Creation Care

I listened to David Neff of Christianity Today talk last Friday night (November 9) about the environment, and it occurred to me that here was an excellent example of Christian thinking. What Neff did was make a case for the care of the earth using the Christian message as the basic starting -point and foundation (actually he ended with it). Not only was it Christian, it was Adventist to the core. And thus provided me with the best example for what I mean by "Thinking Christianly".

What impressed me even more than the basic Christian stance from which he spoke, was how he, a person out of the Adventist tradition, but not currently a part of it, used his Adventist understanding to show how an eschatological sensibility places an even greater burden on us to take care of the earth. His analogy of the desire of an engaged person to take care of the promise (the engagement ring) because of the hope for the fulfillment of the promise (the wedding ring) was particularly helpful. So we, as Christians looking forward to a New Earth must be even more inclined to take care of the earth we have, because of the promise. There was much to think about in that. One thing I would have added. It seems that we who keep the Sabbath could see it as a perfect way of tying the two ideas together. For the Sabbath is a celebration of Creation, and a celebration of the promise of the New Creation. We who are Sabbath keepers cannot but be environmentalists if we take the Sabbath seriously.

So what made it Christian Thinking? He began his discourse by drawing a clear distinction between a Buddhist worldview and a Christian one, showing the uniqueness of a Judeo-Christian view of matter and how Christ's coming makes that view of matter even more profound - Christ sanctifying matter by becoming part of it. This is a contrast to the view of matter as evil. In doing so, he also showed how the Gnostic view, as well as some modern pagan views also fail to capture the way we as Christians view the earth. He then showed how this Christian view of the earth gives us a mandate to care for it.

A New Beginning

I started a blog some time ago, and wrote very sporadically. In fact, I have not posted for a few months.

This is a new start. I hope to post at least weekly, if not more often. Look for my thoughts on a wide range of topics including religion, scholarship, sports, politics, and well . . . just life.