April 22, Happy… Earth Day???
by Jason Pratt, contributing writer for rforh
“Each year, Earth Day — April 22 — marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.”[1]
So every year in the spring is this celebration of Earth Day that is centered around many things that are hard to call wrong or evil (by the way there are typically two celebrations, one in March centered around at the March equinox and another on April 22). Who in their right mind would criticize efforts to reduce toxic waste, improve drinking water, reduce litter, improve air quality, and on top of all that save the whales? While all of those causes are intended to improve life on this planet I have to wonder; to what end?
As Christians with a world view that aught to be shaped by the Creator and His Word the Bible, we must be most concerned with eternal affairs not the affairs of this world. The words of 1 John 2:15 come to mind: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” While the emphasis of this verse is not on the environment of this planet rather it speaks to the world system of beliefs and ideals that are contrary to God. So, considering the aspect of God that is focused not simply on our actions but the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12), which are desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), let’s look at the mindset that is truly behind this birth of the environmental movement.
According to the wikipedia article regarding this holiday:
Earth Day is an annual day on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Earth Day is observed on April 22 each year. The April 22 date was designated as International Mother Earth Day by a consensus resolution adopted by the United Nations in 2009.
It now is observed in 192 countries, and coordinated by the nonprofit Earth Day Network, chaired by the first Earth Day 1970 organizer Denis Hayes, according to whom Earth Day is now “the largest secular holiday in the world, celebrated by more than a billion people every year.”[2]
It should be obvious to anyone who understands the environmental movement that the emphasis is behind mankind’s efforts to save the planet, or affectionately referred to as “our mother,” from himself. The emphasis is on the creation and how mankind will either destroy it or save it. Humans, in this environmentally based worldview, determine the fate of the planet, not God. Again, as Christians we must observe the facts given us in the Scriptures. In the first chapter of Genesis, the 28th verse, God declares: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
So what are we to learn from this declaration from God regarding His creation and those created in His image? He has given mankind dominion over the planet so that we would “subdue it.” The Hebrew word used here is kabash and it is in the imperative mood, a command that literally means, “to bring into bondage or subdue.” This is a tremendous blessing and immense responsibility; both of which should be taken very seriously by the Christian. God has entrusted to us His creation yet with that He has not in any way given us the responsibility nor the power to determine its fate. After our first parents sinned it was God alone who cursed the planet and in these last days it is God alone who is allowing creation to groan under the burden of that curse. Consider the amazing truth given to us here in Romans 8:19-22:
For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
So you can see that as Christians we have a foundation and understanding given to us in God’s Word to understand the reasons why things are “progressing from bad to worse” on this earth and the one whom truly holds “the whole world in His hands.” It is most certainly not our “mother earth” and it is equally so not mankind who determines the fate of this planet. The fact of the matter is that you will notice many celebrating this “holiday” are in fact engaged in some form of nature worship or another. This fact is so evident as we look around at the many events scheduled around the celebration of Earth Day not to mention it’s official anthem set to Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”:
Joyful joyful we adore our Earth in all its wonderment
Simple gifts of nature that all join into a paradise
Now we must resolve to protect her
Show her our love throughout all time
With our gentle hand and touch
We make our home a newborn world
Now we must resolve to protect her
Show her our love throughout all time
With our gentle hand and touch
We make our home a newborn world [3]
While not necessarily a Christian song, consider as a stark contrast a few of the original lyrics from this the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony:
Brothers, above the starry canopy
There must dwell a loving Father.
Do you fall in worship, you millions?
World, do you know your creator?
Seek him in the heavens;
Above the stars must He dwell.
Noted cultural anthropologist, Anglican Margaret Mead is credited as an early pioneer of the sexual revolution. She offered her support for the equinox Earth Day shortly before her death in 1978 by declaring:
“Earth Day is the first holy day which transcends all national borders, yet preserves all geographical integrities, spans mountains and oceans and time belts, and yet brings people all over the world into one resonating accord, is devoted to the preservation of the harmony in nature and yet draws upon the triumphs of technology, the measurement of time, and instantaneous communication through space.
Earth Day draws on astronomical phenomena in a new way – which is also the most ancient way – by using the vernal Equinox, the time when the Sun crosses the equator making the length of night and day equal in all parts of the Earth. To this point in the annual calendar, EARTH DAY attaches no local or divisive set of symbols, no statement of the truth or superiority of one way of life over another. But the selection of the March Equinox makes planetary observance of a shared event possible, and a flag which shows the Earth, as seen from space, appropriate.”[4]
By “divisive symbols, no statement of the truth or superiority…” I wonder if she may have been considering the cross and the claims of Christianity? She boldly declares Earth Day as a “holy day” which begs the question of what is to be worshiped? Clearly it is the earth. What does the Bible say about this kind of earth worship? Paul tells us in Romans 1:25:
For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
The belief that the actions of mankind will or are somehow destroying this planet are sheer hubris and folly. The fact is, God created the earth and all that is in it, God cursed the earth because of man’s sin, God allows the earth to groan under the burden of that curse and God will destroy it. We ought to care for it out of honor to Him and because of the blessing this home truly is. Besides, as just stated God is going to destroy the earth, not us! The Bible talks of a true “global warming” in 2 Peter 3:10:
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
So if you do anything this Earth Day make sure you honor, glorify and worship the Creator and not the creation. While the world is trying to save the planet, may we be busy saving something that really matters: souls. To God be the Glory!
1. http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day
3. ibid
4. Margaret Mead, “Earth Day,” EPA Journal, March 1978.
“Each year, Earth Day — April 22 — marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.”[1]
So every year in the spring is this celebration of Earth Day that is centered around many things that are hard to call wrong or evil (by the way there are typically two celebrations, one in March centered around at the March equinox and another on April 22). Who in their right mind would criticize efforts to reduce toxic waste, improve drinking water, reduce litter, improve air quality, and on top of all that save the whales? While all of those causes are intended to improve life on this planet I have to wonder; to what end?
As Christians with a world view that aught to be shaped by the Creator and His Word the Bible, we must be most concerned with eternal affairs not the affairs of this world. The words of 1 John 2:15 come to mind: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” While the emphasis of this verse is not on the environment of this planet rather it speaks to the world system of beliefs and ideals that are contrary to God. So, considering the aspect of God that is focused not simply on our actions but the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12), which are desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), let’s look at the mindset that is truly behind this birth of the environmental movement.
According to the wikipedia article regarding this holiday:
Earth Day is an annual day on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Earth Day is observed on April 22 each year. The April 22 date was designated as International Mother Earth Day by a consensus resolution adopted by the United Nations in 2009.
It now is observed in 192 countries, and coordinated by the nonprofit Earth Day Network, chaired by the first Earth Day 1970 organizer Denis Hayes, according to whom Earth Day is now “the largest secular holiday in the world, celebrated by more than a billion people every year.”[2]
It should be obvious to anyone who understands the environmental movement that the emphasis is behind mankind’s efforts to save the planet, or affectionately referred to as “our mother,” from himself. The emphasis is on the creation and how mankind will either destroy it or save it. Humans, in this environmentally based worldview, determine the fate of the planet, not God. Again, as Christians we must observe the facts given us in the Scriptures. In the first chapter of Genesis, the 28th verse, God declares: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
So what are we to learn from this declaration from God regarding His creation and those created in His image? He has given mankind dominion over the planet so that we would “subdue it.” The Hebrew word used here is kabash and it is in the imperative mood, a command that literally means, “to bring into bondage or subdue.” This is a tremendous blessing and immense responsibility; both of which should be taken very seriously by the Christian. God has entrusted to us His creation yet with that He has not in any way given us the responsibility nor the power to determine its fate. After our first parents sinned it was God alone who cursed the planet and in these last days it is God alone who is allowing creation to groan under the burden of that curse. Consider the amazing truth given to us here in Romans 8:19-22:
For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
So you can see that as Christians we have a foundation and understanding given to us in God’s Word to understand the reasons why things are “progressing from bad to worse” on this earth and the one whom truly holds “the whole world in His hands.” It is most certainly not our “mother earth” and it is equally so not mankind who determines the fate of this planet. The fact of the matter is that you will notice many celebrating this “holiday” are in fact engaged in some form of nature worship or another. This fact is so evident as we look around at the many events scheduled around the celebration of Earth Day not to mention it’s official anthem set to Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”:
Joyful joyful we adore our Earth in all its wonderment
Simple gifts of nature that all join into a paradise
Now we must resolve to protect her
Show her our love throughout all time
With our gentle hand and touch
We make our home a newborn world
Now we must resolve to protect her
Show her our love throughout all time
With our gentle hand and touch
We make our home a newborn world [3]
While not necessarily a Christian song, consider as a stark contrast a few of the original lyrics from this the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony:
Brothers, above the starry canopy
There must dwell a loving Father.
Do you fall in worship, you millions?
World, do you know your creator?
Seek him in the heavens;
Above the stars must He dwell.
Noted cultural anthropologist, Anglican Margaret Mead is credited as an early pioneer of the sexual revolution. She offered her support for the equinox Earth Day shortly before her death in 1978 by declaring:
“Earth Day is the first holy day which transcends all national borders, yet preserves all geographical integrities, spans mountains and oceans and time belts, and yet brings people all over the world into one resonating accord, is devoted to the preservation of the harmony in nature and yet draws upon the triumphs of technology, the measurement of time, and instantaneous communication through space.
Earth Day draws on astronomical phenomena in a new way – which is also the most ancient way – by using the vernal Equinox, the time when the Sun crosses the equator making the length of night and day equal in all parts of the Earth. To this point in the annual calendar, EARTH DAY attaches no local or divisive set of symbols, no statement of the truth or superiority of one way of life over another. But the selection of the March Equinox makes planetary observance of a shared event possible, and a flag which shows the Earth, as seen from space, appropriate.”[4]
By “divisive symbols, no statement of the truth or superiority…” I wonder if she may have been considering the cross and the claims of Christianity? She boldly declares Earth Day as a “holy day” which begs the question of what is to be worshiped? Clearly it is the earth. What does the Bible say about this kind of earth worship? Paul tells us in Romans 1:25:
For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
The belief that the actions of mankind will or are somehow destroying this planet are sheer hubris and folly. The fact is, God created the earth and all that is in it, God cursed the earth because of man’s sin, God allows the earth to groan under the burden of that curse and God will destroy it. We ought to care for it out of honor to Him and because of the blessing this home truly is. Besides, as just stated God is going to destroy the earth, not us! The Bible talks of a true “global warming” in 2 Peter 3:10:
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
So if you do anything this Earth Day make sure you honor, glorify and worship the Creator and not the creation. While the world is trying to save the planet, may we be busy saving something that really matters: souls. To God be the Glory!
1. http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day
3. ibid
4. Margaret Mead, “Earth Day,” EPA Journal, March 1978.
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