In August of 1990, a two week seminar was
held called, "The Greening of the Church." This
was an opportunity for Christian
denominations of all faiths, protestant and catholic, to join in
on exploring the urgent needs facing the
environment and the church. The stated purpose of
course was to explore long standing
Christian theology and the "environmental"
responsibilities the church needs to
continue living on Planet earth. This conference held
workshops discussing the following:
“The fundamental theological and spiritual
issues facing an ecologically sensitive
church;
“The ways on which historic Christian
theology may have fostered or condoned
attitudes and values directly contributing
to our destruction of the natural world;
(One is left wondering if Christian
doctrine is not changed to the new improved version" will
Christians of the old time Gospel be
persecuted for ruining their planet?)
"The 'new story' of Gaia or the living
earth, its functional cosmology and implications
for Christian theology;
"The emerging creation-centered
spirituality and theology...
"The development of interfaith action
to foster environmental responsibility...
(Another ecumenical tie.)
"Tools and study resources for
individual and church community..."
The second week of this conference was
listed as "creating strategies for the greening of the
church." This seminar was sponsored
and held at the New Age learning center of Chinook
Core Faculty at Whidbey Island Washington.
Matthew Fox, lecturer and author of "The
Coming of the Cosmic Christ" and Fr.
Thomas Berry were some of the featured speakers.
Chinook embraces the more hard core New Age
types such as David Spangler, and Fritz Hull,
a board member of Chinook.
Still on the surface, most Christians could
say this is extreme and most Christians would see
through New Age doctrine. Is it possible
that a new theology is being laid at this level and has
already been leaked into the church, with
Christian terminology and theology attached? In
Matthew Fox's book "The Coming of the
Cosmic Christ", page 228 states "Deep ecumenism is
the movement that will unleash the wisdom
of all world religions... The unleashing of wisdom
holds the last hope for the survival of the
planet we call home..." On page 7 it offers, "The
coming together of the historical Jesus and
the Cosmic Christ will make Christianity whole at
last."
Already there are well funded public
interest groups that are publishing their
environmentalists theology, which they
termed "ecotheology." This is a fine blend of
Christianity and mysticism. One group is
"The North American Coalition on Religion and
Ecology" located in Washington D.C. In
their Spring 1995 ECO Letter, they advertise "Ethics
in an Age of Technology," by Ian
Barbour's, a set of lectures titled the Gilford Lectures. In the
past these same lectures were delivered by
Carl Jung and Reinhold Neibuhr. These were
delivered in Scotland 1990-1991 with the
purpose to relate the worlds religion, philosophy and
science. Any Christian who knows Carl Jung's philosophy, which is pure paganism, should
question any conclusion that the
environmentalists are making and the scientific data collected
from such sources should be suspect.
NACRE/CORE are collaborating these efforts
across the country which they call PEW
GLOBAL Stewardship. This is a pilot project
for congregations. One of the other projects is
called Earth Stewardship program for
ministers and educators. NACRE has a list of books and
resources you can choose from.
1. Christianity and Ecology
2. Judaism and Ecology
3. Islam and Ecology
4. Hinduism and Ecology
5. Buddhism and Ecology
The environmental concerns and the theology
behind it is entering the church under the guise
of "Earth Stewardship".
In the Coalition on Revival Dominionist
magazine titled "Crosswinds", Vol. I, No.2, 1992, E.
Calvin Beisner, a member of COR's steering
committee as of 1992, writes an eight page
article titled “Environmentalism or
Stewardship?"
In it he states,
“Environmentalists want to reduce human
population and preserve nature untouched
by human hands. It ignores the effects of
God's curse on the earth and man's call, as
God's steward to reverse those effects..."
"So it is with man's stewardship of
the earth God calls us to restore it from the curse,
to multiply its resources…"
We are to transform the earth into a garden
not an inner city slum. I am predicting
great material wealth for the vast majority
of mankind everywhere..."
If we redistribute land to everyone,
redistribute wealth, take dominion over the planet, return
the world to the garden of Eden, then why
believe in the Rapture, or Christ's return? In fact
this would also mean Satan has his lost
power. In fact we are now Co-Creators with Christ!
From what I can tell from the article, it
implies we are to then redistribute property out of
government control into private sectors and
individuals to hold private property rights, so they
can enforce their Mosaic laws.
Beisner insists the term environment comes
from the French word meaning to turn around and
is not limited to nature, but to business',
houses, cars, health care, etc.
That is fine for the French! The question
is it Biblical? The Reconstructionists and
Dominionists can disagree with the
Environmentalist Humanist agenda, but the New Agers are
not Humanist. They are very spiritual and
have a dominion mandate as well. The humanist
agenda argument is a straw dog that has
been set up by the Dominionist to create the
appearance of separation between themselves
and the new age movement as a whole.
Dennis Peacock, a Coalition on Revival
member, has clearly stated this in his July 1988, Vol.l,
No.1 newsletter called EQUITY,
"Coalition building has become an
integral tool of Public Policy influence to an
increasingly threatened Christian minority
in America. Better known as a tactic of 'So-
Called' leftists, it might seem strange
that evangelical Christians would resort to a
practice that seems so associated with
those who apparently oppose biblical
principles.
“'Coalition' is most often understood as
the ability of a number of diverse interest
groups, often with very little common
interest, to unite around a specific objective,
even if under other circumstances they
might be at enmity with one another..."
Amos 3:3 "can
two walk together except they agree. "
Peacock continues:
“An inherent danger of coalition-building
is to see it as an end in itself. It is an
important but limited tool which allows
Christians and God-fearers of very diverse
traditions to fellowship in the trenches of
this spiritual war. The irony of having gone
through real warfare together is that you
may have more in common with these fellow
warriors than with members of your own
tradition."
Alvin Toller's book "Power Shift, has
a whole section on Eco-theocracy:
“Across the world, meanwhile a green tide
is gathering momentum too. This movement for
ecological sanity is essential - a positive
example of ordinary people around the world leading
their leaders... This group reduces the
history of our relations with nature to biblical
allegory...Now we must transit to a new
'paradise' of perfect sustainability and harmony. If not
we face armageddon."
Rudolf Bahro, an influential Green theorist
now living in West Germany, explicitly holds that
what is needed is "theology, not
ecology - the birth of a new Golden Age which cultivates...the
nobility of man." He reaches back into
the 13th century to quote Meister Eckhart, the founder
of German mysticism.
The fact remains what is needed is a return
to the simple Gospel and Love and respect for
Jesus Christ. We are waiting for the Lord
to transform us. He will again make all things new.
We will never accomplish what only he can and
will do. He does not need our help. He
created this world without us. He will
transform it and make it again the same way without the
co-creators doctrinal manuals.
- Lanette Irwin
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This article was taken from Discerning Ministries Newsletter Volume 6, Number 4 July/August 1995
http://www.discernment-ministries.org/Newsletters/NL1995JulAug.pdf
