Re: Resource conservation and Christ's return

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 12:27:31 -0600 Roger Olson <rogero@saintjoe.edu>
writes:
> Folks,
>
> I don't know whether this topic has been discussed before on this
> forum,
> but I'd like to see what the experts have to say about it. My good
>
> friend and colleague is a herpetologist who is especially interested
> in
> the preservation of wetland ecosystems. The "frog forum" to which
> he
> belongs had the following excerpt posted (see following message).
> The
> basic question for me is how we as believers and scientists
> reconcile
> the doctrine of the imminent corporeal return of Christ with the
> idea of
> environmental conservation for the long term?
>
> I know the "stewardship of creation" concept is most often given as
> the
> justification for conservation behaviors, but many of the more
> fundamentalist Christian groups dismiss such behavior as ridiculous
> if
> the physical Earth will only be around a few more decades. It seems
> to
> me that this is closely related to the YEC/OE question, and can be
> as
> nasty a condundrum as explaining Original Sin or the origin of the
> God-conscious soul.
>
> Thanks in advance for your participation. I hope this is an
> appropriate
> topic for our forum. If this has been discussed in depth before,
> please
> refer to the appropriate archives.
>
> Roger
>
To answer the question about the relationship between the imminent return
of Christ and ecological conservation, one needs to consider the beliefs
involved and their consequences. The majority view is premillennarian,
with some amillennarians. The postmillenarians simply expect the world to
continue much as at present, through a humanly produced golden age before
Christ returns. So there is nothing imminent.

If there is no millennium, then the end of this world comes with the
parousia. This seems to me to obviate any need for conservation--IF the
end is truly upon us. But neither amils nor premils can be sure that the
end is upon us. Earlier students of prophecy had been sure that the end
was imminent at various times in the past. If no one knows the day
(Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32; cf. Matthew 25:13), then we are not relieved
from caring for the environment until the day arrives, not when we think
it will arrive.

The premills have a further motivation. While they expect to have their
resurrection bodies, other natural beings will continue to live on earth
for a thousand years. So there is need to protect the earth and its
resources for their benefit. To claim, "I won't need it, so I don't have
to be concerned," is an expression of selfishness that is incompatible
with loving one's [future] neighbor as oneself. So it looks to me as
though every Christian has a continuing ecological responsibility.
Unfortunately, this may not get through to the short-sighted,
self-centered church-goers.
Dave
Received on Tue Dec 16 14:57:36 2003