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Mainline Protestant Perspectives
on Environmental Issues
On the basis of the Bible and their own faith
traditions and theological perspectives, Mainline
Protestant denominations have addressed a wide
range of environmental issues in the areas of:
Each denomination has its own basis and process
for determining its official positions, if any,
on matters of public policy. There is thus no
single, authoritative statement of the basis for
all Mainline Protestant environmental policy positions.
However, in February 2004, a group of theologians
convened by the National Council of Churches of
Christ in the U.S.A. (NCCC) used an open letter calling
on Christians to repent of "our social and
ecological sins" and to reject teachings
that suggest humans are "called" to
exploit the Earth without care for how our behavior
impacts the rest of God's creation. |
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This ecumenical
statement included the following set of moral
principles for social and environmental ethics:
Guiding Norms for Church
and Society
These affirmations imply a challenge that is
also a calling: to fulfill our vocation as moral
images of God, reflections of divine love and
justice charged to “serve and preserve”
the Garden (Genesis 2:15). Given this charge and
the urgent problems of our age — from species extinctions
and mass poverty to climate change and health-crippling
pollution — how shall we respond? What shall we
be and do? What are the standards and practices
of moral excellence that we ought to cultivate
in our personal lives, our communities of faith,
our social organizations, our businesses, and
our political institutions? We affirm the following
norms of social and environmental responsibility...
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