How Does the New Green Religion Reject the Christian Faith?

Christians need to understand their religious enemies. I recently spoke of the rise of paganism, a clear competitor to the Christian faith. Shortly before that we examined the Progressive Left, Christianity’s largest competitor in the modern West. Today we look at another big competitor—the Environmental movement. In a future video we will consider the massive destruction of the Green movement. Bad doctrine leads to bad consequences. Today let’s consider their false doctrines.

The new Environmentalism attacks five basic Christian beliefs:

Green doctrine #1, rejects Genesis 1:26. In that passage God gave man dominion over the earth. The Greens fiercely attack this saying man has no special place in nature.   Fifty years ago  Lynn White, a Professor of Medieval History at UC Berkeley, wrote a famous essay entitled, “The historic roots of our ecological crisis.” White assumes the natural world is in some sort of crisis state with impending doom hovering over us. And he blames it on Christianity. White argues, correctly I believe, that the modern technological world was birthed in the High Middle Ages beginning around 1000 A.D. based on the dominion theology of Genesis 1:26. It was here that the scientific and industrial revolutions got their start. He repudiates Christian theology and argues that it has put us on the brink of environmental Armageddon. He leaves out the part that Christian theology gave us every material blessing we enjoy in the modern world,     blessings he enjoys to the fullest.

Green doctrine #2, the biblical doctrine of Genesis 1:27. Man was specially created in God’s image, a doctrine rejected by the Greens. They hold there is nothing special about man and that it is a crime to separate him from nature. As I have pointed out in other videos and my writing, the doctrine of the image of God in man is socially the most powerful in history and one that has brought more blessing than any other. All modern doctrines of human rights, social justice, equal treatment under the law, compassion for the poor and needy, and a host of others flow from this doctrine. Yet the Greens view it as a pernicious evil. They couldn’t be further from biblical truth than they are here.

Green doctrine, #3, the Bible teaches that nature has been corrupted by sin, is fallen, and groans. Tennyson was right, nature is red in tooth and claw. The Greens believe that nature is pure and holy—Mother Gaia--and the less humans interfere with it the better. They want us to be as close to a state of nature as we can possibly be.

Green doctrine #4: God does not exist. The earth was not created by God nor is it controlled by Him. There is no God to protect us. We are alone in a hostile universe. The Christian response is found in Psalm 53:1, the fool has said in his heart there is no God. I love Spurgeon’s comment; if the Bible calls such a man a fool we dare call him no less.

Green doctrine #5: Nature is to be worshipped. Recently an article in Time magazine by two college professors said, and I am not making this up, Earth Day should be made a religious Holiday. They suggest we celebrate the blessings the earth gives us and that we have a covenant with nature. We could have special religious celebrations. For instance, birth is, “the ecstatic co-joining of atoms and molecules resulting in a breathing, thinking human life.” Instead of Bible verses we could memorize the names of plants and animals. Young couples could vow to have fewer or no children. And we could view death as a return of our molecules to the never ending cycle of nature. We would need a holy book, one with hymns to nature, and one that celebrates the great prophets like Charles Darwin and Rachel Carson.  “We must make nature central to our belief system with Earth Day or any number of earth-focused ceremonial days serving as regular reminders of what we owe our…planet.” Nothing here about what we owe our God.

The Greens shout curses at the world instead of being thankful for their blessings. The deepest sin of environmentalism is ingratitude.  In Romans 1:20 the Apostle Paul says the downward spiral of the human race begins when men fail to thank God; we are awash in blessings in the modern world and the greens hold them in contempt—while enjoying every one of them I might add. The most controversial statement I ever made at the University of Colorado was about the environment. I told my students, “You live in the safest and best environment in the history of mankind.” Students recoiled at this statement. What did I mean? Just this: The physical environment you live in has less ability to kill you than at any time in the history of the human race. And we derive more blessing from it than ever before in history. The Greens show no gratitude for the blessings of Christian civilization. It is the mindset of the adolescent who eats Dad’s food, drives Dad’s car, lives in Dad’s house and then goes to school and trashes the old man.

May God deliver us from this. The only hope is Jesus Christ. Receiving Him, worshipping Him, loving Him, and looking forward to His return.

May the God who created this marvelous world bless you this day in a mighty way.

More: A related video, “The Green Cult: Why It’s Dangerous and What You Need to Know”; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuHrMp6J-Wo

The Case for Making Earth Day a Religious Holiday: https://time.com/6273684/earth-day-religious-holiday/

To purchase Lynn White’s essay online is expensive. It is cheaper to buy Francis Schaeffer’s book, Pollution and the death of man. This essay is in the appendix. https://www.amazon.com/Pollution-Death-Man-Francis-Schaeffer-ebook/dp/B004QGYTZQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8B5TDCNGLBWV&keywords=pollution+and+the+death+of+man+by+francis+schaeffer&qid=1685475494&sprefix=pollution+and+the+death%2Caps%2C782&sr=8-1

A brief summary of White’s essay is here:  https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/energy-government-and-defense-magazines/historical-roots-our-ecological-crisis

A Christian criticism of Lynn White’s Thesis: https://creation.com/the-root-of-our-ecological-crisis