An Evangelical Case for Creation Care

This article was first published in our recent Social Issues Bulletin – Issue 59, which is available to download here.

Creation’s beauty and brokenness

We live in a world of immense beauty full of awesome wonders and breathtaking delights: from towering mountains topped with pure white snow, to delicate butterflies whose wings shimmer like stained-glass windows; from distant rainforests full of unknown creatures awaiting our discovery, to local English heathlands that erupt in vibrant purple hues each summer. Wherever we look, we see the glorious wonders of creation richly displaying the wisdom of God’s design and showcasing his glory. Creation is a masterpiece, a gift from our gracious God for all to enjoy, and a masterpiece that points ultimately to him.

However, though we live in a beautiful, ‘very good’ world (Gen 1:31), it cannot escape our attention that all is not as it should be. This world is fallen as well as beautiful, and the effects of the fateful Fall and the resultant curse have impacted the very fabric of creation – thorns and thistles, diseases and death, earthquakes and hurricanes tarnish creation’s beauty, order, and health, causing frustration and devastation to human and beast alike.

Not only is creation fallen and cursed, but so too is humankind’s interaction with creation. Our actions upon creation all too often are a curse rather than a blessing – the cause of ecological degradation rather than ecological flourishing. Over millennia, the sum of our failures in stewardship – some due to our ignorance and weakness, many more due to sin – have accumulated in substantial ecological and environmental harms such as widespread pollution, habitat loss and degradation, soil erosion, and species extinction.^[1] The overall state of creation stands in many places as a solemn testament to our ecological failures and shows just how far we have fallen from God’s perfect standard and his design for us as stewards of his masterpiece.

To cite just a few pertinent examples of our failure: beautiful Appalachian mountains with their biodiverse forests have been blasted away to get at the coal beneath;^[2] many cherished species of butterfly and farmland birds have disappeared from British hedgerows, farmland, and meadows at astonishing rates;^[3] extraordinarily valuable rainforests have been bulldozed to make way for giant monocultural farms that degrade soils;^[4] and our rivers and seas have become a dumping ground for sewage, chemicals, and plastics.^[5] Wherever we look, we see the effects of the fall and sin staining and marring the masterpiece. Humankind has not treated this immense and precious gift from God well.

The call for Christian stewardship

It is evident, then, that creation requires significant care, or in the words of Francis Schaeffer, ‘substantial healing’.^[6] The secular world is keenly alert to this with the emergence of green political parties, a multitude of environmental charities and NGOs, and high profile multi-national conferences over the last few decades to respond to what they term ‘global environmental catastrophes’. Much of the work they have done has achieved significant common good for both humanity and creation^[7] and is a pertinent example of the outworking of God’s common grace. However, secular ideology or an overtly ecocentric focus can sometimes result in unethical and unbiblical conservation practices being implemented, such as fortress conservation and shoot-to-kill anti-poaching policies.^[8] It is clear, then, that secular conservation and environmental action are far from perfect and need reform. An opportunity presents itself for Christians to be the necessary ‘salt and light’ influence in the world of environmental stewardship and reorient their aims and focuses towards God glorifying aims.

However, environmental action – or, better, creation care – is an issue that Christians (particularly evangelicals) have tended to neglect.^[9] Some have even questioned if concern for the environment is an issue Christians should be concerned about at all, arguing that environmental degradation is either broadly blown out of proportion or that it is a serious problem, but not one that Christians or the church should be particularly concerned with.^[10]

All the while that debates persist as to the merits, demerits, or legitimacy of Christian involvement in environmental concerns, degradation to God’s creation is intensifying and our witness to the world is harmed by infighting and poor ecological practice and lifestyles among some believers. Furthermore, the secular world has often pointed the finger of blame at Christian theology and the attitudes and practices that it has led to for the poor state of the environment.^[11] Even though critical analysis, such as that done by Schaeffer in his book Pollution and the Death of Man, shows that many of these criticisms are strawmen or misinterpretations of orthodox theology, we must accept that some Christians have been proponents of extreme dominion theology and our broad apathy to the environment, coupled with our general acquiescence of the materialist and consumerist lifestyles of the world, means that some level of blame is justified.

In light of our complicity, and in a world where environmental degradation is exacerbating; where narratives of environmental despair and catastrophism dominate our secular media;^[12] where our young people are increasingly burdened and anxious about the future of the environment; and where the blame for the state of the environment is often levelled at Christians, the question of whether evangelical Christians should be concerned with and involved in creation care is more important than ever to discuss.

I firmly believe that care for God’s creation is an issue we should all be concerned with, both individually and collectively, and with varying degrees of focus and responsibility.^[13] Evangelical Christianity can bring to the subject of environmentalism and creation care – a theocentric approach which grounds our environmental action and philosophy in a concern in God’s truth and for his glory. The theocentric perspective is vital in enabling us to care for God’s creation in a manner which honours him, is socially just, and benefits holistically the whole of the created order.

The theological approach I will take is twofold. Firstly, I will argue that creation care forms a core part of our responsibility as God’s image bearers – that it is a duty that originates from the cultural mandate and has become ever increasingly more imperative as the effects of the Fall multiply and accumulate throughout time. Secondly, and ultimately, I will argue that creation care matters because God matters. We were made to love what he loves, and God loves what he has made. He has pronounced it to be ‘very good’ and has given us the astounding privilege of being good stewards of his precious masterpiece. There are few greater privileges and few more important tasks than this.^[14]

It is commanded: Creation Mandate

Though direct commands to care for creation are few in Scripture, many indirect applications can be deduced from a range of passages.^[15] One of the places where the Bible is explicit about our duties towards creation, however, is in the cultural mandate. Here, mankind is commanded by God to subdue and have dominion over creation, which is then demonstrated by naming the animals.

A necessary part of subduing and having dominion will involve forceful action and causing change to creation. The verb for subdue strongly implies this.^[16] Agricultural cultivation, harvesting, mining resources, and building houses and infrastructure all involve some degree of shaping and changing creation to make life easier and more conducive to human flourishing. Some level of ‘destruction’ of creation is unavoidable in these activities such as felling trees to make way for a housing development, though as Francis Schaeffer notes, this destruction should be limited to what is necessary and should never be wanton or destructive for the sake of being destructive.^[17]

However, the verbs ‘dominion’ and ‘subdue’ have been subject to much misinterpretation which has influenced the actions of many professing Christians throughout the ages. Some have interpreted these verbs as giving mankind free rein to use creation as we wish, saying the only proper use of creation is that which directly benefits man. This interpretation has often justified abusive, destructive, and exploitative use of creation. Additionally, secular individuals and organisations who critique Christianity from an environmental lens often point to these verbs as evidence of the inherent ecological destructiveness of Christianity and why Christian doctrine should be rejected. Thus, it is imperative that such misinterpretations are corrected by considering these verbs in the context of the entire Bible and especially God’s covenantal relationship with his people.

By applying this contextual and covenantal lens, we can see the Bible prohibits this domineering and exploitative understanding of dominion.^[18] Mankind is given the command to have dominion over creation in the context of God having dominion over Adam (it is telling that God names Adam; he does not let Adam name himself). As an image bearer and a subject of God’s rule, Adam’s dominion is fundamentally modelled upon the dominion of his maker. Adam’s dominion over creation is meant to reflect to the rest of creation the dominion God has over him. John Frame argues that having dominion is the prime way that mankind images God. Our dominion of creation must therefore reflect his perfect dominion of us.^[19] Throughout Scripture we see what God’s dominion looks like. It is a covenantal dominion characterised by love, care, forbearance, and wisdom. Fundamentally, God’s dominion seeks the good and flourishing of the ones being ruled over. These same dispositions and aims must characterise our dominion over creation.^[20]

The act of naming is another factor which influences how mankind is meant to exercise dominion. Naming denotes ownership and rulership but also a sense of ongoing responsibility. When we name something or someone, we are conferring an identity upon them and a relationship is formed. This relationship implies an ongoing commitment of the one bestowing the name for the well-being of the named.^[21] An ongoing responsibility to love and care for what we have named is indeed an integral part of our stewardship over the creatures.

What then should our dominion look like? Douglas Green succinctly sums it up when he remarks:

When God ‘subdues’ the land, he makes it verdant and fruitful and when he ‘rules over’ the creatures, their numbers increase and they fill the earth. So, if God’s vice regents want to exercise dominion on his behalf, then their subduing and ruling must have the same creation enhancing character.^[22]

Our stewardship of God’s creation should thus be a beautifying, order-enhancing, biodiversity-promoting form of dominion that seeks the good of all God’s creation and all mankind as far as it is possible, whilst accepting that our efforts will be subject to frustration and futility in a fallen world and that compromise solutions will need to be found in balancing the needs of mankind (who has priority) against the needs of the rest of creation. This being said, it is worth stressing that a fundamental part of our dominion over creation is enabling the species around us to multiply and flourish (as they have been commanded by God to do in Genesis 1:22) and protecting habitats from harm and destruction, and all this for the praise and glory of God.

It is our privilege: Creation care glorifies God

Having said all this, mankind is not strictly necessary for creation care. God can and does care for his creation continually. Psalm 104 wonderfully portrays that God is actively sustaining his creation, providing the creatures with food, and causing the rains to fall on the earth. As Chris Watkins says, we are ‘gloriously unnecessary’.^[23] God has no need for us; he did not need to create us as he was not deficient in any way before we were made. Therefore, there is certainly no reason to suggest that God must use us in stewarding, protecting and improving his creation. Yet in his grace and wisdom, he has chosen to do so. He has ordained for us to be his stewards even though he knows our weaknesses and limitations and knew that we would one day fall into sin.

When we think about what it is we are to steward, we come to see what an amazing privilege we have been given to do. The person who cares for the crown jewels considers their job an utter privilege by virtue of the immense worth of what they have been entrusted with. We have been given an immeasurably greater privilege: to steward and care for God’s priceless creation. And not only that, but in our dominion and subduing, we are to make what he has declared very good, even better. Eden was very good, but it was not yet perfect and complete.^[24] God is in the process of building a new and better Eden, and he invites us to be part of his work. Maintaining and creating order, enhancing beauty, and cultivating a space where both man and the rest of creation can flourish and fill the earth is the glorious, exciting, and noble responsibility we as image bearers have been given to do. And in doing this, we are to have God’s glory as our ultimate aim.

Calvin called creation the ‘theatre of God’s glory’.^[25] That is creation’s primary purpose: to display God’s glory. And it is the prime reason why we should be concerned to protect and care for it. Though creation provides us with all we need to survive, work, rest, and play, mankind’s utility is not the ultimate reason for creation’s existence. Creation, firstly and primarily, exists for its maker’s glory and delight.

When we survey a sublimely beautiful landscape, an ingeniously designed creature, or consider the immense complexity and design behind any ecosystem, we see the power, wisdom, ingenuity, and glory of God visibly displayed. Each species and each habitat are a unique and precious display of God’s glory revealed in his creation. Augustine highlights in The City of God that every species God has made is good because it has been made by a perfect God who, by virtue of his unalterable goodness, can only create things that are good.^[26] This is reason enough to be concerned with the protection of all the species God has made: they are all unique creations and expressions of the goodness of our wonderful God. It matters profoundly when we lose to extinction one of these individual unique expressions of the overflow of God’s goodness.^[27]

Not only does creation display God’s glory, but it also – especially those places and species blessed with astounding beauty – inspires and impels us to worship. Though beautiful species may have many ecological functions and roles such as pollination, pest control, or providing food for other species, their ultimate ‘function’ is to visibly display the wisdom, glory, and design of the Creator and inspire us to worship him. We must not fall into the idolatrous trap of worshipping creation itself, as other religions have done. However, worship of the Creator God is the proper and right response to seeing beauty and awe in his creation.

Environmental degradation destroys or degrades creation’s many signposts and prompts to worship. Through our sinful actions of environmental abuse, neglect, and carelessness, we are, in effect, working to obscure the glory of God in creation and impede the revelation of his ‘second book’. No one who surveys a degraded landscape or a sickly creature is inspired to fall on their knees and worship God. Instead, what they see is the sinfulness of man visibly portrayed. In degrading the environment, we not only harm ourselves and the creatures for whom we are supposed to care, but we damage the visible expression of God’s glory as revealed in the beauty, awe and wisdom of what he has made. This is a deeply sinful tragedy which impedes the witness of creation to the unbelieving world that there is a God who is wonderful, mighty and beautiful, and we must worship him. The ramifications of environmental degradation extend well beyond ecological concerns to matters of theology and doxology. In short, the ramifications are of ultimate importance.

Thus, the primary reason we must care for creation is because of the supreme importance of God’s glory. As Christians, nothing should matter more to us than the glory of the One we love. By conserving, protecting, and stewarding creation with wisdom, prayerfulness, and sacrificial self-denial, we safeguard and enhance a powerful evangelistic witness and inspiration to worship and are protecting the handiwork of the One whom we love, and the One who declared his work to be very good, and who continues to care for it. Conversely, it says a great deal about our relationship to God if we destroy and abuse the gift he has given us. Let it not be said of our generation that we were the generation who despoiled the gift of the Creator we professed to love.

Conclusion

Finally, we must highlight a vital reason for evangelicals to embrace creation care: its profound connection to evangelism.^[28] As this article has shown, God deeply loves His creation, declaring it ‘very good’ (Gen 1:31) and sustaining it with care (Psalm 104). Our stewardship of this masterpiece reflects the heart of the God we proclaim – a creator who delights in his world and calls us to love what he loves. In a secular world, especially among younger generations, where environmental concerns are paramount, this shared passion opens doors for the gospel. People today, burdened by fears of ecological collapse, are seeking not fleeting optimism but a solid hope grounded in truth. This is what the gospel offers.

Creation care embodies this hope, showing the world that we serve a God who values his creation enough to redeem it. By caring for the environment – whether through protecting habitats, reducing waste, or promoting biodiversity – we mirror God’s love and wisdom, making our evangelistic witness more compelling. We cannot promise that all environmental challenges will be resolved in our lifetime, but we can point to the one who, through his death and resurrection, has secured salvation for both humanity and creation. When Jesus, the true gardener, returns, he will transform our imperfect efforts in creation care into a beautiful, sustainable, and wholesome new creation (Rev 21-22). In this renewed world, all creatures will join in ceaseless praise of the one who made and saved them, with humanity leading the chorus.

This is the magnificent hope we offer – a hope rooted in Jesus, through whom all things were made and are loved (Col 1:16-17). Creation care matters because it reflects the heart of the God we proclaim, inviting others to know him through the beauty and care of his world. By stewarding creation faithfully, we not only honour God but also draw others to the gospel’s transformative power, showing that he matters infinitely.

Footnotes:

^[1]  Though it must be said that significant progress has been made in the UK in recent decades concerning pollution, with current air pollutant levels significantly lower than in the 1960s. Global air pollution, however, remains a severe and growing issue.

^[2]  This is the infamous Mountaintop Removal, a form of environmental degradation that Ellen Davis likens to an act of de-creation: returning the earth to a void and formless state without life. See Ellen F. Davis, Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 13. 

^[3]  https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/biodiversity-loss-and-uk-birds

^[4]  https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/growing-soy-on-cattle-pasture-can-eliminate-amazon-deforestation-in-brazil/

^[5]  https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/news/scientist-helps-to-find-evidence-that-great-pacific-garbage-patch-is-growing-rapidly

^[6]  Francis Schaeffer, Pollution and the Death of Man, (Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1970) 66.

^[7]  Such as the Montreal Agreement which phased out the use of CFCs which were causing a hole in the ozone layer.

^[8]  https://climate-diplomacy.org/magazine/conflict/fortress-conservation-heading-crisis-cant-come-soon-enough

^[9]  See the resistance of Peter Harris, the evangelical founder of Christian environmental charity A Rocha faced in his memoir Kingfisher’s Fire. And R. J. Berry, Creation Care: A Brief Overview of Christian Involvement, in Colin Bell and Robert S. White [eds.] Creation Care and the Gospel, (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2016), 107-108.

^[10]  For example, the Cornwall Alliance 

^[11]  Most notably, Lynn White’s often cited and highly influential paper in the 60s The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis where White broadly labels orthodox Christian theology, especially the doctrine of mankind’s dominance over the animals as the root cause of our ecological problems. See Lynn White Jr, The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis, Science, 1967, vol, 155 pp. 1203-1207.

^[12]  For a critical analysis of apocalyptic climate narratives, see Dr Paul Mills’ The False Religion of Climate Alarmism in this issue.

^[13]  For example, as mentioned to me at a recent conference, the responsibility for creation care of a single mother on a low income is considerably different to the responsibility of a wealthy couple whose children have flown the nest.

^[14]  Though of course, the Great Commission is the primary and most important task given to Christians. However, as others have pointed out, the Great Commission should not be considered in isolation from the cultural mandate. Both supplement, enrich, and mutually serve each other (e.g. by being an attractive witness to the world). See Andrew J. Spencer, Hope for God’s Creation (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2023), 147-159.

^[15]  Such as in commands against greed, seeing as greed is at the root of much environmental degradation.

^[16]  See David L. Baker, Genesis 1-2 and the Environment, in Jonathan Moo and Robin Routledge [eds.] As Long as the Earth Endures (Nottingham, Apollos, 2014), 56. 

^[17]  Schaeffer, Pollution and the Death of Man, 75.

^[18]  Baker, Genesis 1-2 and the Environment, 56.

^[19]  John Frame, Nature’s Case for God (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2018), 61.

^[20]  Edward R. Brown, Ruling God’s World God’s Way: Dominion in Psalm 8, in Bell, C. and White, R. S. [eds.] Creation Care and the Gospel, (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2016), 21-22.

^[21]  See Hadden Turner, Naming Creatures, Plough Quarterly, 2024 for an extended treatment of this idea. https://www.plough.com/en/topics/justice/environment/naming-creatures

^[22]  Douglas J. Green, When the Gardener Returns, in Noah J. Toly and Daniel I. Block [eds.] Keeping God’s Earth (Nottingham, Apollos, 2010), 270.

^[23]  Chris Watkins, Biblical Critical Theory (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2022) 60.

^[24]  https://www.crossway.org/articles/10-things-you-should-know-about-the-garden-of-eden/

^[25]  John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1.5.1

^[26]  Augustine, The City of God, Book XI, chapters 22 and 23.

^[27]  I tread carefully here and wish to stress that when we lose a species to extinction or destroy a habitat we are not destroying or losing part of God’s glory. That would be impossible. But we are losing, or at best, obscuring an expression, declaration, or reflection of his glory.

^[28]  It could also be argued that evangelism is the greatest need for creation care. As sinners convert, repent, and are sanctified one outworking of this should be that they begin to interact with creation in the manner which God intends for His stewards. Ecological sins of greed, exploitation, over-consumption and wastefulness should be progressively being put to death in the believer.