jennifer/straysong_website_content
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity

First part of climate justice and the bible reflection

Browse Source
This commit is contained in:
Jennifer C J Radtke
2024-02-16 19:41:46 +00:00
parent d8655f949b
commit eb291fa772
1 changed files with 29 additions and 0 deletions
Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

29
Reflections/climate-justice-bible.md Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
---
title: Climate justice and the Bible
descripton: You won’t find the word “climate” anywhere in the Bible, so it would be tempting to conclude that our faith has no bearing on our reaction to the climate crisis. But “justice” ? Justice turns up in the Bible a lot, right from the book of Genesis. And stewardship of creation is also mentioned – stewardship of God’s creation. We have a duty to care for the creation given to us.
date: 2022-06-23
author: Jennifer C J Radtke
---
# Climate justice and the Bible
You won’t find the word “climate” anywhere in the Bible, so it would be tempting to conclude that our faith has no bearing on our reaction to the climate crisis. But “justice” ? Justice turns up in the Bible a lot, right from the book of Genesis. And stewardship of creation is also mentioned – stewardship of God’s creation. We have a duty to care for the creation given to us.
### What is climate justice?
Climate change has been [extensively studied](https://theconversation.com/234-scientists-read-14-000-research-papers-to-write-the-ipcc-climate-report-heres-what-you-need-to-know-and-why-its-a-big-deal-165587), and two things are clear: it is human driven, and it will have severe impacts for human society. Those two factors make for a crisis, but alone they do not cause a problem of justice. The justice issue arises because of unequal distribution of cause and effect: [those most responsible](https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions) for the problem are mostly the world’s richer nations, whilst those most at risk for the effects are [typically in poor nations (and/or already disadvantaged parts of society)](https://theconversation.com/climate-change-ipcc-report-reveals-how-inequality-makes-impacts-worse-and-what-to-do-about-it-178049).
Let’s look at four passages from different parts of the Bible, and see what they might say about an approach to climate justice.
## Matthew 6:19-34
### Doesn’t the Bible say we should have faith in God to provide?
Matthew 6:25 (and the short sermon in the following verses) is sometimes cited to suggest we shouldn’t worry about climate change, because God will provide what we need. It is, depending on translation, “the Gentiles”, “unbelievers” or “pagans” who spend time worrying about material needs in the future. But Matthew 6:33 suggests something stronger than merely not worrying: we should “strive” for the “kingdom of God”, and we’ll find our needs met as well. The preceding verses offer some insight into what this might mean, starting with talk of treasure in Matthew 6:19. And strive is a strong word – it’s not a bit of homework, but a significant task that we should take seriously. “The dog ate it” won’t cut it here.
![The dog ate it… is that the end of your work for the Kingdom of God?](%assets_url%/dog-1496516_1920-768x576.jpg)
<details>
<summary>What about people who are starving now?</summary>
Not everyone finds that they have all they need for life. Some people live, and die, in severe poverty today – and many more did at the time these passages were written, even those with great faith. This reality is difficult to reconcile with a reading of this passage that suggests no one with faith will want for essentials. It could also be said that if people in poverty are happy we should not mind the inequality, but this runs contrary to notions of justice threaded throughout the Bible – more on that later.
</details>