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St Peter Mancroft Gaia
Is climate emergency defining issue of our time?

To declare the climate an “emergency” and “the defining issue of our time and the greatest threat to our well-being, globally and locally” is to follow the zeitgeist, not the Bible or the facts, argues Dave Brennan from Brephos.

I’ve never met a Christian who objects to the idea that part of our responsibility under God is to look after the earth he created as God’s undermanagers (Genesis 1:28). Although explicit biblical support for the importance of looking after the non-human aspects of God’s creation is slight (e.g. Genesis 2:15; Leviticus 25:2-5) compared with how we are to treat human beings made in God’s image (e.g. Genesis 6:9; Exodus 23:7; Proverbs 6:17; James 5:6), it chimes with the biblical principles of humility, gratitude, wisdom, and consideration of others that we should steward the earth with moderation and selflessness.

But much of the spirit and messaging of the “Climate Emergency” narrative that we are now hearing from many quarters – including the Church – is very different from this biblical idea of stewardship, and we are in danger of being swept into a deeply unchristian way of thinking and living if we don’t perceive what is pagan and decide to stand against it.

Christians need to understand that many of the common elements of this narrative are in fact incompatible with biblical Christianity and they are harmful: they are nothing short of pagan earth-worship.

If anyone doubts this, consider the “Gaia” exhibition recently hosted in St Peter Mancroft church.

“Gaia”, named after the Greek mother-of-all goddess of the earth, features a large globe hanging in the air and “gives us the opportunity to experience the fragility of our planet in a new light”. Allow me to spell out why this is anything but innocuous:

1)“Gaia” isn’t just a random name
It’s important not to quarrel about words (2 Timothy 2:14). The names of our days of the week have pagan roots (Thor, Saturn…). But what we are talking about here is far more than mere etymology.

The artist Luke Jerram consciously and deliberately chose this name because of the identity of the Greek goddess, and she was referenced uncritically in a speech made in St Peter Mancroft by the Lord Mayor at the exhibition’s opening: the installation “named after the Mother of All in Greek Mythology hung in the church ‘like a mother patiently waiting’”.

The idol is also mentioned in some of the text accompanying the exhibition inside the church building.

The constellation of the pagan name, the personification of the earth, the sense that our survival depends on it (see below), and the willingness to take drastic sacrificial action to keep it happy, all begins to look a lot like idolatrous earth-worship.

Indeed, if this isn’t enough for it to be identified as pagan idolatry, what would be? At the very least we have to see that this is misguided, confusing, and unhelpful. Can we imagine Paul bringing a statue of Artemis (a virgin goddess) into a first-century Christian meeting to teach about chastity?

2)The earth is being viewed from a God-less perspective
The exhibition portrays our “planet home” as “fragile” and alone, “hanging in a void”, and insists that it is up to us to change its destiny through drastic action to ensure its survival and ours.

Notable for their absence are the following biblical truths:
i) Far from being alone in a void, “the earth is the Lord’s” (Psalm 24:1) and he sustains it “by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3). “He’s got the whole world in his hands,” as the old African-American spiritual goes. Whilst of course this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter how we steward the earth, it does mean that its destiny is not in our hands. There is a big difference between the biblical concept of obedience to a loving God, trusting him with the future, and the pagan concept of trying to manipulate nature through human activity to control future outcomes. Gaia falls very much into the latter category.

ii) We know that earth will be destroyed when God decides (2 Peter 3:10), so the idea of making its indefinite survival at all costs a top priority for the Church is misguided. (Again, not an excuse for wanton abuse of the earth.) Our top priority surely needs to be to prepare people for what happens after the inevitable destruction of the earth or of their earthly bodies – whichever comes first.

iii) Whilst our “planet home” has its importance, there is nothing here about the eternal home (John 14:3) that Jesus has gone ahead to prepare for those who put their trust in him, nor about the “everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46) that awaits those who reject Christ, after this brief “planet home” life is over. Granted that this earth is in a sense “fragile”: why not use this as an opportunity to point people to a hope that is truly secure?

iv) Gaia offers no biblical interpretation of why “the whole creation has been groaning…right up to the present time” (Romans 8:22). Biblically, it is clear that it is because human beings, from Genesis 3, have sinned against God, worshipping created things. But the Gaia exhibition would have it that we have merely mistreated Mother Earth directly, nothing more. There is no mention of sinning against a holy God.

v) Consequently, there is no call for biblical repentance “from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). Ironically, in attempting to address one of the symptoms (earth pains) in isolation, Gaia actually aggravates the root cause (self-reliance and God-forsaking idol-worship), and this may well result in even worse symptoms!
 
3)We are simply following the ways of the nations
To declare the climate an “emergency” and “the defining issue of our time and the greatest threat to our well-being, globally and locally” is to follow the zeitgeist, not the Bible or the facts.

How can it be maintained that climate change (predicted by the World Health Organisation to cause an additional 250,000 deaths per year between 2030 and 2050) poses a greater threat than the global baby genocide (already taking 73 million lives a year, according to the same World Health Organisation)? And how can it be argued biblically that 2°C grieves the heart of God more than mass scale child sacrifice?

Prioritising climate change above issues such as “abortion” – or deeper issues such as idolatry – betrays the extent to which the Church has followed the ways (and invisible gods) of our culture, rather than taking the lead; has become a thermometer rather than a thermostat.
“…they mingled with the nations
    and adopted their customs.
They worshiped their idols,
    which became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to false gods.
They shed innocent blood,
    the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    and the land was desecrated by their blood…
Therefore the Lord was angry with his people
    and abhorred his inheritance…”
Psalm 106:35-36

We cannot “save the planet”. We cannot even save ourselves.
But by God’s grace we can be saved, through Jesus – if we repent of worthless idols and put our trust in him.

Click here to read a response to this article by the Vicar of St Peter Mancroft, Rev Canon Edward Carter.

Image courtesy of St Peter Mancroft Church.

Norfolk-based Dave Brennan is Head of Brephos - Church Ministry at CBRUK.


The views carried here are those of the author, not of Network Norfolk, and are intended to stimulate constructive and good-natured debate between website users. 

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Feedback:
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John Winlow (Guest) 02/11/2021 10:37
I agree with David, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein."
We know from history that climate change has occured over the life of the earth. The 'Little Ice Age' lasted from the 16th to the 19th century.
Whilst we can all agree that man's activiities are polluting the earth, there are other factors way beyond man's ability to control.
What some may be really looking for is a sufficient cause to justify the imposition of a One World Government..
John Brown (Guest) 02/11/2021 11:25
I have not seen the Gaia display so I cannot comment. But I do agree with Dave's excellent assessment of how Jesus followers should prioritize the climate change issue with biblically discernment and not from a god-less perspective.
G. Davey (Guest) 02/11/2021 15:17
Enlightening article, so important to remember the true message of our salvation
Matt Richards (Guest) 02/11/2021 17:29
Breath of fresh air to hear a Christian perspective challenging the narrative.
Well done Dave Brennan. And well done Network Norwich for publishing.
Monica Lott (Guest) 02/11/2021 21:40
Excellent work David! “ The earth is Lord’s” and all the heavens are also His. Job 9:9 “ He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the Constellation of the south” God created spacetime and matter. He created the observable universe and unobservable universe. Our planet earth is a fraction of His majesty.
Jesus is “ the way, the truth and the life”. “ The truth will set you free” John 8:32
(Guest) 03/11/2021 09:59
It is a mistake, I think, to confuse repentance with idolatry. It is no longer the case that the climate crisis is a phrase to be wrapped in quotation marks like some bogey monster, but that it is a simple matter of fact that needs to be addressed with the greatest urgency. To do so, and to take wonder at the beauty of God’s amazing world as a starting point to do so, is not idolatry, but is the stuff of the stewardship we all like to trot out on occasions such as these. To suggest that awe at God’s creation, and repentance for its wilful destruction constitutes ‘worship’ of the created is ludicrous, like suggesting that paying a parking fine is worship of traffic wardens. It also strikes me that to take offence at the artist’s use of a Greek word - yes, even the name of a greek god - as the naming of this piece of work is an act of religious pomposity that is beneath us all - and disproportionate to the hanging up of a large blow-up ball.
John (Guest) 04/11/2021 07:36
I was confused reading this at certain points. It seems like the author is saying we need not worry about climate change all that much because abortion results in more loss of life. Can't people be concerned about both the unborn and the fate of the planet and even treat them with as much urgency?

I took pause with particular passage as well:
"There is a big difference between the biblical concept of obedience to a loving God, trusting him with the future, and the pagan concept of trying to manipulate nature through human activity to control future outcomes." What does the author mean here by 'manipulate nature?' Don't the solutions involved in combating climate change focus on reducing the amount of carbon released in the atmosphere as a result of various human creations or human manipulations of nature, if you will?

In other words, humans through their own actions exacerbate climate change just as humans are responsible for abortion. That's not to equate the two but rather to show how the actions of humankind can have adverse consequences.

So unless every aborted fetus survives or every city below sea level rises both will surely need human intervention to prevent more death. And God can inspire that human intervention, that mission to protect the unborn and the planet.
Peter S (Guest) 13/11/2021 12:57
Great article to help us get a bit more balance. Thanks.


Let's be a little bit careful here.

1) As you helpfully indicated, I could suggest that, because you use the word "Friday", you are endorsing worship of the goddess Freya. But I'd be wrong (I hope!). Before we criticise the use of a word, we need to be sure what that person means by that word - especially when the word is in a language that is foreign to the speaker.

2) The Greek word Gaia is a poetic form of the word Ge. The ancient Greeks also used Ge for the same goddess - like we might use "Susan" and "Sue" to refer to the same person. This word Ge is used in the Greek translation (Septuagint) of Psalm 24:1 "The Ge is the Lord's...". It is also used in most places in the New Testament where our English translations use the word "earth". Is the Bible here referring to a pagan goddess? A thousand times "no!"


If someone has an unbiblical understanding of earth/ge/gaia, let's seek to correct that - as most of your article helpfully does. Let's not confuse issues by criticising views that they don't actually hold.
Andrew Lee (Guest) 18/11/2021 10:45
Excellent article; one wonders whether the Church of England today actually helps or hinders the proclamation of the gospel. Ultimately there can be no climate crisis or emergency since if there was one it would put some doubt in Jesus' return. Moreover, it was specifically through his death and resurrection that all things, whether on earth or in heaven, will be restored (Colossians 1:20).
Matthew Hall (Guest) 13/12/2021 14:23
Very thought provoking, the following discussion was also useful. Abortion is clearly the biggest evil in our world currently, and while we need to engage with climate change as well, I think pragmatically the biggest issue that all Christian should be united on strategically is Assisted Dying. In 1967 the abortion act passed in large part in compassion to prevent the perceived injustice of back street abortions. Nearly 10 million children have died due to the resulting downgrading of our societies value of the life of the unborn. I believe our generation of church leaders and Christians will be judged on whether we have done all we can to prevent the introduction of similar 'compassion' based legislation which will lead to a change in societies value for the elderly, vulnerable, infirm and disabled. How can those of us who are not disabled value others and at the same time say if I got like that I'd prefer to die. There are enough Christians in the UK to be Salt & Light if we choose to. At Christmas time God came to be a totally dependant baby. Limited capacity and dependence on others are godly characteristics.
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