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Environmental ethics in religion
Christians and Environmental Stewardship
Environmental ethics in Christianity
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Christianity, Judaism and Islam are the three fundamental religions of the monotheistic faiths and together consist of 3.3 billion followers worldwide. Modern believers of all three of these religions do interpret and use the creation story in their lives, with all three Abrahamic faiths using them as a guide to there morals and ethical decisions. The three sacred texts that hold the fundamental values of these three religions all consist of a creation story and although different do have similar qualities. How these religions interpret and use this story in modern values is different and unique from each other. This is done through their care for the environment, how they solicitude with each other and lastly how they view equality. The sacred texts involved, all advocate their values on the environment through their modern believers and followers.
The environment is seen as a major issue in today’s society with many looming prospects, such as global warming and pollution. Christianity is the most followed religion in the world and its sacred book is the Bible. The bible’s creation story has been interpreted in modern society to elucidate that we as humans have complete control over the environment. This involves destroying, it, eradicating it and killing off anything that we disobey with. This is interpreted from the New international version Bible (NIV) and clearly states, “Humans were made in Gods image.” From this modern believers interpreted it mean we are here to act like God, we are the God of the Earth and thus can use it however we intend to and not how God intended us to. This can easily be proven by the fact that Pope Francis I stated made an address to modern believers they were doing anything towards the cleaning a...
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...rn believers of Islam do not look after the environment, solicitude for others and are not adherent to equality within the workplace system. These concepts were all bounded by the way they interpreted the creation story within their sacred text, the Quran.
In conclusion, the concept of environmental issues, how they treat one another and there views on equality within different systems, plays a major and fundamental role within the religious life of believers and this was all adapted from the creation story. It can be deduced modern believers of all three of these religions do interpret and use the creation story in their lives, with all three Abrahamic faiths using them as a guide to there morals and ethical decisions. Even though many of the religions have been around for a few thousand years, the morals learnt form the creation stories are still relevant today.
...that they believe is just and being ethical when concerning the environment, adherents will be rewarded by God. Humanity also benefits as, environmental ethics provided by the Christian teaching and beliefs allows communities to come together and discuss issues concerning the environment whilst being guided by their faith.
One of the needs for a civilization is to have a structured religion. Due to this there have been countless religions that have formed and also fallen throughout history. When religions are compared similarities can almost always be found, but they also have very drastic differences throughout their beliefs. The Hindu, Christian, and Islam religions all have many things of their beliefs that one can consider a similarity, but the differences overpower the similarities.
In conclusion for the most part these three religions are virtually the same in this topic. All three have prophets that spread the divine teachings of their God. The Religions also have the same aspect that they elect people to lead the religion and their faith, but all three religions have aspects to its faith with are totally different then one another.
An environmentalist is a person worships the environment and cares for nature more than people. Christians and others share the common perception that environmental ethics exist for how human beings should relate to the land, the free market perceptive and the environmental perceptive. Humans share a relationship with all creations of the earth. But as humans, they find themselves as having a role in the created order which is they have a closer relationship with the creator who has charged them with acting responsible within his creation. Even allowing a common complaint of environmental activists is that Stewardship means that the earth was made exclusively because of human beings - that having dominion upper nature is the same as having the power and directly of domination. Christians consequently share a close relationship by means of the whole of aspects of creation, since in relation to the environment, its unbroken humanity, not unbroken nature, that's seen to be the problem. Stewardship in simple terms means to manage someone else’s property. Christians proclaims that everything belong to God, so as Christians, we need to have the attitude that our belongings are his belongings. As stewards, we have the responsibility of being in charge of the earth. We have been placed in charge and are responsible for whatever happens to it, even though it does not belong to us, as we all know it belong to God. In Genesis 2:15, God took man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work and take care of it.
The majority of this piece is dedicated to the author stating his opinion in regards to civilization expanding beyond its sustainable limits. The author makes it clear that he believes that humans have failed the natural environment and are in the process of eliminating all traces of wilderness from the planet. Nash points out facts that strengthen his argument, and quotes famous theologians on their similar views on environmental issues and policies. The combination of these facts and quotes validates the author’s opinion.
...did not die’. Islam belief in human nature is also different from Christianity; but the same in Judaism, that human nature has the equal ability to do good or evil. Means of salvation in Islam is closely the same to the other Abrahamic beliefs. In addition, good and bad afterlife beliefs are closely related as well. Interestingly, Christianity views Islam as a false religion and Islam views Judaism and Christianity as ultimately having wrong beliefs and ‘only partial revelation’. Ultimately, these Abrahamic religions are the most influential religions in the world. Their impact on the world is very deep and all trace their history to Abraham in the Hebrew Bible. The brief overview of the similarities and differences of the three monotheistic faiths enables people to enrich or at least receive a concrete vision of what can possibly come with death and the afterlife.
Social responsibility is another area that is highlighted in both Islam and Christianity. Both religions believe that the concept of social responsibility entails that the individual members of society work together to fulfill the general needs of society as well as the individual needs of its members and that they work together to protect society from harm. Both ‘God’ as ‘Allah’ calls us to respect the earth, seek a fairer society, include the forgotten, be makers of peace and build up the common good. Christians as well as Muslims believe that social responsibility helps this to
From the beginning of the book of Genesis in the Holy Bible, it is evident that the identity of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the West hails from Biblical narratives. Genesis and its two accounts of creation are an essential starting point for Jewish, Christian, and Islamic beliefs. It provides a foundation for devotees of these religions to worship their God as the ultimate creator of the heavens and earth, day and night, sun and moon, all the animals and vegetation that inhabits the world, and human beings. For Jews and Christians, God created the world in six days, taking rest on the seventh day.
Every religion has its own goal, and their own path and believe to reach their goals, however there are also many similarities in believes. Although the followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam may see things differently, they all fundamentally hold the same values and codes. To Islam, the Prophet Mohammad’s teaching is a complete and final revelation. On the other hand, according to the bible, Christianity believes that Jesus Christ is the true lord and savior will grant you the access to heaven in the afterlife. Judaism is founded by Abraham, and it is the base from which both of the other two religions sprung. Even though the three religions differ in many areas and on many aspects, they also agree on the monotheistic, the belief in ‘One True God.’ Those religions have many similarities and a number of significant differences about God, role of women, prayer, and salvation.
I strongly agree with Pope Francis that if we teach younger generations not to be wasteful and show them how to be resourceful, then it won’t be such a struggle in the future. "Education in environmental responsibility can encourage ways of acting which directly and significantly affect the world around us, such as avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices.” (211). There are so many new ways to help reduce our use of natural resources that if from a young age we are taught these methods then we could help save our planet. “All of these reflect a generous and worthy creativity which brings out the best in human beings. Reusing something instead of immediately discarding it, when done for the right reasons, can be an act of love which expresses our own dignity.” (211). Again, I agree with the Pope that recycling and reusing makes you feel good because you are making an active contribution to reduce climate
Some environmentalists have blamed Christianity for the abuse of the environment. The 1967 article by Lynn White suggests that Christianity’s theology of the domination of creation is based on the premise that God created everything that exists for the humankind’s use and should be exploited for that purpose. By this, White alleged that Christians do not feel the obligation to take care of the nature, because it was created to serve them. While it may not be entirely true, many Christians do not object to this accusation. They realize that either their faith has been minimalist in its approach to environmental involvement, or it has completely disregarded environmental issues as irrelevant to the fundamentals of the faith.
The most obvious reason that the environment has moral significance is that damage to it affects humans. Supporters of a completely human-centered ethic claim that we should be concerned for the environment only as far as our actions would have a negative effect on other people. Nature has no intrinsic value; it is not good and desirable apart from its interaction with human beings. Destruction and pollution of the environment cannot be wrong unless it results in harm to other humans. This view has its roots in Western tradition, which declares that “human beings are the only morally important members of this world” (Singer p.268).
Religion has always been a topic of much debate. Between faithful adherents and their spiritual leaders, questions the deal with religious law and the afterlife have always been at the forefront. The three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) are no exceptions. Although all three religions share a common ancestor, they are not beholden to one singular believe in the matters of religious law and ideas of the afterlife.
Lewis, Andy. “Environmental Stewardship: A Theological Model for the Environment.” The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commision, August 12, 2005. http://erlc.com/article/environmental-stewardship-a-theological-model-for-the-environment/
Anthropocentrism is the school of thought that human beings are the single most significant entity in the universe. As a result, the philosophies of those with this belief reflect the prioritization of human objectives over the well-being of one’s environment. However, this is not to say that anthropocentric views neglect to recognize the importance of preserving the Earth. In fact, it is often in the best interests of humans to make concerted efforts towards sustaining the environment. Even from a purely anthropocentric point of view, there are three main reasons why mankind has a moral duty to protect the natural world.