Mini Book Review #4: Wilson’s A Different Shade of Green: A Biblical Approach to Environmentalism and the Dominion Mandate.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the mini book review series so far! Each week you’ll see a short-but-sweet summary of a book to help you make your own reading choices!
What does Christian environmentalism look like? A Different Shade of Green is Gordon Wilson’s attempt to answer that question. He discusses the original “very good” God pronounced over His creation and asks us to consider what our role is in obeying His command to take dominion over creation. Wilson points out that ultimately it is God who sustains (or doesn’t) each life on earth, but that we are to do our part in preserving the vast biodiversity that declares “God’s care, glory, and wisdom” (p. 60). His postmillennial views become obvious as he describes his hope of our world eventually becoming entirely under benevolent Christian care.
I appreciated his take on climate change. He doesn’t claim to know it all or be right, but he does urge us to use logic as we view the data rather than bow to the prevailing winds of panic. (One caveat, though: in his attempt to reduce panic, he gives perhaps undue credit to enthusiasts both of global warming and the use of fossil fuels.) Ultimately, he calls for repentance from sin as the best cure for the environmental ailments caused by the greed or carelessness of man.
Quotes from A Different Shade of Green:
“Secularists…have been at the helm because Christians have largely abdicated in this area.”
p. 4
“If we forget that all these blessings are from God‘s hand, we may show little restraint in our consumption…We may camouflage our greed by calling it healthy ambition or an entrepreneurial spirit, but we can tell whether we are actually doing the right thing if we ask ourselves whether we are thinking generationally and covenantally. We need to love our neighbor now, but we also need to love our future descendants.”
(p. 61-2)
“…if we don’t know about the organisms that God created to keep our planet alive or functioning properly, then it is easy to inadvertently disturb or destroy ecosystems by just going about our business. As Christians we should want to take dominion responsibly, not ignorantly and recklessly” (76). “In order for a religion or philosophy to have any traction or foothold to address any environmental problem, it must have some kind of fixed standard of right or wrong…”
p. 102
“…all reasonable scientific discourse should welcome dissenting viewpoints from credentialed scientists. Consensus “science,” which quickly becomes agenda-driven, does not.”
p. 138
“For committed Christians, it’s not what you do that determines whether you are in full-time Christian work: it’s how you do it.”
p. 178
More mini book reviews HERE.