Thoughts on Biblical Stewardship

Submitted by Rafique on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 1:21am

With all the talk over Rick Santorum's comments attacking President Obama's theology, I am planning a longer post on these issues, including my lamentation over Franklin Graham's comments on these issues. In the meantime, I wanted to link to this from the Catholic blog Vox Nova, via Andrew Sullivan. The argument goes into Santorum's embrace of solo scriptura, and his "inner evangelical,"* but I just wanted to make a point about environmentalism and Biblical stewardship, and I think the comment I posted pretty much covers my thoughts:

First of all, I’m writing this as an Evangelical Protestant, who believes the Bible is God’s revealed Word. I am also, for all intents and purposes, a political liberal–no doubt some will see a conflict there, but let’s leave that aside. I also want to leave aside for now the climate change debate–I believe it’s real, and Santorum doesn’t, but that’s not my issue here. I just want to point out that the idea of Biblical stewardship of creation is entirely in line with Scripture, and Santorum’s theology is wrong, but it’s not because he’s more conservative evangelical than Catholic–there is a certain strain of thought among certain evangelicals and cultural conservatives that Santorum is operating out of, but the problem here as I see it is not that Santorum is appealing to Biblical authority, rather that his views on this issue are in fact, not based on the Bible.

The idea of Biblical stewardship is not to pillage or plunder God’s resources as we see fit, but to be stewards–to tend the Earth, to care for it, and to use it for God’s glory. When God gave Adam dominion over the Earth, he called Adam to tend it and care for it–the idea is not to elevate the Earth above man, but Santorum seems to elevate man above everything, including God. God told Adam to “dress the Garden, and to keep it ” (Gen. 2:15). The idea of using the Earth for whatever, without regard for limitations actually ignores human concerns and leads to waste, pollution, and plunder, as a poor steward is wont to do.

I’ll say it again–the problem isn’t Santorum’s embrace of the Biblical teaching, but rather his rejection of it, in this case.

Oh, and I should be clear--I'm not attacking Santorum's faith--I'm simply challenging his definition of stewardship, and countering his attack on Obama's faith, based on my reading of Scripture. If anyone has a different view, I'm more than willing to hear it.

*FWIW, I think there is something to the argument that Santorum seems more at home among conservative Evangelicals than a lot of Catholics--but that doesn't really concern me.

AND: Franklin Graham has apologized.

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I think people are creating a

Submitted by brian.shapiro on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 11:06am.

I think people are creating a gulf between Santorum's views and the Vatican's that doesn't exist --

"There exists a certain reciprocity: as we care for creation, we realize that God, through creation, cares for us. On the other hand, a correct understanding of the relationship between man and the environment will not end by absolutizing nature or by considering it more important than the human person. If the Church's magisterium expresses grave misgivings about notions of the environment inspired by ecocentrism and biocentrism, it is because such notions eliminate the difference of identity and worth between the human person and other living things. In the name of a supposedly egalitarian vision of the "dignity" of all living creatures, such notions end up abolishing the distinctiveness and superior role of human beings. They also open the way to a new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the source of man's salvation in nature alone, understood in purely naturalistic terms." -- Pope Benedict XVI ( http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=35044 )

"Well, it's perfectly clear. I mean, let's be honest. This is standard fare. I mean, I'm not saying anything particularly new here. I mean, what we have been talking about, the radical environmental agenda that puts the earth over the needs of man, that, you know, doesn't understand that the best way to create a sound environment is for people to be doing well and to have prosperity. Because you go to countries where in fact the mankind is not doing well. And let me assure you, the last thing they worry about is the environment. It depends on America's growth and prosperity, so we can in fact be good -- husband to the environment as the way we should." -- Rick Santorum ( http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/2012/02/21/santorum-theology-comments-about-obamas-radical-energy-agenda-not-faith )

In many respects, the Genesis

Submitted by Mark30339 on Sun, 03/04/2012 - 2:15pm.

In many respects, the Genesis line about human dominion over plant and animal life states the obvious. The scripture's purpose is to distinguish the human creation as exceptionally special in comparison to the remarkably awesome and beautiful spectrum of flora and fauna. Note further that the creation scripture provides no line in which man is to have dominion over another man (or over weather, or water vapor or even CO2 concentrations). While it may be a fact that humans are predisposed to dominate plants and animals, it does not follow that we should presume to be anything more than feeble actors with respect to the sun's radiant heat, the planet's weather and atmospheric greenhouse balances that are essential to life.

I see nothing in Genesis that lends support to surrendering our economic activities to review, modification and approval (or confiscation) by a new climate police presuming to possess the power to save the planet. Put another way, I don't see how can we use Genesis to support man's dominion over other men. I am concerned about an imbalance in carbon releases, but I suggest we stop deforestation and plant a lot more trees. But the Left prefers to shove a Chevy Volt up our posteriors, and then tells us to like it.

I fail to see how sensible environmental policy equals man's

Submitted by Rafique on Sun, 03/04/2012 - 3:24pm.

dominion over men. Now obviously, there's a big debate over which policies are sensible, and which ones are not, but let's debate that honestly, as opposed to, you know, propping up straw men.

The creation story in Genesis

Submitted by Mark30339 on Mon, 03/05/2012 - 4:16pm.

The creation story in Genesis offers no support for the notion that self-appointed climate alarmists are to lord over our economic activity until they have "saved the planet" to their satisfaction. Why introduce Genesis as a moral basis for environmental policy, and then balk at the fact that Genesis does not suggest any ability by man to have dominion over climate or over other men? The straw man in the argument is the IPCC. An honest assessment is that the IPCC models are seriously flawed and do not correlate with statistics on ocean temperature or temperature readings from satellites. The readings on increasing CO2 concentrations are a concern, but it is not at all clear that attempting to suppress CO2 emissions by suppressing Western economies translates to anything useful, particularly when North America is a net scrubber of CO2. Asia and Africa appear to be the primary land masses acting as net producers of CO2.
.
Further, CO2 remains a relatively minor greenhouse gas, it is pale in comparison to the greenhousing effect of water vapor. The carbon credit people don't know what to do about water vapor, so they ignore it and foolishly double-down on CO2 being the primary concern. Given the scientific uncertainties and the property values at stake, a path of least intrusion seems most appropriate. Since trees are monumental scrubbers of CO2, let's create incentives to plant trees and stop world-wide deforestation -- and keep the EPA carbon police away from our power grid, our transportation system and our economic lives. This is not because I don't care, it is because the green movement thinks that the solution is to have all the power and they'll figure out the details later. Nobody knows how to manage climate, and only fools can be persuaded to entrust economic decision-making to "Save the Planet" bureaucrats. The incredible over-reach by climate alarmists is offering us The Road to Serfdom.

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