Where Garden Meets Wilderness: Evangelical Entry into the Environmental Debate

by E. Calvin Beisner

E. Calvin Beisner details the history of the evangelical environmentalist movement while setting forth his own creative views about the implications of such biblical doctrines as dominion, the fall, and redemption.

Genres: Politics

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1997

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 2 out of 5]

AN EVANGELICAL ARGUES AGAINST “DIRE” ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTIONS

E. Calvin Beisner is Founder of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, and a policy advisor to The Heartland Institute. He taught theology at Knox Theological Seminary from 2000 to 2007; prior to that he taught economics, government, and public policy at Covenant College (1992–2000), and before that he was a research consultant for the Christian Research Institute under Walter Martin.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1997 book, “No one in America today can ignore environmentalism as a public issue… It is reason for thanksgiving, therefore, to see the founding of organizations like the Evangelical Environmental Network, the Christian Environmental Association, and the Christian Society of the Green Cross. At the same time we should … also want good intentions to be coupled with sound thinking… to make our caring truly helpful we must understand the Biblical, theological, ecological, demographic, economic, and scientific principles and theories that provide a foundation for environmental views and policies… no one familiar with a broad range of technical and popular literature about the environment can miss the fact that many common perceptions about our environment are open to considerable debate.” (Pg. xi)

Later, he adds, “this book will interact with various theological, ethical, political, scientific, economic, and polemical aspects of some of the more important literature emanating from … evangelical environmental groups and individuals… our goal will be to identify some of [the] weaknesses and to suggest ways to correct them.” (Pg. 7)

He acknowledges, “One reason for confusion over the kind and extent of legitimate human transformation of the earth seems to me… to be a failure to distinguish properly between the earth as a whole and the Garden of Eden. I have made this mistake myself…” (Pg. 12)

He points out, “One problem with the doctrine of dominion, however, is that it simply does not give direct, pat answers to lots of the specific questions that arise in environmental discussions. Should we drill for oil? … Should we mine coal? … Should we log old-growth forests?... How much, if any, should we preserve? Inferring specific answers to these and many other specific environmental questions from specific passages [or]… general principles of Scripture, is not only not easy, it is impossible. The implicit condemnation of certain activities in the following statement carries considerable emotive impact, but it cannot be supported by clear inference from Scripture.” (Pg. 17)

He states, “God made a difference between the Garden of Eden and the rest of the earth… and Adam was commissioned to transform the earth into the Garden while cultivating and protecting the Garden. These truths implied that not everything Adam found outside the Garden even before the Fall and the Curse would already be as they ought to become. It would need to be subdued and ruled in order to be transformed into greater glory… In this light, romantic longings for some pristine planet beautiful that existed before the twentieth century, or the Industrial Revolution… are seen to be empty. From the Fall and the Curse on, there never has been such a place… Because of the Curse, creation by itself simply does not abundantly yield blessed fruits… but it becomes abundantly fruitful lonely under the wise and resolute hand of man… It is legitimate, therefore, for Adam’s race, particularly under the redeeming rule of Christ, to seek to transform cursed ground back into blessed ground.” (Pg. 19-20)

He asserts, “No doubt some evangelical environmentalists will disagree with me sharply here, but … In my view, the amazing leaps in economic productivity and human material prosperity stemming from the application of the Christian worldview through the legal, political, economic, scientific, and technological advances propelled by Medieval and Reformation churchmen and scientists are a foretaste of the restoration of the cursed creation foretold by Paul and entailed by the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ… What we ought to expect…is an increasing reversal of the effects of the Curse, a progressive transformation that parallels the growth… of Christianity through the centuries.” (Pg. 25)

He suggests, “at least subsequent to the Fall, safety is not an absolute but a relative term. There is no risk-free environment… we must compare risks and benefits from various achievable options… There is no ABSOLUTELY SAFE method of very long-term storage of toxic or radioactive wastes, for instance… There are also risks associated with refraining from the activities that generate the wastes… more sulfur and CO2 emissions from coal and petroleum plants, more loss of wild river habitat because of added hydroelectric dams, and so forth… The point is simply that some risk taking is inevitable.” (Pg. 31-32)

He observes, “Evangelical environmentalist are to be commended particularly for their effective refutation, by use of Scripture, of various charges by non-Christian environmentalists that Christianity is to blame for environmental degradation… Evangelicals rightly respond (a) that Christianity is not anthropocentric, but theocentric, (b) that God holds man accountable for his stewardship of creation, (c) that the Bible teaches us to appreciate creation and praise God for it, and (d) that the earth was not made just for man but for the pleasure and glory of God.” (Pg. 43-44)

He notes, “Predictions have been made about running out of oil for nearly a century, and always they have proved false… They are contradicted by (a) falling long-term real prices of petroleum… and (b) rising world oil reserves… Yes, there is a finite amount of oil in the earth. No, we don’t know when cost-effective sources will be used up. But past experience … indicates that when supplies begin to dwindle … relative to demand, rising prices will prompt discovery of additional sources… which… will be much more abundant, much less expensive, and much more effective.” (Pg. 63)

He argues, “Is ozone becoming abnormally thin? There SEEMS to be a slight downward trend in stratospheric ozone concentrations from 1957-1992, but it is not known whether that trend---if real---is down from historically NORMAL levels or from historically HIGH levels. (Out data go back only to the 1940s… We simply DON’T KNOW, and not knowing is not grounds for taking any particular action.” (Pg. 66)

He summarizes, “The most acclaimed problems, particularly those on a global scale (global warming, ozone depletion, species extinction) or a regional scale (acid rain, deforestation, desertification, resource depletion), are vastly exaggerated, and in some cases (like acid rain) almost entirely false. In all of these cases, the actual rick to human beings if very small go vanishing. But there are other problems mostly on a local scale (air and water pollution, toxic waste disposal, food distribution, local deforestation and desertification) that are very serious in some places… No one ever died---no one ever even got sick---from most of the biggest, most exotic environmental problems today’s Western environmentalists, including evangelicals, hammer on day in and day out. But every year MILLIONS of poor people all over the developing world die for lack of such simple things as waste treatment plants and water purification and distribution systems and paved roads and refrigerators.” (Pg. 74-75, 79)

This book will be of great interest to critics (particularly Evangelicals) of “climate change” and “global warming” forecasts.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beisner writes as the John Frame of the environmental debate.* He is able to counter hysteria without becoming hysterical. He knows his Bible intimately and brings it to bear simply and clearly. He is reasonable. He is collected. He is a leaf on the wind. (Oh, and his writing is a bit lifeless and too-self-aware, but he's almost lovable for it.**)

Definitely the best book I've read on the environment. So it's kind of sad that it's somewhat dated, and is, in terms of publishing efforts, as ugly as a pug (gotta love those maroon bars across the top).

*Although he is mercifully briefer (only 173 pages!). *collective exhale of relief*

**Again, like Frame.

[Jerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good information here to counter environmentalist hysteria.