Catchy title eh? If I ever run for political office, this is the article my opponent will try to hang me with, but as you read it I want you to think about the logic of the article, not how it made you, as a Christian feel.
For the last 2000+ years, Christians as a religious class have believed that eventually the world will “end”. Our shared belief that world will be perfected and that Christ will reign for 1000 years is interesting in itself, what happens after 1000 years? Nevertheless, the details are window dressing. The fact is, we believe the world will “end” but it is unclear what that means. The planet will be destroyed? All life will be destroyed? Only human life will be destroyed? All resources will be exhausted and we will move on? Is the end limited to earth? Does the solar system end? Does the galaxy end? Does the universe end? These are all interesting points to ponder but the answers drive some unhealthy behavior in the here and now.
The fact that Christians believe the world will end is nothing particularly unique to Christians and in fact, this is one belief that we share with the most atheist scientist. They also believe that all life, human or otherwise will eventually be extinguished on earth. They are more specific on the method (sun exhausts it’s fuel and goes nova, the earth collides with an asteroid of sufficient size, humans have a nuclear war of sufficient magnitude to create a nuclear winter, etc.) But they are vague on the timeline, anywhere from next year to billions of years. There is evidence that many Christians all the way back to Paul, have believed that the earth will end during their lifetime. Therein lies the problem.
In 1 Cor 7 particularly verse 29 it is clear that Paul believes that Christians shouldn’t marry because time is short and they should be about the work. The logic here is that the end is coming within their lifetime. Most of us would agree, Jehovah’s Witnesses notwithstanding that the end of the world not only didn’t occur during Paul’s lifetime it hasn’t occurred to this point. But if you believe that the end of the world will occur during your lifetime that drives certain behaviors. What if none of the Paul era Christians, believing his misguided teachings, had married or procreated, because the end was imminent?
There is nothing specific within Christ’s teachings, Paul’s writing’s notwithstanding, that leads one to believe that the end of the world is inevitable within one’s lifetime. Christ in fact was purposefully vague…no man knows…I come as a thief in the night…Despite that fact, history is replete with various sects and followings that were convinced the end was near.
Earlier in the article when I mentioned “…resources will be exhausted…” You may have thought, oh this is going to be one of those rants…You were partially right. I have written before my belief that the only ethical rate of usage of ANY resource is the rate at which the planet can renew that resource. If one believes the end of the world is imminent (within the span of their lifetime) then it really doesn’t matter the rate of usage. In no meaningful way are any of the earth’s resources that threatened. However, all Christians in all of history have been wrong when they believed that the earth would end in their lifetime. If you share that belief, what are the odds that you are right? Isn’t it much more likely that the earth will continue beyond your lifetime and for generations after that? If we take that view, should we be better stewards of the endowment of resources we have been blessed with?
Let’s agree that it is, just as likely that the earth, and mankind with it, will continue for another 2000 years as it is, that the earth will end in our lifetime. In such a scenario, we should base our fishing of tuna, our taking of timber, our consumption of petroleum at no more than the earth can produce. If we adopt this idea as a the only sustainable, ethical manner in which reflect our stewardship, then the future Christian, 2000 years from now, will have just as much tuna, timber, coal and oil available to them as we do. Isn’t that the only truly ethical way to treat our fellow (yet unborn) man?
