(Genesis 1)
There is nothing new about global warming. In its billions of years the earth has warmed and cooled many times over. For this reasons there are petroleum deposits made from a vigorous vegetable life under the frozen tundra of Alaska. What is new is the hand humans have played in the current warming trend. Scientists seem convinced that human’s burning fossil fuels have catalyzed the heating of the earth’s atmosphere. They also tell us that the situation may be stabilized if humans throughout the world act in a decisive way.
The story of creation in Genesis today reiterates how God created everything good. After He makes light, Genesis says, “God saw how good the light was.” After He separates the land from the sea, Genesis repeats, “God saw how good it was.” And so also, after God created plants and trees and after He created the heavenly lights, He calls them good. In the next chapters Genesis will show how these elements turn against humans because of human sinfulness. Floods and draughts, earthquakes and hurricanes are the result of human folly, according to Genesis.
We might dismiss Genesis and say that it is impossible for humans to cause an earthquake. Or we might take it to heart. Doing the latter will move us to heed the call of scientists to curtail our use of fossil fuel. If we do not do cut down on energy, the link between human sinfulness and the rebellion of nature, as Genesis shows, will be even more clearly seen.
