four most important biblical passages for a Christian enviromentalism, The

Trinity Journal, Fall 1998 by Bullmore, Michael A

Second, growing out of this primary claim of the text is the implication of theocentricity in creation. By virtue of having been created by God, all creatures belong to him. They are, says our psalmist, "your possessions" (v. 24); "his works" (v. 31). "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters" (Ps 24:1-2; emphasis added). But not only have all creatures been created by God, they have been created for God as well, and thus they find their primary reason for being with reference to him. This is a point of no small significance in the current discussion regarding environmentalism.

That God finds pleasure in his creation is a consistent testimony of Scripture. It is this that motivates the psalmist's desire, "May the Lord rejoice in his works" (v. 31). But can it be said that this pleasure of God in his non-human creatures is a sufficient explanation for their being? It is one thing to find pleasure in something that exists. It is another thing to say a thing exists for that reason.

There is no question that creation exists, at least in part, for the purpose of nourishing mankind. "He makes . . . plants for man to cultivate-bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart" (vv. 14-15). But does this reference to man exhaust the nonhuman creatures' reason for being? Or, to ask it positively, does nonhuman creation find any reason for being, independent of man? Psalm 104 suggests it does. Before we examine that suggestion, however, it will prove useful to consider the opposing position.

Representative of this position is Thomas Sieger Derr, who willingly describes himself as an "unreconstructed" anthropocentrist.10 Derr is positioning himself vis-a-vis the biocentrism which dominates much of secular environmentalism and which holds "nature" or "the life process" as the primary value. Against this, Derr is reasserting the conviction that man is decidedly above nature and that nature exists to sustain human life.11 As a "Christian" humanist Derr is quick to add that man is made for God but he is adamant ("unrepentant" he says) in his anthropocentrism. Man's needs are a sufficient explanation for the existence of nonhuman creation.12

While Derr, and others like him, are right in distancing themselves from the biocentrism of secular environmentalism for explicitly religious reasons, their mistake is in not distancing themselves far enough. Derr would no doubt affirm a theocentric world view, but within that world view, I would argue, there needs to be a theocentric view of non-human creation.13 Nature certainly was made with man in mind but man's needs are an insufficient frame of reference entirely to explain creation.14 Only God can supply such a frame of reference.

Our psalm, along with other passages (Job 38-41 in particular), speak to the fact that creation does not exist solely for the sake of man. In his speech to Job, God clearly implies that some creatures exist simply for his own delight.