Analysis Of The Relationship Between Religion - Essay Example

Answering questions For many people the relationship between religion as well as environmental problems might not seem direct. Indeed, if one takes a close look at Christianity, one can hardly find any passages that deal explicitly with the environment preservation. However, a careful analysis of this doctrine will reveal new facts. For example, according to the Christian scholars “one of the contributing factors to the notion that humans can dominate the earth is a doctrine of creation in which humans are placed near or at the top of a hierarchy” (Chopp and Taylor 6). In other words, it is one of the responsibilities which were delegated by God. In other words, when people preserve the environment they actually take care of it just like their ancestors did, including Adam and Eve. There is yet another convincing reason why Christians are to preserve nature. The scholars argue that “the clearest example [of God’s presence] is the order and beauty of nature that suggest the hand of a creator” (Hanson 12). In other words, the world that people see is something which was created by Lord and any negative influence that the humanity is able to have on it should be treated as damage to God’s work. It is generally thought that it is one of the Christian duties to follow the will of their Lord; so, when they pollute the environment they actually go against it. Therefore, environmental preservation complies with the spiritual duties of a believer and, to a certain extent can be seen as a duty of a Christian. 3. The consideration of the idea of God inevitably leads to consideration of another, contrary idea, namely the evil. Indeed, if there is light, there must be darkness or at least shadow as well. So, the Christian doctrine is likely to make some provisions about the nature of evil. According to the scholars, there are two forms of evil: moral and natural (Hanson 98). The former is something that is caused by people. This form involves the concept of morality and, therefore, can occur only within the environment of the people. So, murder or incest is something that is seen as moral evil by the people. However, there is a different form of evil, the natural one. It occurs in the environment and people are victims of it, not the creators. For example, earthquakes are put into natural evil category. Keeping in mind the above mentioned idea, “the fact of evil becomes an objection to rational belief in God, at least belief in a perfectly good, all-powerful deity” (Hanson 98). However, the Christians were able to come up with various justifications, theodicies. For example, according to one of them, evil is necessary since it make people morally mature; in other words, the ability to distinguish between good and evil is something that should be seen as a characteristic of a fully developed human and something which Adam and Eve were deprived at first. Therefore, evil exists not because God cannot destroy it (He is omnipotent), not because He does not know about it (He is omniscient) or not because He is not good (He is omnibenevolent). 4. It would not be a mistake to suggest that live in the twenty first century is significantly different from the past. One of the peculiarities is the emergence of multicultural societies. The United States of America is a good example. It may be rather interesting to explore the manner in which Christianity was able to address this transformation. For example, one is able to see that the religious life inside the US is rather diverse. Indeed, there are Christian churches, Muslim mosques, Jewish synagogues, Buddhist temples and many other religious facilities. In other words, Christianity does not claim its right to be dominant religion. A significant difference can also be found in the realm of cultural pluralism. Chopp and Taylor that interaction of different nationalities within the US “has undergone a shift from using a melting pot model … to a model that values the collage of different faces, voices, styles, questions and constructs”. (4) In other words, while in the previous times the cultures were expected to mix and combine in a manner that it would not be impossible to tell the difference, nowadays cultures are encouraged to retain some independency and make their distinct contribution to the general picture. Of course, this does not mean that representatives of the cultures are not welcome to integrate, quite the opposite: successful integration is thought to be performed while retaining original values that are contributed to the common framework. One might consider the interfaith dialogue of Christians with other religions. 5. The contemporary epoch is a rather controversial one. Those who research culture argue that it should be identified as post-modernism with a “new aesthetic sense focusing on diversity… ambiguity, fragmentation and openness” (Chopp and Taylor, 6). Out of many significant characteristics of the modern world, one might take a close look at two. For example, diversity can be easily seen in the religious world of the United States. Indeed, other that Roman Catholic, there are numerous denominations that help the population to satisfy its spiritual needs. Thus, certain denominations do not want to be perceived within the framework of Protestantism and suggest that they should be regarded as Christian denominations. The second characteristic of the post-modern world is ambiguity. For example, scholars often note that theologies face crisis because people use new tools to find their path to God and they no longer need the tool that proved to be useful before. In other words, the clear understanding of what religious experience is not applicable to the contemporary times: it is ambiguous with a significant focus on personal relationship between a believer and God. For example, many Christians argue that it may not be necessary to know all the peculiarities of their religious system as long as they are able to feel the presence of God in their lives and make sure that they act accordingly. Works Cited Chopp, Rebecca S., and Mark Lewis Taylor. Reconstructing Christian Theology. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1994. Print. Hanson, Bradley. Introduction to Christian Theology. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1997. Print. Read More