by Kyle Evers | Columnist
The world is on fire—at least according to the famous Bill Nye the science guy. Of course, he used a few more choice words that probably shouldn’t be printed. But it does raise an interesting conversation: where does one take a stance on climate change? It’s one of the biggest hot button issues of the current political stage, being discussed not only around the world by concerned students and young adults, but also on the American presidential debate stage.There are often are two schools of thought. Either climate change is real and is a major threat to the future of this planet, or climate change is a bunch of hooey, dreamt up by some nut case with a bad case of the socialist fever. And, of course, these camps often fall along political lines as well. But I argue that perhaps there is a third stance that we can take—one that challenges both sides to think about what exactly is driving the debate. Where does God play a role in all of this?
And for some, this stance may not even be worth considering. After all, science does not need God, and everything that we see can be explained by science without the need for any sort of pie in the sky explanation. However, I respectfully disagree. The issue we run into is the fact that those who openly accept climate change, tend to automatically see those who choose a Christian standpoint on the issue as climate deniers, and that is simply not the case.
Now let’s get one thing clear. I am in no way saying that climate change is not real; in fact, I do believe that being conscious of our emissions and working to improve them is important, and that the climate is indeed changing. That is something that we all can agree on, and the facts bear that out. But when we take a biblically grounded approach to climate change, both scientifically and logically, the real sticking points emerge. What we see as a horrendous turn of events for the planet we live on, may in fact be all in the hands of our Creator.
In an article written for Answers in Genesis, Dr. Alan White makes a very prominent argument as to the connection between the scientific and biblical aspects of climate change. Scientists can agree that temperatures are rising, but while secular science sees this as indication of world ending events, the fact is that the entire world is under the control of our Creator. And, in reality, even science fails us. If the temperature of the earth correlated to the amount of CO2 in the air, then the relationship would be absolute. But the problem is, they are not: the temperature of the earth has risen and fallen without an absolute relationship to CO2 levels. And according to NASA, the climate of Earth is always changing, be it cooling down or heating up— changes that can last for a long time.
According to The Washington Post, the world has only a decade to get climate change under control before irreparable damage is done to the planet. But in reality, what we see as a disaster waiting to happen is, in fact, our Creator continuing to fulfill his promise from Genesis 8:22, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”