Scripture & Creation
Genesis 1:1
The Creation
God is the Creator. He makes the world and all that is in it. From this first verse of the Bible a distinction emerges between Creator and the creation which becomes a continual theme of the Bible. When the Bible speaks of the world, it is usually in the context of what God has made, i.e., the creation.
The word “creation” introduces a world view which is fundamentally different from the view conveyed by the ecological term “environment.” The word “environment” means that portion of the living creation as perceived through science and other human perspective. People, however, are not usually included in this word’s meaning. No reference to a Creator-God or spiritual understanding is implied. This reflects how modern ecological understanding has largely been divorced from God and a sense of divinity.
Environmental science sees a network of biochemical forces plus animal, plant and microbial species interacting with geological, hydrological and climatological forces. The understanding which arises from these disciplines is not wrong, but it represents an incomplete view of the world – because it is exclusively material. The biblical perspective integrates the spiritual and physical and so it represents wholeness; it begins with the Creator and proclaims a comprehensive view of life.
In the environmental view of the world, there is no center; neither is there any clear organizing principle. and so no frame of reference exists through which to understand either the world or the crisis of the environment. Confusion results because there are only relationships without a clear sense of purpose or meaning beyond enlightened self-interest, i.e., saving the world for ourselves and our descendants. While this certainly has some merit, everything ultimately revolves around human interests which leads to various forms of relativism and actions motivated by a survival instinct. This works to varying degrees, but the nature of this framework allows anthropocentric or perhaps biocentric perspectives to dominate. The problem with these perspectives is that do not harness the selfless altruism or the fire of the human spirit because the basic appeal is to self-interest. This leads to conflicts because a wide range of human interests exist which compete for attention, including commercial, recreational and spiritual interests.
By contrast, the biblical view provides a Center which is God. This connects the world to Meaning. With meaning, perspective is transformed. Now there is purpose and a panorama of values. A holistic world view emerges and with it direction for both human action and the creation.
The environmental movement has conspicuously lacked an acknowledgment of God. Without the Creator at the center of reflection, only human self-interest motivates remedial action. Once God is acknowledged as the center of one’s world view, everything comes alive with significance. A healing vision emerges. A purely ecological view of “the world,” based upon environmental science, can never generate this dynamic because it sees only the material side of creation, and is therefore limited and incomplete.
The implication, then, is that only a vision of creation which encompasses heaven and earth (i.e., which seeks wholeness) can heal the brokenness of our planet. A striving for this integrated world view leads into an ever deeper appreciation of the beauty and mystery of the infinite depths of creation.
Ultimately, the biblical world view, because it is rooted in the explicit commands of God, empowers a more vigorous and inspired response to the problems caused by pollution and degradation.
