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Naomi commented on yesterday's post and I wanted to pick up a thought that she mentioned. She said that some people think that Global Warming (and other disasters and calamities) are a result of the 'end times' and is what is supposed to happen before Jesus returns.
Time and space is too limited for a long discussion on eschatology (belief about the end times) but I think that the idea of God's destruction being wrought on the earth is important in the context of an ecological theology or a Christian response to global warming and other environmental issues.
Genesis 1 tells us that God created the world and it was good. The idea of the world being evil is not a biblical idea, it is a Greek philosophical belief. Paul tells us that all creation groans for the redemptive work of Christ. That doesnt just relate to all the people (otherwise it would have said that). Paul is here suggesting that the redemptive work of Christ relates to creation. God is wanting to redeem creation.
Another problem we have is we think of God as a creator. God created the world and left it to go. The Hebrew understanding of God was one of re-creator. The work of creation is not finished. The biblical story is one of God interacting with creation. In the flood narrative we see God changing the way the creation works (the first time it rained).
I think end times belief is a classic example of Christian culture winning out over a Biblical understanding. A lot of Christians I know would be able to tell me the theology of the 'Left behind' series but would struggle to outline a biblical theology of the end times.
I have decided to stop adding links to what I have been reading each day because no one seems to have been looking at them. But if you want to check out some photos of my hike on the weekend check here.
Mmm...I'll have a ponder! And I actually have clicks on the links! Not often, but id they appeal to me. I had a look at Mark Sayers blog the other day. And another link that looked interesting a couple of days ago about Jesus...which led me to lots of other anti-God sites which were both interesting and sad. I'll take a look at your hike.
ReplyDeleteI like to consider creation as a work in progress,some places that I've seen are amazingly beautiful and it doesn't fit with my image of God that he would want to destroy this. But the part that gets me is that we were put "in charge" or are responsible for creation, a God given role and so I can't see how we can justify not taking care of the land. Melissa
ReplyDeleteI also clicked on the links, but from my email not here.. I recently finished reading "The Shack" and though it is a work of fiction, it does present challenges regarding our responsibility to care for His creation, His purpose for us (as a whole & individually) and quite a few more challenges but that would take too long to get into. Hard to summarise really I recommend reading it.
ReplyDeletesee! Keep the links! And Melissa, I do like your comment. Why would He want to destroy something so beautiful? To make it so much MORE than that. And because when we see the wonders and the beauties, we don't see the destruction, terror and death - like your photojournalism book. He'll make it only better and remove all that.
ReplyDeleteMark Sayers had an interesting blog post on yesterday's Westgate bridge tragedy. In it he said,
ReplyDelete"The great Russian Christian and political dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn after observing the worst of human behaviour during his time in a Soviet prison camp, expressed the Christian view of evil in this way,
“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.”"
It is easy to suggest that God wants to destroy creation to create a new heaven. Two problems I have with that,
1) The bible overwhelmingly supports the concept of creation being good and glorifying of God. Why would God want to destroy something that glorifies Godself?
2) If God wants to destroy creation to create something new then that includes us humans as a part of creation. I see nowhere in the Bible where this idea is put forward. What I see is that God wants to mould us and shape us into who we should be. It is not a denial of evil, far from it. God recognises the evil in every human being but calls us to be new creations. He doesn't want to destroy us, but rather wants to take us and help us to fulfil our potential. We are created in the image of God. Sin mars that image. That doesn't mean the image is evil and should be destroyed.
renewal... Is the word that resounds in my heart. I believe that creation is good, as we are told in the story of creation. I believe that God comes to renew us, not to destroy and start again. This thought leads me to think of salvation, we are created in Gods image, but we haven't lived up to it, evil has entered. The only way it makes sense to me is that In Salvation God renews his image inside us, he doesn't wipe us out and start again, especially if we believe he created us and gave us strengths, sillks and abilities. For me the same is true with the rest of creation, he calls for a renewal of good in a place he made good. If we want to see "his kingdom come ON earth as it is in heaven" then we need to start by heralding in this renewal by caring for creation & promoting good.
ReplyDeleteMelissa