Our Impact on God's Creation

In the first chapter of the Judeo-Christian Bible, we have a beautifully worded account of an ancient Hebrew perspective on God's creation of life on this planet. For me, it is a great tragedy that Fundamentalists, Literalists and Atheists have striven to pit this poetry against science. Rather than seeing the account as a declaration of God's role as source/cause/beginning, many of these folks insist that the account is completely incompatible with the observations and discoveries of science. Again, for me, it makes no difference that one side embraces the biblical account and the other embraces the findings of science - both perspectives seem flawed/misguided/incomplete.

I also find it extremely unfortunate that Evangelical Christians are frequently among the most vocal opponents of the notion that humankind has had a significant impact on the climate and overall environment of this planet. For many of us, it seems counterintuitive that people who profess to appreciate God's role as Creator would have such a blatant disregard for creation! "What do you mean?" they will indignantly demand. "We LOVE God's creation!" they insist. If that's really true, then why are we destroying so much of what God has created? "What have we destroyed?" they will demand.

Before we answer that question, I think that it would be instructive to go back to the first chapter of Genesis and remind ourselves about some of the particulars of that account of God's creative acts. In particular, I want to focus on the part of that story that deals with the creation of life on the surface of the earth (prior to the creation of man).

The account begins with the creation of plant life in verse eleven. We read: "Then God said, 'Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.' And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good." - Genesis 1:11-12

The account continues down in verse twenty. We read: "Then God said, 'Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.' So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good." - Genesis 1:20-21 Then, just before the creation of the first man and woman, we read: "Then God said, 'Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.' And that is what happened. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good." - Genesis 1:24-25

After rereading those passages, it is hard to see how anyone could characterize ANY of the other life that shares this planet with us as not being necessary, useful and GOOD. In addition to the obvious fact that God saw fit to create all of this life, we have the additional statement that God observed that everything which "He" had created was GOOD. And, that being the case, how are we to explain the fact that we have eliminated so many of those other life forms?

We could speak of the Passenger Pigeon or the Thylacine, but I'm personally a tree hugger! Notice that plant life is created first in the Genesis account. Scientists tell us that the long extinct Archaeopteris was probably the first species of tree to appear on the earth's surface. They tell us that trees became a major component of the plant kingdom about 360 million years ago. In terms of the Coniferous trees that are more familiar to us than their more ancient ancestors, the evidence suggest that they arose about 250 million years ago. Finally, approximately 100 million years later, the angiosperms appeared and eventually gave rise to the hardwoods that many North Americans are now familiar with (like chestnuts, elms and ash). see Evolution of Forests and Trees

Unfortunately, in the first few years of the 20th Century, Americans imported Asian chestnut trees into this country and introduced a blight that has almost completely wiped out what was once the dominant tree species in America's eastern forests (Castanea dentata or American Chestnut). In more recent times, our trading practices have introduced the Dutch Elm Disease and the Emerald Ash Borer Beetle, which have decimated our stands of Ulmus americana/American Elm and Fraxinus americana/White Ash. Can anyone deny that humankind has destroyed these beautiful and majestic creations of God? Oh sure, we can soothe our consciences by insisting that these trees succumbed to natural fungal infections, but such an assertion completely ignores the fact that WE introduced these pathogens into our forests - God didn't put them here! And, don't forget, God created chestnuts, elms and ashes and declared that they were GOOD!

Moreover, even if we say that God placed in subjection to man all of the other life on this planet, can anyone seriously suggest that "He" did that just so that we could destroy them? The evidence that mankind has destroyed much of what it took God hundreds of millions of years to fashion is inescapable. We simply cannot deny that we have had a significant impact on this planet. Is it possible that that destruction is a sin - a major sin? We read in Revelation: "The nations were filled with wrath, but now the time of your wrath has come. It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants the prophets, as well as your holy people, and all who fear your name, from the least to the greatest. It is time to destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth." - Revelation 11:18 Hmmm, that sure sounds to me like God's saints won't be among those who have participated in destroying God's creation!