What's Wrong with This Picture?

The statement "A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change" I discussed in my last post has really stirred things up all over. There is a significant amount of secular media attention to this. And there is a whole lot of internal discussion about it within Southern Baptist ranks.

I see a whole lot about this initiative that is not good.

1. The title was poorly chosen. Despite statements by both the group behind the Declaration (Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative) and the SBC itself, calling this a "Southern Baptist Declaration" gives the false impression that this is an official statement of the Southern Baptist Convention.

2. Frank Page should never have signed this. Again, the President of the Southern Baptist Convention signing a "Southern Baptist Declaration" gives the false impression that this is an official statement of the SBC. Others, like ERLC's Richard Land, showed more wisdom in this regard.

3. Where global warming is concerned, the document presumes the existence, a human cause, and a possible human corrective, all of which are contested. As just one example, earlier this month, a group of scientists met to refute the idea of human-caused global warming. I want to look at all three of these presumptions in more detail later. But there is also the idea that the concept of human-induced global warming is not a theological issue, that the Bible has nothing to say about it. I'll get to that later as well (obviously, that implies I don't agree).

4. The Declaration as a whole does not represent a consensus of Southern Baptists. I have reasonable doubt that it would ever pass from the convention floor as a resolution.

5. Omitting the section on global warming, the Declaration is largely redundant. Southern Baptists have officially expressed ourselves regarding care for God's creation in resolutions like the one in 2007. This new statement was really not needed.

6. The Declaration has stirred up disunity within Southern Baptists. Baptists don't need trouble getting along, we can find that readily enough. We see in much of Paul's writings in the New Testament a strong concern for unity. This statement is a point of disunity, and I would think that alone would make both sides want to distance themselves from it.

Now that this Declaration is out there, I'm not sure what can be done about it. I would encourage others not to embrace it. But I know that many of those who do embrace it do so out of love for the Creator. And we should not hesitate to embrace those brothers and sisters.