A few days ago, climate activist Greta Thunberg announced on Twitter that her new book, The Climate Book, is now available in the US and Canada. This book features essays from over 100 contributors, from scientists to popular authors, on a host of topics from ice shelves to fast fashion to “the importance of respecting the sustainable practices of Indigenous peoples,” all with the goal of helping humanity avoid supposed catastrophic climate change. Now, what should we think about this new book?
Difference of Worldviews
Well, as Bible-believing Christians, we understand that we have a very different foundation for our thinking than Greta and the other authors of The Climate Book. Consider one of the statements she makes in her book:
We are, after all, an animal species among other animal species. We do not stand above the other elements that make up the Earth. We are dependent on them. We do not own this planet, no more than the frogs or the beetles, the deer or the rhinoceros own it. This is not our world . . .
It’s obvious just from this statement that Greta does not start her thinking with God’s Word. Her foundation is man’s word, naturalistic evolution, and millions of years. She has built her worldview from the foundation that man determines truth, and that view impacts how she interprets the world. As a result, she’s interpreting the world very wrongly!
Now, as Christians, we must reject her starting point and instead start with God’s Word. Scripture should be our foundation and the lens (worldview) through which we interpret everything, including claims about climate change and environmental activism.
There’s no biblical or scientific reason for the cacophony of panic Greta and others like her create when it comes to climate change. Now, this doesn’t mean there aren’t environmental issues we should be concerned about. Of course there are! And we should care about them because God has placed us here to have dominion over his creation (Genesis 1:26), wisely tending and keeping it for his glory and our good. But as we care (or “steward”), we must have the proper perspective that (1) humans are image-bearers of God and therefore not animals, like Greta believes we are; (2) God is sovereign and earth is carefully designed by him; (3) we are to have dominion over creation; creation does not have dominion over us; and (4) we live in a fallen creation, suffering the effects of sin and the curse (Genesis 3).
It is vital that we teach our children the biblical view, because the climate religion (it really is a religion!) of people like Greta is having a massive impact on the younger generations who are angry and petrified, thinking the world is ruined for them and they have no future. It’s leading to such despair! We must equip our children to think biblically about the environment and not give in to the lies and exaggerations of our culture.
