How We Should Approach Climate Change And The Call To Reduce Radically Our Use of Carbon Fuels, Part 2

In our previous post we not only outlined what much current climate change doctrine teaches. We also explained that the earth's atmosphere causes both warming and cooling influences on the earth, rather than just warming. When we look at the known data, in other words, we at least must take a step back and question whether or not much popular climate change doctrine as found in main stream media is accurate.

We now turn to our second major topic and that has to do with principles from Scripture that call into question current climate change doctrine.

2. THE BIBLE’S TEACHING ABOUT THE EARTH THAT LEADS US TO DOUBT DIRE CLIMATE CHANGE PREDICTIONS. 

There are at least five biblical truths that call into question dire climate change predictions.

God Created A Robust, Sturdy Earth, Not A Fragile One.
This fits with Romans 1:20 where Paul writes of God: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” In the creation we can see God’s power that he has always had and always will have, a power by which he brought space, time, history, and matter into being and by which he crafted the universe. This power is unlimited (Job 42:2; Mt. 19:26; Luke 1:37) and so great, especially as seen in and through creation, that it dwarfs and humbles humans (Job 38:1-42:6 [esp. 40:4; 42:1-6]; Is. 40:15-17).

Paul also says that in creation we see God’s divine nature, which would suggest other attributes. This includes his goodness and wisdom (Psalm 136:1; Dan. 2:20). Part of the way that God’s power, goodness, and wisdom are displayed is through his creation of humans as vice kings and queens, made in his image, and empowered to use the resources of the earth and to bring things into order in such a way that their work glorifies God and benefits one another (Gen. 1:26-28; Psalm 8:5-7; Prov. 31:10-31). In other words, Paul is saying that if we see the truth about creation, we should not miss the reality and glory of God in creation (see Ps. 19:1)—and this includes what the crowning glory of God’s creation (humans) does with the rest of creation that serves one another and magnifies God.

Does it make sense, then, that what we have is a very fragile universe?  No!  That would be inconsistent with what the Bible reveals about it. That would be “analogous to believing that an architect designed a building so that if someone leaned against one wall, the building’s structural feedbacks would so magnify the stress of that person’s weight that the building would collapse! No one would consider such an architectural design ‘very good’ [as affirmed in Gen. 1:31].”[1]

What would make much more sense and what would be more consistent with what the Bible reveals about God’s creation is that it would be self-correcting, self-regulating and in fact this is what history seems to reveal through warming and cooling cycles: “The history of Earth’s climate is a story of constant change. Through at least the last million years, a moderate 1,500-year warm-cold cycle has been superimposed over the longer, stronger Ice Ages and warm interglacials. In the North Atlantic, the temperature changes about 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit from peak to trough during these…cycles….”[2]

God Has Promised To Maintain Stability In The Earth And Its Seasons
In the aftermath of the worldwide flood, God promised that this world, along with its cycles of seasons, will continue during this age. Gen. 8:22 puts it this way: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” One chapter later we read (Gen. 9:11): “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” This will be the case until Jesus Christ returns and the present earth is renewed (2 Peter 3:10; Rev. 21:1-7).

It doesn’t seem likely, then, that we can destroy the earth through human activity and a resultant climate change.

God Has Ultimate Control Of The Weather 
This truth is established in several Bible passages. Consider these two clear examples. First is Jeremiah 5:24: “They do not say in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.’” In this example we not only learn of God’s sovereign control over the weather, but how wrong it is to lack a reverential awe of him such that we do not attribute such control to him.

The second example is found with regard to Jesus Christ in Matthew 8:24-27: “And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, ‘Save us, Lord; we are perishing.’ 26 And he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?’ Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?’” The point of the record of these events and this miracle is to show the deity of Jesus Christ. In other words, what goes hand-in-hand with being God is both control over creation and weather, as well as worship of him by humans as the right response.

For us to suggest that we can turn upside down weather and creation itself in a way that appears to contradict what is said in the Bible about what God has planned for the earth and what the Bible has said about God’s sovereign control over it appears to be misdirected at best.

God Did Not Design The Earth So That We Would Destroy It By Obeying His Commands
The Bible teaches that our obedience pleases him (Col. 1:10; 1 Thes. 4:1) and it comprises the best kind of life (Dt. 10:12-13). That same Bible also teaches that God created a world that includes humans created in his image with the ability to bring order into the world and to utilize God-given resources in creation in ways that honor him, that benefit each other, and he commands humans to do that very thing (Gen. 1:26-28; Ps. 8:5-7; 1 Tim. 6:17).

The Hebrew word translated as “subdue” (kabash) means to make the earth useful for human beings’ benefit and enjoyment. God was entrusting Adam and Eve, and by implication the entire human race, with stewardship over the earth. God wanted them to create useful products from the earth for their benefit and enjoyment…. In this way, God gave to human beings the ability to create value in the world that did not exist before.[3]

It is hard to reconcile these facts with the idea that humans are destroying the earth by bringing order in it and benefit to each other (e.g. saving and making lives better) through ingenious inventions and works made possible by fossil fuels. It is true that humans could use these fossil fuels in ways that benefit, but at the same time pollute creation or have negative side effects. But, to think that use of them is necessarily destructive to creation contradicts Scripture.   

We Should Thank God For His Good Gifts That Benefit And Save Lives
As we discovered above, the good earth God created (Gen. 1:31) belongs to him (Ps. 24:1) and he entrusts good gifts in it to us (1 Tim. 4:4) for our enjoyment (1 Tim. 6:17) and our benefit (Mt. 5:45). This would not only include gifts such as the sun and rain, it would also include the development of resources within the earth and inventions that cultivate life that flourishes (Gen. 1:26-28; Ps. 8:5-7). An example is seen in the provision of grapes and the resultant production of wine that benefits humans when used responsibly (Psalm 104:15; 1 Tim. 5:23).[4]

Another example of resources in the earth God has gifted to humans is the filling of the earth with fossils and other elements that can be harnessed and developed into fuels, as well as used in the production of so many other products that have led to cures for diseases, more affordable goods and services, the transportation of food, goods, medicines, and services to people, as well as the development of current technology we have in the world. Additionally, these resources have led to the creation of jobs, wealth, and the raising of many people out of poverty.[5]

We should praise and thank God for these resources as we should praise and thank him for the gifts he gives to us and for all the good he does for us even in hard and bad things (e.g. Psalms 50:23; 92:1; 111; 136; 1 Thes. 5:18). We should understand that the way God has created the world and humans leads to the provision of these resources and their development. We should praise God for this!

It is at this point that we see an inconsistency with the most extreme climate change doctrine that suggests carbon fuels are destructive and need to be eliminated. If we listen to a steady diet of such thinking, it is easy to think that such fuels and products are like a poison—innately evil and the only thing we can do with them is to cease using them so we can save the planet. It also calls into question the command God has given to humans to be fruitful, multiply, fill, subdue, and have dominion over the earth—a multi-faceted command that includes all the good work humans do from missions and evangelism to having and raising families to work that leads to human flourishing (Gen. 1:26-28). Because the most extreme versions of climate change doctrine make humans the culprit in the world who are destroying the planet and they also move our thanks and praise away from God for his gifts in creation, this should cause us to take a second look at and to doubt this doctrine.[6]

The Bible’s teaching should lead the Christian to question extreme climate change doctrine. This involves looking at how global warming actually works to see if there is truly evidence for such doctrine. We have already done this. It also should lead us to ask the question, “Is there other scientific evidence that calls into question the dire climate change predictions?” The answer is, “Yes.” We now turn to that other body of evidence, which also forms our third major topic.

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[1] Grudem, Christian Ethics, 1140.
Additionally, Jake Hebert, “Climate Alarmism And The Age Of The Earth,” Acts And Facts (April 2019): 11, adds: “Many secular scientists believe Earth’s climate is extremely sensitive to changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide because the astronomical theory, built on old-earth assumptions, demands it…. ICR research has shown that evidence for the astronomical theory is weak to nonexistent; Scientists use computer models to argue for high climate sensitivity, but these models likely contain flawed assumptions; It appears Earth’s climate has a low sensitivity to change. We don’t need to buy in to climate change alarmism.”

[2] Fred Singer, Dennis Avery, Unstoppable Global Warming (Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2008).

[3] Wayne Grudem, “Property,” ch. 34, in Christian Ethics: An Introduction to Biblical Moral Reasoning (Wheaton: Crossway, 2018), 905.
This Hebrew word, Kabash, is used in Numbers 32:22, 29 to suggest, in the context of that entire chapter, that it describes the actions and work of making the Promised Land habitable, a place in which Israel could be benefited and flourish.

[4] This example also introduces the reality that all good gifts God gives us can also have harmful effects, especially if used in sinful and distorted ways: e.g. alcoholism.

[5] Andree Seu Peterson, “Gifts For Life: Fossil Fuels Have Brought Prosperity To Billions,” in Voices, in World, May 25, 2019: 67.

[6] This is not to suggest that humans can do no wrong in the world and that we have no destructive effect on our planet at all. After all, it was our sin that led to the curse on creation (cf. Gen. 3; Rom. 8:19-25). What is more, God deemed it necessary to instruct humans that part of our righteous living is to treat the rest of creation well (Prov. 12:10). However, it is one thing to call humans to responsible use of creation and the resources in it. It is another to suggest that the very using of the resources and the development away from its pristine original form (both are part of God’s creation mandate given to humans in Gen. 1:26-28; Ps. 8:5-7) are necessarily destructive.