Getting into Hot Water: Evangelicals and Global Warming

Since 2000 various evangelical groups and denominations have published significant statements on the issue of global warming. While there are major areas of disagreement, most notably about whether humanity is primarily responsible for climate change, there have also been surprising areas of agreement. Evangelicals have contributed a distinctively Christian voice by articulating a biblical case for stewardship of the environment, calling into question theologically errant views in the broader environmental movement, and articulating and implying some basic parameters for what would constitute acceptable public policy responses from an evangelical Christian perspective. Unfortunately, some evangelical environmentalists have also demonstrated a surprising failure of concern for truth and are at risk of undercutting the traditional evangelical strategy of using concrete help for the poor as a means of winning a sympathetic hearing for the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.Benjamin B. Phillips, "Getting into Hot Water: Evangelicals and Global Warming," Journal of Markets & Morality 12, no. 2 (Fall 2009): 315-33