The idea of "Green Theology" highlights biblical principles that show how our faith is connected to our care/concern for the natural environment. Many of the biblical laws, prophets, psalms and proverbs reflect concern for how people relate to the land and to the natural world. Consider the following Old Testament laws. What are the reasons given for these laws? How do these laws reflect an environmentally-conscious mindset? What other biblical passages or principles reflect an environmentally-conscious mindset? How could these principles be reflected in modern day-to-day life?
Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Exodus 23:10-12 "For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the servant born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed."
Leviticus 25:8-10, 23-24
"Count off seven sabbath years - seven times seven years - so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan....
The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.
Deuteronomy 5:12-15 "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
Leviticus 19:9-10 "When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God."
Deuteronomy 24:19-22 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.
Deuteronomy 30:8-9 Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
How does our faith support us in looking at issues of environment, food and climate change? Are there principles from the Bible that support us in understanding these issues? The following chart describes four sets of questions, focused on environmental issues.
(Note that these same questions can be applied to ANY public policy and community issues. What is your personal philosophy? Can you teach/share ideas with others? What actions can you take in your own personal life? How can you advocate for or support wider action in the larger community?)
Personal Philosophy -- What is your personal philosophy about issues of climate change, environment, food and natural resources? Does thinking about these issues make you feel energized? inspired? worried? guilty? angry? challenged? hopeful? How important are these issues to you? How does your faith support you in thinking about these issues? What resources do you use to learn about these issues?
Personal Action --
To what extent do you try to shape your lifestyle to have a positive footprint in the environment?
Do your decisions about:
Teaching/Sharing Ideas -- Do you have opportunities to share ideas and information with others through work, school, church, family, community or social media networks?
Social/Community Action -- Do you have opportunities to advocate for and support wider changes to address environmental issues? What can you do to support changes in public policy and business practices in energy, food and agriculture, transportation, air and water quality to address environmental issues?
Faith-based groups making climate, health a priority: Public health joins faith groups on food access, sustainability http://thenationshealth.aphapublications.org/content/47/5/1.1
Groundswell International: Agroecology
Small Planet Institute: Rome Summit Takes Bold Step Toward Agroecology
Small Planet Institute: Dinner and Climate Change: Global Poll Shows Eaters Connecting the Dots
Small Planet Institute: "Disarming Despair" by Frances Moore Lappe
Plough Quarterly: The Bronx Agrarian
January 1, 2020