Rev. Dr Peter Walker, Principal of United Theological College at Charles Sturt University in Australia is getting some press exposure over his claim that wildfires and floods are direct results of “climate change”. He claims emitting industrial Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is sinful, and therefore should be stopped. See the excerpts from his magazine article in Insights Magazine July 21, 2021
RESURRECTING SIN TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE
Recent infernos in California and floods in Germany remind us that climate change is a global drama which may end in utter tragedy for the whole creation if we do not act. Just as when a finger bumps a spinning top from its perfect rhythm, and the rotating toy then teeters out-of-balance before finding a new equilibrium or collapsing, the Earth System has been bumped out of balance. And not by accident, but by a willing, decision-making species. That’s us. Earth System Science tells us this planet is finely tuned, yet one species has been serving its own needs to such an extent that the cost to everything else has become intolerable. And it is showing.
…
As strange as the language of Christian theology may seem in the public square today, the human-induced climate emergency, brought about by our selfish abuse of the planet, surely requires a resurrection of the language of sin. There was speculation in early 2020 that Pope Francis might name humanity’s abuse of the Earth as sinful in his statement on the plight of the Amazon. He did not. In Querida Amazonia (Beloved Amazon), Pope Francis did denounce the unrestrained industrial destruction, saying “The businesses, national or international, which harm the Amazon and fail to respect the right of the original peoples to the land and its boundaries, and to self-determination and prior consent, should be called for what they are: injustice and crime.” That language of “injustice and crime” is powerful, yet it is not the most inherently powerful language available to Christian leaders.
The abuse of the Earth is a sin. The climate emergency has come about because of our sinfulness. It is a sign, and may prove the most telling of all signs, of our universal gone-wrongness, and of the fact that humanity has turned in upon itself. Calling people to prayer for the planet without naming the sin that makes those prayers and global action to save the planet essential is a profound moral and theological failure.
But what about the sin of denying food and clothing to the poor?
Matthew 25:34-36 tells us “Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’”
What will the King say to those whom, however would, in the name of a made up “climate emergency”, rip away today’s abundance of energy, food, clothing, and medicine that all originate from fossil fuels, such as petroleum and coal?
There are over 6000 products made from oil, a partial list is available here. It lists such diverse and everyday things as toothpaste, toilet seats, antifreeze, shampoo, pillows, artificial limbs, and sunglasses.
I have no doubt Dr. Walker truly believes what he is saying. But seeking to tear down the central source of our age of abundance is a direct attack on the reliable supply of energy, food, clothing and clean water to the poor. How can you reconcile your attack on our age of abundance with the Gospel of Matthew?
Only cheap energy and an industrialized civilization can deliver the abundance we all too often take for granted, the abundance which has fed and clothed more poor people, and healed more sick people, than anything mankind has ever previously attempted.
We need to put ‘scrubbers’ on our chimneys.
The Chinese do on their fertilizer factories and sell the captured
polluting waste to Australia, which we add to our drinking water!
http://www.fluoridationaustralia.com
This is just a deluded individual whose faith in God has to be questioned. It is despicable to for charlatans to claim every extreme weather event is man made climate change — the climate catastrophists seem to relish and long for human suffering so they can claim their views are correct.
It is always possible to misinterpret or misquote the Bible but read — Genesis 8.22 As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.
We have a duty to avoid pollution but CO2 is not a pollutant.
Matthew 6. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Just check European floods online — sometimes up to 80000 dead 1287 — in 1342 there were 6000 dead in Germany Italy and Austria.
The period around 1875, at the lowest point of the Little Ice Age, marked the coldest point in the last 10,000 years. So temperatures have risen marginally with a marginal increase in sea level.
The 1896 eastern North America heat wave was a 10-day heat wave in New York City, Boston, Newark and Chicago that killed about 1,500 people in August 1896
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_Eastern_North_America_heat_wave
Australia 1896 heatwave
By January 24, in Bourke, many businesses had shut down (almost everything bar the hotels). Panic stricken Australians were fleeing to the hills in climate refugee trains. As reported at the time, the government felt the situation was so serious that to save lives and ease the suffering of its citizens they added cheaper train services
This man should read his Bible and have faith in God — perhaps Job might demonstrate some guidance for him on sin and punishment. There is no climate emergency.
Genesis 8.22 As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease
Man cannot control the climate — he can prevent pollution but CO” is not a pollutant.