beauty, diversity, and integrity of nature, as well as with fostering its productivity. Yet, God alone is sovereign over the whole earth. "The LORD'S are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it" (Ps 24:1).

 

We are not free, therefore, to use created things capriciously. Gandhi once remarked, “in the world, there is enough for man’s need, but not enough for man’s greed.” Humanity's arrogance and acquisitiveness, however, led time and again to our growing alienation from nature (see Gen 3–4, 6–9, 11ff) The whole human race suffers as a result of environmental blight, and generations yet unborn will bear the cost for our failure to act today. In the proposed paper, we shall explore the ecological stewardship from the Biblical perspective and encourage the present and future generations to take concrete steps to prevent environmental crisis and replenish this world so that the heavens may continue to proclaim the glory of God and the earth may continue to sustain life.

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Rev. Dr. Davis George, Principal, St. Aloysius’ College, Jabalpur-482 001. E-mail: davisgeorge@rediffmail.com

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1           John Paul II, "The Exploitation of the Environment Threatens the Entire Human Race," address to the Vatican symposium on the environment (1990), in Ecology and Faith: The Writings of Pope John Paul II, ed. Sr. Ancilla Dent, OSB (Berkhamsted, England: Arthur James, 1997), 12.

2               John Paul II, On Social Concern, ch. four. This chapter of the encyclical gives a more complete definition of the concept of authentic development.

3               Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), nos. 50-51, in Austin Flannery, ed., Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, new rev. ed., 1st vol. (Northport, N.Y.: Costello Publishing, 1996).

4               See also treatment of this topic in Stewardship: A Disciple's Response (Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1993), 27.