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The Environment and the Christian: What Does the New Testament Say About the Environment
LAND EXPLOITATION, SPECIES EXTINCTION, SOIL, WASTE,
156 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1991
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June 16, 2024
A SELECTION OF ESSAYS DEFENDING [FROM THE NT] ENVIRONMENTALISM
Calvin B. DeWitt is a professor in the Nelson Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He wrote in the Preface to this 1991 book, “Given the many things that the Bible has taught us in this time of renewed environmental awareness, some Christians have begun to ask, ‘What is distinctly ‘Christian’ about these biblical teachings?’ Others say, ‘Nearly every verse that is cited… on environmental stewardship is based on Old Testament sources…’ This book attempts to answer these questions. It confirms that the New Testament does offer a distinctively Christian contribution to environmental stewardship… And it shows these contributions to be substantial and of significant consequence.” (Pg. 8-9)
Loren Wilkinson stated, “These are the questions before us: Is Jesus Christ Lord of the cosmos? Is Christ the Lord of personal life?... If so, how are the two lordships related?... Does… reconciliation somehow involve the whole creation?.... These are not theoretical questions… They are absolutely central as we try to understand what the good news in Christ means, not only for individuals, but for a suffering creation. What, then, is the biblical teaching about the ‘cosmic Christ’? The term ‘cosmic Christ’ is not itself biblical, but the idea is close to the surface in so central a text as John 3:16… Here the Greek word for ‘world’ is ‘kosmos,’ which here refers to the orderly totality of all things… there are other indications in John’s Gospel that Christ is Lord of the cosmos, the most sublime illustration being the simple declaration of the prologue… The ‘all things’ of that great declaration points clearly to the cosmic dimensions of Jesus’ lordship… So by ‘cosmic Christ’ we mean simply that the world, to which God’s Son came was not only the human world but the whole created earth---indeed, the universe. If this is so, then our understandings of … ‘the new heaven and the new earth’ must likewise include ‘all things.’” (Pg. 25-26)
He continues, “another of the ways in which worshipers of transcendent Yahweh understood God’s immanence was through the concept of wisdom. A significant tradition developed in Judaism that came very near to personifying this tradition … Proverbs are a part of this tradition, as are Ecclesiastes, Job, and several noncanonical works, of which the most significant is the Wisdom of Solomon… in Proverbs 8… Wisdom, personified as female… invites ‘all mankind’ to ‘gain prudence.’ She describes in majestic detail the value of wisdom for human life… It would be hard to imagine a picture in greater contrast to the detached Creator that some assume God to be.” (Pg. 33-35)
Ronald Manahan observes, “Genesis 21 pictures Adam in the garden. In this setting his relationships were harmonious and complete… But Genesis 3 gives a negative picture, one of disobedience and cursing… Genesis 3 soberly depicts disobedience leading to cursing. The beneficence with which persons were to carry out stewardship of the earth was gone.” (Pg. 52)
Raymond C. Van Leeuwen acknowledges, “There are no New Testament texts directly offering guidance and commentary on nuclear war and waste, genetic engineering, wetlands, ozone depletion, rain forest burning, garbage disposal, or MTV. Nowhere in the New Testament will one find the word or even the concept of ‘environment’ in its modern sense… Many have concluded that it has nothing to say and that Christians should get on with the business of saving souls out of a seemingly hostile world… For instance, President Reagan’s former Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, was forced to resign largely because of his callout attitude concerning violence to the creation… unfortunately he believed that Christ’s imminent return made stewardship of the earth unnecessary.” (Pg. 58)
He suggests, “According to Paul, righteousness … is summarized as love of one’s neighbor… But one cannot love one’s neighbor without taking care of creation. Pollution can injure and literally kill one’s neighbors. The poor use of natural and other resources represents theft from the neighbor, indeed from our own children and grandchildren, who may someday curse us for this. People destroy the earth and do ‘wrong to a neighbor’ because they covet more than the Creator has allotted to them.” (Pg. 69)
Gordon Zerbe explains, “It is true that many New Testament texts refer to the ‘passing away’ of heaven and earth. But the following points should be noted. First, as in the Jewish apocalyptic… Some texts imply a destruction and replacement of the old world, but the Pauline references imply a restoration of the present world… Second, the problem is not with the creation itself, but with sin… Third, even the ideas of refinement or replacement do not necessarily mean that one should not care for the present creation… Fourth, the present reality of redemption implies that the cosmos is the object of God’s reconciling work, just as the present body is the place of ongoing redemption. There is no biblical basis for disregarding and degrading the state of the earth because of it[s] future restoration.” (Pg. 90)
Vernon Visick admits, “Jesus mentions nature in only a few places: (1) in a contrast between the beauty of flowers and Solomon in al his grandeur, concluding that flowers are more beautiful; and (2) in a comparison between the respective value of sparrows and human beings, asserting that in God’s mind human beings are more important than sparrows… Jesus is no technological optimist, overlooking and undervaluing nature in contrast to the wonder of human creativity… Given the paucity of texts that describe Jesus’ attitude toward nature, we must investigate the context in which Jesus was operating… As David Ehrenfeld and others have recently demonstrated, the Jews had a profound ecological ethic.” (Pg. 96)
Calvin DeWitt concludes, “Environmental responsibility lies at the center of Christian faith and life, requiring every person who professes Christ to be faithful in their care and keeping of the creation. There IS a distinctively Christian contribution to environmental stewardship; there IS an important contribution provided by the New Testament. Churches and denominations need to give very clear witness to their profession of Christ as Redeemer AND Creator---including … being restored, through Christ, to Adam’s position of steward of the earth on behalf of the Creator.” (Pg. 115)
This book will be of great interest to Christians interested in environmental issues.
Calvin B. DeWitt is a professor in the Nelson Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He wrote in the Preface to this 1991 book, “Given the many things that the Bible has taught us in this time of renewed environmental awareness, some Christians have begun to ask, ‘What is distinctly ‘Christian’ about these biblical teachings?’ Others say, ‘Nearly every verse that is cited… on environmental stewardship is based on Old Testament sources…’ This book attempts to answer these questions. It confirms that the New Testament does offer a distinctively Christian contribution to environmental stewardship… And it shows these contributions to be substantial and of significant consequence.” (Pg. 8-9)
Loren Wilkinson stated, “These are the questions before us: Is Jesus Christ Lord of the cosmos? Is Christ the Lord of personal life?... If so, how are the two lordships related?... Does… reconciliation somehow involve the whole creation?.... These are not theoretical questions… They are absolutely central as we try to understand what the good news in Christ means, not only for individuals, but for a suffering creation. What, then, is the biblical teaching about the ‘cosmic Christ’? The term ‘cosmic Christ’ is not itself biblical, but the idea is close to the surface in so central a text as John 3:16… Here the Greek word for ‘world’ is ‘kosmos,’ which here refers to the orderly totality of all things… there are other indications in John’s Gospel that Christ is Lord of the cosmos, the most sublime illustration being the simple declaration of the prologue… The ‘all things’ of that great declaration points clearly to the cosmic dimensions of Jesus’ lordship… So by ‘cosmic Christ’ we mean simply that the world, to which God’s Son came was not only the human world but the whole created earth---indeed, the universe. If this is so, then our understandings of … ‘the new heaven and the new earth’ must likewise include ‘all things.’” (Pg. 25-26)
He continues, “another of the ways in which worshipers of transcendent Yahweh understood God’s immanence was through the concept of wisdom. A significant tradition developed in Judaism that came very near to personifying this tradition … Proverbs are a part of this tradition, as are Ecclesiastes, Job, and several noncanonical works, of which the most significant is the Wisdom of Solomon… in Proverbs 8… Wisdom, personified as female… invites ‘all mankind’ to ‘gain prudence.’ She describes in majestic detail the value of wisdom for human life… It would be hard to imagine a picture in greater contrast to the detached Creator that some assume God to be.” (Pg. 33-35)
Ronald Manahan observes, “Genesis 21 pictures Adam in the garden. In this setting his relationships were harmonious and complete… But Genesis 3 gives a negative picture, one of disobedience and cursing… Genesis 3 soberly depicts disobedience leading to cursing. The beneficence with which persons were to carry out stewardship of the earth was gone.” (Pg. 52)
Raymond C. Van Leeuwen acknowledges, “There are no New Testament texts directly offering guidance and commentary on nuclear war and waste, genetic engineering, wetlands, ozone depletion, rain forest burning, garbage disposal, or MTV. Nowhere in the New Testament will one find the word or even the concept of ‘environment’ in its modern sense… Many have concluded that it has nothing to say and that Christians should get on with the business of saving souls out of a seemingly hostile world… For instance, President Reagan’s former Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, was forced to resign largely because of his callout attitude concerning violence to the creation… unfortunately he believed that Christ’s imminent return made stewardship of the earth unnecessary.” (Pg. 58)
He suggests, “According to Paul, righteousness … is summarized as love of one’s neighbor… But one cannot love one’s neighbor without taking care of creation. Pollution can injure and literally kill one’s neighbors. The poor use of natural and other resources represents theft from the neighbor, indeed from our own children and grandchildren, who may someday curse us for this. People destroy the earth and do ‘wrong to a neighbor’ because they covet more than the Creator has allotted to them.” (Pg. 69)
Gordon Zerbe explains, “It is true that many New Testament texts refer to the ‘passing away’ of heaven and earth. But the following points should be noted. First, as in the Jewish apocalyptic… Some texts imply a destruction and replacement of the old world, but the Pauline references imply a restoration of the present world… Second, the problem is not with the creation itself, but with sin… Third, even the ideas of refinement or replacement do not necessarily mean that one should not care for the present creation… Fourth, the present reality of redemption implies that the cosmos is the object of God’s reconciling work, just as the present body is the place of ongoing redemption. There is no biblical basis for disregarding and degrading the state of the earth because of it[s] future restoration.” (Pg. 90)
Vernon Visick admits, “Jesus mentions nature in only a few places: (1) in a contrast between the beauty of flowers and Solomon in al his grandeur, concluding that flowers are more beautiful; and (2) in a comparison between the respective value of sparrows and human beings, asserting that in God’s mind human beings are more important than sparrows… Jesus is no technological optimist, overlooking and undervaluing nature in contrast to the wonder of human creativity… Given the paucity of texts that describe Jesus’ attitude toward nature, we must investigate the context in which Jesus was operating… As David Ehrenfeld and others have recently demonstrated, the Jews had a profound ecological ethic.” (Pg. 96)
Calvin DeWitt concludes, “Environmental responsibility lies at the center of Christian faith and life, requiring every person who professes Christ to be faithful in their care and keeping of the creation. There IS a distinctively Christian contribution to environmental stewardship; there IS an important contribution provided by the New Testament. Churches and denominations need to give very clear witness to their profession of Christ as Redeemer AND Creator---including … being restored, through Christ, to Adam’s position of steward of the earth on behalf of the Creator.” (Pg. 115)
This book will be of great interest to Christians interested in environmental issues.
December 18, 2025
I love Calvin DeWitt, and I love all his writings in this book. But many of the essays in this book were hard to comprehend. It requires a lot of rereading to get a general idea of what the point of the passage is. If I were to advise a reader, I would say read the preface, the last chapter (5), and the epilogue. The other chapters are confusing and I didn’t get much out of them because the good points were hidden in a lot of complex and abstract thought.
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