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Kathleen Nielsen examines a new booklet Green Awakenings, distributed by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), which is a report from “Renewal”—a movement of Christian college and university students in North America who are caring for creation.

Dr. Nielsen applauds their intentions, but makes “four observations, in light of the biblical gospel, concerning the presentation of creation care in Green Awakenings“:

  1. This booklet co-opts language of the biblical gospel to articulate the work of creation care.
  2. Green Awakening’s articulation of renewal suggests, at times, a replacement of the transcendent God of the Bible with another god: the earth itself.
  3. The renewal presented in this booklet defines the role of human beings differently from the way the Bible defines it.
  4. This articulation of Renewal skews the whole biblical story, from beginning to end—because it misses the central point.

Here is her conclusion:

The biblical gospel, with Jesus Christ at the center, must be at the heart of everything we do—even at the heart of our loving care for the world God made and gave to us to fill and subdue and work, until Christ comes again. There are indeed young people who believe the biblical gospel and who aim to offer their environmental efforts as one of the many ways they serve the Creator God as his redeemed sons and daughters, all for Christ’s glory and for the advancement of his kingdom. As we communicate this gospel perspective to the next generation, may we communicate it clearly and biblically.

You can read the whole thing here.

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