Should Christians care about the environment or nature, and animals becoming extinct?

[mathinspiration]

Should they or not?

 

[Basil the Great]

Yes, St. Francis of Assisi is probably the best example of a Christian caring for animals and nature. We should try and follow in his footsteps.

 

[SkyWriting]

Should they or not?

Genesis 2:15
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Numbers 35:33
You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 1:26-30
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Revelation 11:18
The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

Psalm 24:1
A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

Jeremiah 2:7
And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.

 

[TerryWoodenpic]

Why would any one despoil God's creation.
It is everyone's duty to look after it.

 

[rjs330]

Genesis 2:15
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Numbers 35:33
You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 1:26-30
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Revelation 11:18
The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

Psalm 24:1
A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

Jeremiah 2:7
And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.

This is a demonstration of what I call flyover theology. Several of the scriptures mentioned here have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Numbers and Jeremiah particularly have nothing to do with the environment or nature.

That being said Genesis 1:28 is the admonition to subdue and master the land and animals. I do believe God wants us to be good stewards of the land and animals. To take care of it and them and not needlessly destroy the land or animals.

The words in Genesis put man as supreme over all the earth and we are to subdue it and rule over it. God gave us permission to do what we want with the land for our own purposes. Keep in mind that this command was given before the fall. So hunting and fishing was not part of this original plan. However after the fall the command or permission was not rescinded. Thus the hunting and fishing became part if the human process to subdue and rule over the land. Cutting of trees and mining all became part of the fall. The drilling for oil and damming of rivers are all part of subduing the earth for our purposes.

God has also told us in his scriptures that he wants his rulers to be kind and just and full of mercy. He does not want cruel rulers. We can take that principle and apply it to how we see and use nature. Purposely polluting the land is not being a good ruler. Being cruel to animals is not being a good ruler of nature. Cutting trees for timber is just fine. Cutting trees to the point of harming the land is not being a good ruler.

 

[SkyWriting]

This is a demonstration of what I call flyover theology. Several of the scriptures mentioned here have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Numbers and Jeremiah particularly have nothing to do with the environment or nature.

That being said Genesis 1:28 is the admonition to subdue and master the land and animals. I do believe God wants us to be good stewards of the land and animals. To take care of it and them and not needlessly destroy the land or animals.

It is indeed a flyover response researched posting.
If you wish to focus on passages you don't feel
are as relevant, I don't see how that benefits you.
But the passages are listed in order of what others
have thought to be appropriate or applicable.
I like my methodology.

21 Top Bible Verses about Nature - Displaying God's Glory Scriptures
Bible Verses About Protecting the Environment - ThoughtCo
Top 7 Bible Verses About Taking Care Of The Earth - Patheos
What Does the Bible Say About Taking Care Of The Earth?
26 Bible verses about Respect, For Environment
Bible Verses on Caring for Creation - Web of Creation

 

[rjs330]

It is indeed a flyover response researched posting.
If you wish to focus on passages you don't feel
are as relevant, I don't see how that benefits you.
But the passages are listed in order of what others
have thought to be appropriate or applicable.
I like my methodology.

21 Top Bible Verses about Nature - Displaying God's Glory Scriptures
Bible Verses About Protecting the Environment - ThoughtCo
Top 7 Bible Verses About Taking Care Of The Earth - Patheos
What Does the Bible Say About Taking Care Of The Earth?
26 Bible verses about Respect, For Environment
Bible Verses on Caring for Creation - Web of Creation

Yeah I hear you. The downside to internet listings like that is that they often take scriptures out of context and they have no real application to the topic at hand. That's where goofy theology often comes from.

You might read the rest if my post as I added to it.

 

[SkyWriting]

Yeah I hear you. The downside to internet listings like that is that they often take scriptures out of context and they have no real application to the topic at hand. That's where goofy theology often comes from.

It's hard to make an argument that multiple passages pulled from
a variety of scriptures, voted on by an entirely general audience
will lead to error.
But as a rule, my sources listed, on the whole, are entirely
unbiased and you are free to erase any passages you choose
from my post if you quote it, or from your personal Bible.

 

[SkyWriting]

This is a demonstration of what I call flyover theology. Several of the scriptures mentioned here have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Numbers and Jeremiah particularly have nothing to do with the environment or nature.

If you wish to complain that Jeremiah is not specifically about ecology, fine.
But to draw a plain and persistent parallel through the entire chapter,
means that ecology is not a stupid cause.

Jeremiah 2 KJV

 

[SkyWriting]

Numbers and Jeremiah particularly have nothing to do with the environment or nature.

Numbers 35:33 does not refer to nature.
That leaves 6 passages that do.

 

[dreadnought]

Should they or not?

It is in our own best interests to care about the environment. I don't think anyone wants to see animals go extinct, though it might in some cases be unavoidable.

 

[SPF]

But as a rule, my sources listed, on the whole, are entirely
unbiased

Thanks, I needed a good chuckle this morning.

 

[Ovlov90]

Should they or not?

We were put here to be His imagers on earth to tend Hjs creation for Him. So I believe yes. But when He booted us out of the garden He also cursed it. So tending became contending. And that is a losing battle. No matter what we do we are doomed to create a negative while attempting to overcome the cursed nature of our environment with a positive outcome. Example: food for all. The factory farm. Plenty of meat. Degregated conditions for animals. Sewage lagoons. Antibiotic overuse. Mad cow. Pockets of mass food poisoning. But we still must try. Its His afterall.

 

[rjs330]

If you wish to complain that Jeremiah is not specifically about ecology, fine.
But to draw a plain and persistent parallel through the entire chapter,
means that ecology is not a stupid cause.

Jeremiah 2 KJV

Not sure what you mean exactly, but it's pretty obvious that ecology is not the issue God in Jeremiah is talking about.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Should they or not?

What difference would it make if they did ?

What does Jesus tell all the disciples to care about ?