The Bible and Climate Change

The Bible and Climate Change

Lauri Lebo shared a video of a Republican representative citing the Bible as proof that humans will not be able to destroy the earth.

That is wrong on so many levels.

Rep. Shimkus said, โ€œThe earth will end only when God declares itโ€™s time to be over. Man will not destroy this earth.โ€

Biblical prophecy, even understanding it within its own Biblical and contextual framework, consistently warns of future disaster so that people may change their ways and avoid the judgment that has been foretold. To suggest that human misbehavior can never have dire consequences because of Biblical predictions seems, even if one were to approach this from a conservative Evangelical perspective, to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of prophecy in the Bible.

Moreover, teaching the Book of Revelation this semester, Iโ€™ve also noticed some verses that surprisingly never get mentioned by Christian deniers of global warming. Revelation 16:8 says โ€œThe fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire.โ€ And Revelation 11:18 says โ€œThe nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and greatโ€“and for destroying those who destroy the earth.โ€

And so, if conservatives were inclined to look for Biblical texts that might warn of global warning, and punishment for those who harm the Earth, they could find such passages. And so this is just one more in the long list of examples illustrating that there are no Biblical literalists in any meaningful sense, nor anyone who is โ€œBiblicalโ€ in the sense that they manage to take seriously all that the Bible says.

Rep. Shimkus may sincerely mean it when he says โ€œI do believe that Godโ€™s word is infallible, unchanging, perfect.โ€ But sincerity is not enough. Saying you believe this, and using the Bible selectively to supportย an agenda that conveniently allows you to maintain a particular way of life to which weโ€™ve become accustomed, doesnโ€™t seem to be treating the Bible with the respectย Shimkus claims that it deserves.


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