Custom «Preserving and Restoring the Environment: The Christian Way» Essay Paper

The environment is a responsibility of every human being, this is not only because man depends on it for almost each of his daily needs, but because God commanded man to be in charge of it (Jelinek, 2005). In the creation story of Genesis, God stated that man has dominion over everything else created. While this means that he has power over all the created things; it also meant that man was to take care of these things in order to ensure their survival and also to please the Creator (Van, 2006).

Nature is suffering under the care of man, theological approach has been taken to restore earth’s environment and therefore religious explanations are used to influence peoples’ attitude on conservation measures. Toulmin Model of argument fits well in explaining how man can restore the destroyed environment so as to be in accordance with God’s will. According to Toulmin model, an argument should have a claim, grounds, warrant, backing, qualifiers, and rebuttals for it to be logical and make standard value. This argument support model can be used to point out what man (Christians) can do in order to preserve the earth as well as restore that which has been destroyed in order to live as per the Creator’s will.

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Still in the creation account of Genesis, God was pleased with what he created; he created man in His own likeness and thus man was His representative (Jelinek, 2005). He then ordered man to ensure that he replenishes the earth as he enjoys the resources; according to Genesis 2, Adam was put in the beautiful Garden of Eden where he was told to guard it. He was to enjoy every creation in the garden with some exemptions; he was not to eat fruits from certain tree. This is a show that with the freedom and abundance in the garden, there was responsibility (Van, 2006).

Today, man still holds the responsibilities given by God after creation; it is the responsibility of man to replenish the earth for God was happy with what He created. The responsibility given to man makes him a co-creator of God (Jelinek, 2005); man is supposed to ensure continuity and survival of the creations. At several instance, man disappoints Gods work by destroying the earth which he is supposed to take care of; he likes the freedom given to enjoy everything created besides him but he forgets the responsibility he has on the earth (Van, 2006).

Today, destructions done on creations by man can identified; deforestation, global warming, and water pollution are among some of the evidence which shows that man has neglected his responsibility given Creator on the earth (Jelinek, 2005). As a steward, man has failed but there is room to help conserve what has been destroyed previously and also care for those which are still in order.

From the account of Genesis, God created Adam and Eve and gave them responsibility to take care of the earth; in Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it”. Man was commissioned to enjoy the creation as he ensures its sustainability; he was to protect it in order to glorify the work of God (Bullmore, 2008). Sadly, man has neglected his stewardship; he is largely responsible for problems related with destruction of the earth’s environment (Bullmore, 2008).

When Christians are searching for spirituality, doing God’s will is part of spirituality; spirituality got everything to do with living in accordance to God’s commands. Therefore if Christians should seek spirituality by following other commands such as spreading the gospel but fail to protect the earth as commanded; it is all in vain. Spirituality does not involve taking care of human creations only; the non-human creations are integral in fulfilling God’s command.

The environment has been destroyed in various ways such as by depletion of natural resources such as overexploitation of energy sources, by deforestation, and through release of compounds from human activities which destroy the atmosphere (Bullmore, 2008). Preserving and restoration measures therefore involve conserving the depleted resources and reduction of activities that interfere with the gifts of nature (Grizzle et al, 2008).

Conservation of the environment does not involve doing big things; it is the small changes done which make a big difference to the environment (Bullmore, 2008). Christians should join hands in conserving and restoring the environment just like they do when they are carrying out other works related to spreading the gospel (Grizzle et al, 2008). Joining hands does not only save time but it also help in creating a common attitude towards the environment. Impacts such as global warming are an indication that man has neglected his duty (Grizzle et al, 2008); good Christians should take action and help save the environment and plan how to conserve resources.

In order to accomplish this, the plan to save the environment should be done strategically; first, it is important that people are aware of consequences of destructive action to the environment (Anderson, 2008). This will help in formulating the steps towards constructive practices (Anderson, 2008). Active participation by a Christian is another important step towards restoring the environment (Van, 2006). Active participation means that the Christian does not only point out what others should do but he/she does what is known to be right; this may involve participation in recycling reusable resources and reduction of wastage of resources (Anderson, 2008).

For instance, in conserving energy, active participation may involve coming up with alternative energy sources which do not lead to destruction of forests or which do not release gases to the atmosphere. For these activities to be implemented, understanding the ecological system is vital in designing measures to protect and restore the environment (Anderson, 2008).

There are numerous activities that Christians involve themselves in to restore the earth’s environment in order to restore the relationship with the Creator. The activity is a way of putting Christian faith in action; it gives an opportunity to preach to unbelievers through action (Bullmore, 2008). This will please God since from the beginning of earth God appreciated what He had created and caring for His creations is part of worship.

Much of environmental destruction has resulted from materialistic needs which are due to the ever increasing population (Anderson, 2008); it’s with such understanding that Christians will be able to perform stewardship responsibility on the earth’s resources. What Christians need to realize is that since they have been given the freedom to enjoy resources they should do so in a sustainable manner (Anderson, 2008).