The Spiritual Implications of Global Warming

By Peter G. Kreitler

“God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water, the fire next time!”

This provocative sentence was both descriptive and prophetic. Addressing the issues of justice – civil rights and the potential for a human holocaust – in 1963, author James Baldwin asked that we hold a mirror to our behavior, in the tradition of the prophets of the Old Testament. Now, 40 years later, Baldwin's words have become the single most challenging warning to any civilization in the history of the human family.

The fire next time is upon us now, in the form of heat from the heavens.

Initially, God gave Noah the rainbow sign after the great flood; perhaps as both warning and symbol of hope, but now, only the fire! The fire is from the skies and the globe is warming, and we are fueling the intensity daily.

The flood of biblical times, which left an ark sitting on top of a mountain in Turkey, may be a mere bathtub of water compared with the future defined by global warming. As the polar ice caps melt, snow packs disappear, and glaciers break into open ocean – a flood greater than biblical proportions will be unleashed.

The flood of biblical times, which left an ark sitting on top of a mountain in Turkey, may be a mere bathtub of water compared with the future defined by global warming. As the polar ice caps melt, snow packs disappear, and glaciers break into open ocean – a flood greater than biblical proportions will be unleashed.

This is not science fiction of the future, but fact for the present.  

The finite creation we have inherited is becoming an oven for the inhabitants of our fragile island home, and in all corners of the globe the consequences are emerging. Islands in the Pacific unable to stem the rising tides; Himalayan glaciers are retreating; the Arctic Sea ice will be totally gone in 100 years; blue mussels have been discovered in the Arctic today; and the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased by 30% since our Declaration of Independence was signed.

The warming is real, and as Prime Minister Tony Blair recently remarked: “There is a virtual worldwide scientific consensus on the scope of the problem.”

For people of faith, there is a consequence. The fire this time is accelerating the collapse of creation. The creator's life-giving breath, the ruach elohim , the breath that gives everything life, is being compromised.

Many scientists think the processes underway are irreversible. The collapse will happen and the human family will go the way of the dinosaur. Thankfully, most religious folk are not willing to throw in the towel just yet, but the time is now, not tomorrow.

Traditionally we are people of hope: we believe in new beginnings, resurrections if you will, and dismiss a short-term view of history. Today, we are being called, like no other time in history, to redirect our focus and become more pro-active in partnership with God to preserve the creation. Every single human being must participate in the process. We all must become gardeners of the fragile island home we call earth.

Hebrew scripture states it best – a loose paraphrase of Genesis never hurts: “Hey folks”, God might have cautioned, “I worked hard to get this garden right and I put you here; you are in the earth garden, and Adam, and Eve you have a job – till and care for the garden, and since you speak Hebrew; avodah and shomer – keep and serve creation – now that is the first commandment I give you.”

The Garden of Eden is in need of gardeners. A simple concept – a gardener works with the inter-play of water, soil, sunlight in order to achieve balance and harmony. When the garden we tend goes out of balance nothing survives. When the garden God entrusted to us was handed over to us it was in balance. Balance was achieved over 8 billion years, give or take a few million. This balance enabled life as we know it to begin to evolve. By the time Adam and Eve arrived the right ingredients were in place and the domestication of animals and the harvesting of the sea led to non-migrating civilizations.

Since that beginning, the gases in the earth's atmosphere acted like glass in a greenhouse. The planet was warmed because heat was trapped and life was then possible. The gases were good – very good – very, very good.

Now the gases are bad – very, very bad.

We arrogantly pump stuff into our atmosphere. The concentrations of global warming pollutants are increasing the heat-trapping blanket around the globe, causing average temperatures to rise with unintended consequences.

How on earth have we gotten into this predicament where the very foundation of life is threatened? Yes, over-population and over-consumption, along with industrialization, and no long-term view of history are the major culprits, but there is something fundamental to our Christian belief system which contributes to the collapse of creation.

We continue to put ourselves at the center of the universe. We really have become a culture that is defined by its anthropocentric nature and its arrogance; a culture that leaves little room for God's book of nature to be read and understood. The balance that God had created for us has been compromised by humankind's setting ourselves apart from nature. We have adopted and borne the mantle of supreme authority without the necessary tools to sustain the quality of life for all generations. We have usurped the power of God to be God.

Christians are often the leading offenders – this remains our biggest mistake as a religion. Many of us still play Creator; believe they know what is best and lift up false gods, like technology and power to save the day. Often those same playmakers are claiming a personal relationship with God that gives them a pass into some perceived arena of invincibility; even if it is in the after-life. That is hubris of the highest magnitude. They claim salvation as a right they will be afforded, and what ever happens to the rest of us is of no consequence.

What the personal salvation devotees fail to realize is that the ruach elohim – the breath of God – is shared equally. Contaminating that breath anywhere or earth, heating up that breath in Santiago, Beijing or Houston hurts all in God's creation. No one can escape to another world.

Personal salvation is an immoral escape. A personal relationship with the Creator is not the answer. Hope for solving the environmental crisis emerges when the human puts itself third in the hierarchy of importance.

Healing the planet must begin with a new theology crafted for new times . A theology that says the earth is not ours to mess up, but that we are part of the whole called to a responsible new direction. Personal salvation is an immoral escape. A personal relationship with the Creator is not the answer. Hope for solving the environmental crisis emerges when the human puts itself third in the hierarchy of importance.

The transcendent, the power beyond, the Great Spirit, God – must be first, because from something beyond evolved a planetary system that worked for eons of time. This is always the best argument for a God centered theology rather than an anthropocentric or human centered focus.

Secondly, the collective must be honored – a brother or sister individual or nation hurting anywhere is reason to keep focused on the good of the whole. Salvation of the collective must take precedence over personal salvation. I must accept the premise: “So what if I am on the fast track to some delusional perception of being saved when all around me is collapsing.”

When we put ourselves third, then, and only then, are we able to have a personal relationship with God. Change behavior to reflect that you are number three in the trinity; as a starter, and a personal relation with God will occur because it reflects we are putting God's work above all else – being about the business of preserving God's created order in how we best serve the Creator – period. Therefore, for me, and perhaps eventually others, a new theology with new directives reflecting the importance of collective salvation is mandatory.

As pioneer visionary environmentalist David Brower once remarked – we need “C.P.R.” for the planet. Conservation, preservation and restoration – this will emanate from all who put themselves third on the ladder, not first because they are too busy about saving themselves or their own families; without regard for the greater good.

C.P.R. begins with the garden, the literal Garden of Eden that sustains all life. For you see, the tiny little critters in the ocean, the phytoplankton and zooplankton, the trees and ferns in the forests, and the microbes in the soils on the land are here for many, many purposes; one big reason is to sink the pollution that is naturally caused, and human caused, so that we can breathe without contaminating ourselves.

God, in God's infinite wisdom gave us carbon sinks – that which absorbs the naturally occurring pollutants. However, with our industrialization, fascination with combustion engines, and a consumptive gene now embedded in all, we are over-burdening God's intricate earth puzzle and the earth's cleansers are losing the battle as the planet heats up. The carbon sinks are over-burdened.

We are, if you will, to become resurrection gardeners. There is no other job for the gardener that is any more important than to give life to the garden. When the garden is dying, all resources are required and all caretakers are on call, the same call from Genesis to the human family – keep and serve creation.

So the new theology must at its core begin with literally breathing life back into a dying entity. This is the most important calling of all communities of faith! We are, if you will, to become resurrection gardeners. There is no other job for the gardener that is any more important than to give life to the garden. When the garden is dying, all resources are required and all caretakers are on call, the same call from Genesis to the human family – keep and serve creation.

It is not even an appropriate point of discussion to talk about personal salvation when hurricanes destroy and floods wreak untold havoc on millions; and our personal behavior contributes to the problem. The least among us may be the Pacific Ocean atoll of 17,000 people gradually disappearing beneath the rising seas; or the Alaskan Indians forced to move because the sea walls can no longer contain the melting glacier water. Salvation of the collective must takes precedence over all individual claims to God.

The fire this time, our warming fragile island home, is our religious and moral wakeup call; Noah's generation heard and felt the fury of rising waters. Today the heat on the earth is bending the established rules of nature and the winds and the waves are compromising the integrity of creation; yet the arc of the rainbow can still be seen to offer us hope amidst the fury of nature's wrath.

The best we can be are stewards, gardeners, caretakers and hopefully, some of us may choose to be master gardeners willing to teach others by example. As gardeners of God's garden we may be asked to reduce our fuel consumption, buy more fuel efficient autos, take public transportation, purchase energy efficient appliances, use compact florescent bulbs, plant trees, grow veggies, weatherize the home, install solar or photovoltaic panels, and vote for those who promote a new environmental ethic as central to their being. We may be asked to lead by example, beginning with a willingness to renounce the archaic theology which speaks of personal salvation.

God gave Noah the rainbow sign – the rainbow sign – hope amidst change. You can make a difference. As the globe heats up, so must our passion to conserve, preserve, and restore God's creation. God's realm, God's garden and our fragile island home is at stake.   

The Rev. Peter Gwillim Kreitler is the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles' minister for the environment, and is also a cultural historian, television talk show host, author, and businessman. His most recent book is United We Stand: Flying the American Flag , and he writes an online journal on earthtalktoday.tv . Peter may be reached by email at pkreitler@aol.com .