Christians and climate change

[TheMemSaab]

Hi there, I am a Christian and haven't posted on here for ages. I am interested to know what other Christians think about climate change and what our response should be. I have been reading about the recent IPCC report and how we have about 11 years within which to react and reduce our greenhouse gases. And if we don't manage it then the effects on the planet will be fairly catastrophic and irreversible. I find that pretty scary and can't believe that God wouldn't have something to say to us about that. I don't understand why Christians aren't at the forefront of leading change. If we are the hope of the world and are meant to be reaching out with God's love for humanity, how on Earth can we ignore this??

Because God works in mysterious ways

Aren't Christians looking forward to the end times? The sooner the rapture the better! At least that's what I have heard.

I have two close family members who are christians- both very different denominations.

Neither of them worry about climate change- it is part of god's plan and part of the end times.
They simply trust in the lord.

I try and separate the scientific from the belief.
Don't forget God had destroyed the world on a number of occasions and I think humans have been around a lot less then dinasaurs were (need to fact check) the planet earth will be here longer then any if us and we are a small blip.
We should be looking after the world as God told us too, most people cannot think beyond their life experience or life time to do that. Every person is responsible for their actions, this works if you believe in God (and want to live a godly life) or just if you are a decent human being
I'm not a fan of organised religion as the religion gets in the way of the message. Tbf jesus wasn't a fan of the existing establish way either.

My sister takes the view that if we try to prevent climate change then we are interfering in god's work.

She refuses to recycle for instance, or take any measures to reduce her consumption.
She does have a huge store of canned food, candles etc in her garage for the end days.

The current Pope Francis actually wrote an encyclical, which is a formal written teaching for the whole church (it is not compulsory to follow but is teaching for Catholics to seriously consider) on the environment and our relationship to it.

Laudato Si which means “Praise to You” is the name of the encyclical, it was published in May 2015.

Not all christians are catholic.

Some would say that catholics are not christian.

Believe me not all Christians take that view and there are plenty of Christian organisations campaigning for better stewardship of God's earth and vulnerable communities affected by climate change. A Rocha is one of them. I mean there are a lot of denominations and different views but I have never heard climate change denial preached, promoted or inferred it in any way from the Bible. confused face (in case converted to bottle of gin by phone app)

Walkingdead I’m sure that was a cynical comment and you are aware that there a huge range of theological opinions that fall under the umbrella of “Christian”.Those that descend from the ancient churches:Catholic, Orthodox, Chaldean, Coptic etc. will have extremely different opinions from a modern Protestant Church that only has members in one state of the US for example. For example “The Rapture” is a Protestant concept and only some Protestants of a certain theological persuasion have that belief.

I can't remember the bible mentioning climate change.

Yes Speakout I wasn’t suggesting that they were. When I said “the whole church” I was referring to the whole Catholic Church which is throughout the world on every continent. So when a Pope speaks out formally like this the church listens as a whole, thinks about and reflects on the teaching. He wanted to make sure everyone was having the conversation throughout the church.

The OP seemed to be throwing the question wide and asking for feedback and I was just letting the OP know that the encyclical existed if they were interested. I gave no assumption or judgement on any other Christian - just purely sharing information. I know that many Catholics have been very active for decades if not hundreds of years in the area of care for the environment so this is not something new for Catholics. I think the Pope just wanted to bring everyone in the church into the conversation and be aware it was a priority. He was quoting St. Francis of Assisi in the title of the encyclical, who most people know had a great love of creation 700 + years ago and is a beloved Catholic saint. Many people emulate his spirituality and so I think using Francis’ thoughts and words helps people (at least Catholics) see the link between theology and creation and see it practically in action through his life.

I don't understand why Christians aren't at the forefront of leading change. One short life, then an eternity in heaven. Low down on the list of priorities I would say.

I don't believe there's a lot we can do about climate change. Trashing the planet, the plastic and polluting the water etc, there's lots we can do, religious or not.,

Speakout I am not sure what you mean by that comment (that climate change is not in the Bible)? There are many things and concepts not in the Bible but we still discuss them. You must have a very different idea of what the Bible is for than the understanding I have and was taught I assume.

Vitalogy I don't know if you have noticed but the modern world is not very interested in finding out what Christians are doing, many are already very involved with and committed to "leading change" and have been for a long time. Just because it's not a headline in the media doesn't mean it's not happening. I know in the Catholic Church for example there is a lot of emphasis on helping the poorest of the poor and knowing they are usually the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. I know the church, working locally has worked to find alternatives to help communities create sustainability where previously they were destroying local natural resources because of desperate need.

Because the church is everywhere in local parishes, solutions are generally first asked of local communities and congregations rather than coming in as a multinational organization from outside. The Church is diverse and multinational by its very nature, but the locals are encouraged to be the leaders in finding the solutions that work best for them.

Read Deuteronomy 11, 13-17 and tell me that's not an instruction to choose carefully what you focus on, as otherwise the whole world will suffer.

Sure, you can read it as "Jealous God, Believe In Me Or Suffer!" Or you can read it as "If you forget about kindness, compassion, community, mindfulness (all attributes that God requires from humankind) and chase after selfishness and greed, these will be the consequences."

It is our selfishness and greed that has driven global warming.

I'm Cos and, as a church, we are actively involved in trying to slow down / stop climate change. We are stewards of Creation and have a God-given responsibility to look after the environment. This whole end times thong is a complete red herring. No one knows when the end will come and there is nothing we can do to speed it up. That is completely in God's hands. In the meantime, we should be doing all we can to care for the planet both for God, as part of our faith walk, and for future generations.

Creation care is, or should be, a big priority for us. It's not about a short life and an eternity in heaven, or about waiting for Armageddon. It's about cherishing the world that God has given us. And as for the Rapture, what a load of rubbish. This is not a mainstream belief, it is an expectation restricted to a particular stripe of Christianity. I wasn't aware that any mainstream churches in the UK subscribed to this belief. It is a modern interpretation of a couple of verses.

As an aside, I think Laudate Si is a very important document and one which everyone, RC or not, could and should consider and learn from.

I'm Christian and trying hard! I preach at church about ethical shopping choices and care for the environment. My vicar friends-particularly the female ones, thinking about it, are all trying too.
However, it's very hard for individuals to make the scale of change which is needed. It needs to be government led IMO.

Thank you for this thread. I too was stopped in my tracks by the latest report and immediately emailed my MP which is not much but a start. I could not understand why the news was not full of reaction and planning in response but apart from The Week Junior I have seen little.

I think a huge and drastic response is necessary but without it I think most people are just ignoring it. I feel rather helpless as I feel like a few small changes made by me are just insignificant and can't help, although obviously I still try. If I could see some global effort it would be encouraging. As a Christian i try to trust God in all things but it doesn't devolve us of responsibility.

I'm a Christian but I think Christians aren't specially better/different at this stuff than anyone else. There is a clear scientific case that we need to stop living such luxurious and convenience-filled lives if our great grandchildren are to thrive. But we've never met our great grandchildren and it's really too difficult to be unselfish for their sake especially when no one else is.

Perhaps we are destined to be a chapter in the holy scriptures of some enlightened race of hyper-evolved insectoid people who will tell of an ancient race who constantly stopped up their ears to God's word, refused to learn to live unselfishly, and eventually caused the destruction of their own habitat before they ultimately all killed each other in the wars to control the dwindling remaining resources they needed to survive.

I know in the Catholic Church for example there is a lot of emphasis on helping the poorest of the poor and knowing they are usually the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. I don't buy it. They do enough to show willing and cover themselves. There's too much greed holding onto all the riches though.

It is clearly up to you what you think and believe, in the meantime Catholics are some of the people acting for change.

www.confrontglobalpoverty.org/poverty-and-climate-change/

Our harvest thanksgiving service this year was all about our responsibility, placed on us by God, to care for the world and everything in it. Most Christians I know are very much on board with that message. It is one we come back to often in our church.

But I think on an individual level people feel their cutting down on 100 plastic bottles a year will make no difference to anything.

And there are those who think it is God's way and humans are too self-important. Why shouldn't we become extinct if that's how it should be? There are too many of us, it's inevitable we will destroy ourselves.

Knitwit101

God will intervene surely?

He has done many times in the past.

He could zap climate change in a flash.