Douglas J. Moo: ‘Creation Care’ Is A Form Of ‘Biblical Social Justice ‘+Loving Others is Using Less Air Conditioner

Douglas J. Moo is a prominent biblical scholar and theologian. The author of Creation Care: A Biblical Theology of the Natural World, he recently retired as the ‘Kenneth T. Wessner Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. Before this, he spent decades at the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he also served as chair of the New Testament Department, editor of Trinity Journal, and director of the Ph.D. program in Biblical and Theological Studies. He’s written extensive commentaries on the New Testament and was the chair of the Committee on Bible Translation, which produces the NIV and its variants.

During a June 2023 event at Denver Seminary titled ‘The Gospel Initiative: Evangelicals and Creation Care,’ Moo explains why ‘creation care is a form of biblical social justice, and says some of the ways we can love others and prevent climate crisis is using less a/c and buying smaller cars.

I think it’s the simplest way to present the mandate for creation care for those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus is simply to be reminded of the two great love commandments.  Love God by faithfully stewarding his creation.  Love others,  our neighbors, by providing a healthy and sustainable environment for them to inhabit.

..Extended in time. I couldn’t complete a presentation without a picture of my grandchildren.  So the others I am called upon to love are my grandchildren and their children after them and their children after them.

Sometimes we are too easily involved in simply kicking the ball down the field,  putting these problems into the next generation and just getting tired of trying to deal with them ourselves.  But as we fail to deal with these problems they become exponentially harder to deal with and we’re leaving up a really problematic legacy for those who come after us.

Extended in space. Here’s the estimate of what’s going to happen in Bangladesh if the climate continues to change and the oceans continue to rise as people now predict it will.  15 million people affected,  losing their land,  not able to grow crops on it any longer, not able to live on it any longer in many cases.  15 million people affected.

Well, you know,  things like this are going to affect cities like Miami as well.  What’s the difference?  Look at the comparison of the GDP.  Miami can afford to build seawalls to elevate their highways as they’re already doing because of the effects of the rising sea are being felt in Miami and other coastal areas. So they can afford to do that.  Look at their GDP.  Look at the GDP of people in Bangladesh.  They can’t afford to do these kinds of things.

At a certain point,  again,  climate change,  I’m sorry,  creation care is simply a species of biblical social justice.  Here’s a map that kind of reminds us of this.  As climate change takes place,  the countries who have produced the most greenhouse gases are going to be perhaps least affected.

Countries that do not produce nearly as much greenhouse gas over time because they’ve not been industrialized are going to feel the real brunt of climate change.  So very simple way,  what does it mean for me to love the other?  What does it mean to love my brother and sister?  Not people who live next door to me,  but as Jesus reminded us in the parable of the good Samaritan that love needs to extend beyond the usual boundaries we might set for it as we look at people at different parts of the world being adversely affected by climate change.

He continues:

Should creation care be one of the issues we’re concerned about when we choose what “candidates to vote for?  I think it should be.  It’s not the only issue that I’m gonna choose a candidate on, but it is gonna be one issue on the list of things as a Christian with a renewed mind I’m concerned about….  I think Al Gore had it right.  It’s an inconvenient truth because if it’s true that climate change is happening and it is damaging the environment and harming other people around the world, that might mean I have to change my lifestyle.  

That might mean I have to buy a smaller car than I would necessarily like to have.  That might mean I need to turn the temperature in my house down a little bit so I’m not quite as comfortable as I used to be.  Oh,  wait a minute,  we Americans,  that’s interfering with my lifestyle?  No,  no,  no,  that’s sacrosanct (Ed note: regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with) and that’s true I’m afraid even in the Christian church.

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