07/25/14
It had to be, with the Creation, God knew that humans would generate both trash and heat as dictated by the laws of physics, a result of the Creation. We were also given a fine mind to use in daily living and I am not sure that we are using that brain for the long haul benefit of Mother Earth. Perhaps we are concentrating on our present comfort and not on the long term life of our environment.
The Laws of Chemistry and Physics, along with matter, came out of the Big Bang. The weather and environmental events governed by the Laws of Chemistry and Physics were seen by the biblical writers, who made keen and insightful observations about these events, long before impact of the human was known. Note that extraordinary occurrences such as earthquakes, volcanos, tsunamis etc. happened then, as now. The prime discussion here is for “steady state” environment, i.e. ignoring the extraordinary events.
Following extracted from Genesis, Chapter 1:
A. Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the Earth and subdue it.
B. Have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the Earth.
C. … have given you every plant yielding seed and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
D. .. to everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.
Following extracted from Amos 5:
The one who … calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the surface of the Earth
Whether the environment
The space photographs show Mother Earth orbiting alone, in the vastness of space, independent of the other planets in our solar system. This establishes that we live on a finite sized sphere, i.e. humans are living in a home with limited resources. Populations are increasing and in some cases countries cannot feed their people. Animal, marine and plant species are becoming extinct. Low cost energy supplies are being exhausted forcing more costly and riskier drilling for oil. Our trash is becoming increasingly hard to hide.
These situations need not lead to a doom and gloom mentality but, rather, one where limits are acknowledged and resources are conserved and spoiling of our lands is controlled. The early biblical writers saw a balance and reported it as they saw it. Modern populations need to do the same, recognizing our needs and investing in efficient systems which will support our populations in the future. This will increase the cost of providing for our basic needs, forcing a change in life styles. But, life styles have changed from biblical days, and they can change for the future, in order to responsibly support our future population in a hospitable environment.
Conservation is Faith Based!