Global warming: a Christian response Bob White
Global warming: a Christian response Creation very good Decreation spoilt by sin New Creation perfected
Global warming: a Christian response Should Christians be Green?
God created the universe In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth Gen 1:1 Through him [Jesus] all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:3
God s creation is good v4 God saw that the light was good v10 And God saw that it was good v12 And God saw that it was good v18 And God saw that it was good v21 And God saw that it was good v25 And God saw that it was good v31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis ch1
God sustains the universe The Son [Jesus] is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Heb 1:3 For by him [Jesus] all things were created He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Col 1:16-17
Global warming: a Christian response A Christian response Scientific issues
Global warming: a Christian response God cares: so we should
The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. Ps 104: 21
He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. Ps 147:8-9
Global warming: a Christian response [God]. waters a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass (Job 38:27)
Global warming: a Christian response God cares: so we should God s commandment to us
Humans are made in the image of God Can relate to God Can love & be loved Creative Moral beings: justice
Global warming: a Christian response God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Genesis 1:28
Global warming: a Christian response God cares: so we should God s commandment to us Community: care for neighbour
We do not hold a freehold on our world, but only a full repairing lease. We have a moral duty to look after our world and to hand it on in good order to future generations. Margaret Thatcher
Global warming: a Christian response A Christian response Scientific issues
Pasterzeglacier, Austria 1875 2004
Contribution of Greenhouse Gases to Global Warming nitrous oxide 10% others 3% methane 24% carbon dioxide 63%
Vostok ice core, Antarctica Methane 1750 ppb Carbon dioxide 386 ppm
Global Population
Global Population
Global warming: a Christian response Global warming causes more extreme weather events: floods and droughts
Global warming: a Christian response Floods are one of the world s main killers
Bangladesh: 13 November 1970 > 500,000 people died
Climate Change: a burning issue? 1887: Yellow River, China 0.9 2.0 million dead 1931: Yellow River, China 1.0 3.7 million dead 20 th century: floods affect 100 million per year 2025: half world population at risk from storms
Maldives 150-200 million environmental refugees globally by 2050 due to rapid climate change
Global warming: a Christian response God cares: so we should God s commandment to us Community: care for neighbour Covenant: God s promise to humankind
Global warming: a Christian response "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done." Genesis ch8:21
Global warming: a Christian response "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." Genesis ch8:22
Global warming: a Christian response God cares: so we should God s commandment to us Community: care for neighbour Covenant: God s promise to humankind New Creation: Christian hope for the future
1 Cor15:35-38 But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" How foolish! When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.
Global warming: a Christian response If I knew Jesus would return tomorrow, I would plant a tree today. Luther
Global warming: a Christian response The Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in; aim at earth and you get neither. CS Lewis
Global warming: a Christian response God cares: so we should God s commandment to us Community: care for neighbour Covenant: God s promise to humankind New Creation: Christian hope for the future
RRP 9.99 8.00 Special offers RRP 8.99 5.00
www.royalsoc.ac.uk
Misleading Arguments Climate change is not due to humans CO 2 is not responsible for global warming Rises in CO 2 occur after global warming, not before Temperature observations don t support global warming Computer models are unreliable It is all to do with the sun, not CO 2 It is all to do with cosmic rays The negative effects are overstated