Running Head: Abraham approaches 1

Abraham approaches

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Introduction

Abrahamic religions are the religions that believe in the Old Testament, that is, they think and

worship the God of Abraham. These religions are mainly Judaism, Christianity and Islam, when

combined they have the most significant number of followers universally. All these religions

have books that are commonly referred to as “Holy Books’. It is through these books that

followers of this faith get to learn their values and message from God. For instance in

Christianity, God communicates using the Bible, and therefore, whatever Christians advocate for

or do is related to what is in the Bible. This means that the Bible guides Christians on what to do

on a day to day level. Hence, whatever Christians practice in this world should be related to the

messages communicated by God via the Bible (Evangelical, 2018). In the Bible, God

commanded man to takes care of the creation and conquer the world. This entails a lot of details

since the earth’s radius is enormous which makes them a big adventure to explore. So far human

beings have developed and invented different things. These inventions have brought both good

and bad to human life, the atmosphere and the environment. Industrialization is the leading cause

of pollution that destroys the ozone layer. The earth has been experiencing climate changes

marred by sudden and irregular weather patterns. Overall, this is an effect called global warming

that has been the talk of the day for over two decades now. The man has resulted, but some

scholars believe that the backbone of the solution is in the Holy Books, “conquer the earth “ as

stated in the Bible. Global warming is a menace that man has caused himself and therefore it is

our responsibility to look for solutions to curb this menace. The latter has caused a lot of issues

globally related to food insecurities, and the food is a basic need and a must for survival, some

people have found it hard to get food. Hence, they have resulted in other ways of looking for a

solution to restore the lost glory.

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Argument/Thesis: I will be comparing the Islamic and Christian Traditions exclusively and

approaches to environmental degradation and Nature. Although the Christian and Islamic

approaches to the issues of environmentally degrading practices of consumption, wastefulness,

and simplicity support the reconciliation of mankind with nature and the moral and spiritual

teaching on the redefinition of creation, religious beliefs of both Islamic and Christian traditions

fail to accept the theological timeline that has helped perpetuate the consequences of the human-

environment interactions practiced and in turn, suffered today. The religious manifestos,

encyclicals, and declarations neglect the importance of time place and context to influence and

persuade both believers and non-believers effectively. The important these utilized in birthing

the argument above include the Sacred Christian dissertations such as The Assisi declaration of

nature, the Laudato Si and passages from the Bible as compared with The Muslim declaration on

nature, excerpts from the Quran and The Islamic declaration on global climate change and the

Islamic faith statement are the suppositions intended to explain the interconnectedness of nature.

("Laudatosi' (24 May 2015) | Francis", 2018)

Rice cultivation in Guinea -Bissau supports many families and is a show of status and identity

for the men. Due to climate changes, there are hardly the rights conditions to grow rice in this

country which has led to a decrease in the supply of rice. Men in this state are finding it hard to

provide daily bread for their families let alone gaining the status, identity and respect that they

used to enjoy there before. Men, because they have lost the primary way of proving wealth and

status, they have resulted in the old school male initiation procedures as a way to restore respect

and status amongst the males. Surprisingly, despite harsh condemnation from the Catholics,

some of the followers of this faith have given a faint ear to the pleads by Catholic to stop these
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initiations rites. Because of climate change, Diola neighbors who still practice some old schooled

cultural and religious rituals, conflict with the Diola community who are strict Catholics.

Notably, there is a gap between countries as the US would address issues related to climate

change but a country like Guinea Bissau cannot. Such disparities are paramount to address

because there is no way two countries facing the same conditions, one would feel no impact and

fail to address at least one of the issue. However, there is still a lot to be executed in elaborating

social processes, for instance, secularisation and modernization and how they affect religious

responses and religion reaction to climate dynamics. The other thing that needs examining is the

role that establishes conflicts between science and religion globally. And finally, the other issue

that should be addressed is the importance of the apocalyptic eschatologist: the latter which

involves those engraved in environmental discourses and those that are completely religious.

Another gate of research is how religious norms and values compete with economic valuations

and many other valuations in the field of effective climate policy. Scholars need to research on

rigorous theoretical concepts that assist the world to fathom the circumstances under which

religion can successfully respond to issues on climate change. Researchers are urged to apply

theories like social theory in their endeavors to solve some of the issues that are facing humanity.

Although the Christian and Islamic approaches to the issues of environmentally degrading

practices of consumption, wastefulness, and simplicity support the reconciliation of mankind

with nature and the moral and spiritual teaching on the redefinition of creation, religious beliefs

of both Islamic and Christian traditions fail to accept the theological timeline that has helped

perpetuate the consequences of the human-environment interactions practiced and in turn,

suffered today (2018). The religious manifestos, encyclicals, and declarations neglect the
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importance of time place and context to influence and persuade both believers and non-believers

effectively. The important these utilized in birthing the argument above include the Sacred

Christian dissertations such as The Assisi declaration of nature, the Laudatory Si and passages

from the Bible as compared with The Muslim declaration on nature, excerpts from the Quran and

The Islamic declaration on global climate change and the Islamic faith statement are the

suppositions intended to explain the interconnectedness of life.

In Islamic traditions, as told by The Muslim declaration on nature highlights the three tenets of

Islamism according to Allah, which is; unity, trusteeship (responsibility) and accountability.

Because Allah created the entire universe in its entirety, from humanity, the flora and fauna, the

heavens and even to the ability for the rain to fall upon the earth, of all creations, the man was of

utmost importance to the universe. Humanity was created with reason beyond the need to

multiply; the man was to reason, given the power to think and even given the means to turn

against Allah himself ("IFEES - The Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental

Sciences," 2018). With such high status comes responsibility. Hence man was made responsible

for all creation. The condition to submit to the creator is important to understand ourselves

properly and have peace between humanity an all of Allah's creations as embodied in the dual

symbolism Islam shares with submission and peace. Submitting to Allah and he will make a man

more aware of our potential, powers, skills, and knowledge which have all been given to us by

the creator. With responsibility comes to trust, and humanity plays the role of a trustee; a

Khalifa. A Khalifa is Allah's earthly representative and as such is given sovereign power to

delegate on his behalf. Also, with responsibility, come boundaries. As trustees, we do not own
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the earth, therefore, cannot claim it nor do what we wish unto it. We are safe keepers of the earth

and as such, become answerable to not just Allah but to our actions and the ways we oversee the

trust of Allah. Another idea central to Islamism is the "unity of Allah" (Naseef) which is called

the Tawhid. Allah is not just the maker of all creations, but he is also unity personified. Thus,

unity should be reflected in our relationship with humanity and nature while maintaining the

wholeness of the earth and keeping it in a balanced state. Muslims regard Islamism as the

"middle path," thus the declaration calls all Muslims to walk this path and therefore be

answerable to how the path was walked while maintaining harmony with Allah's creations. The

value of accountability as taught by Islam is specially tested on the judgment day which is also

considered to be the "day of reckoning" where we have to show an account of the use or abuse of

Allah's trust. Man is not only accountable for what he does, but for what he does not do to

reinforce Allah's confidence.

The evangelical declaration and the church both call us to respond to environmental degradation

just as the Bible calls us to. According to the statement, we must first confess and repent from

the processes that impact the devaluation of God's Creation that is not by the scripture or twist

and misuse it. Secondly, our actions towards the creations need to be centered by our faith and be

"rooted in the fullness of God's revelation in Christ and the Scriptures." More so, we need to

learn the Bible's teaching of the true essence of the creator, creations and human responsibility to

accomplish the "full good news" for all creation. Creation reveals God's entirety which is

divinity, sustaining presence and enduring power and that creation teaches us the principles of
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God-given order. Creation is more than the environment and includes the cosmos, "in all its

beauty, wildness, and life-giving bounty." The declaration acknowledges that the books of

revelation are the ways to come to know God. These revelations are taught through the scripture

and creation, although most Christians never think about nature as a book of revelation.

According to the evangelical declaration, the worldly vices of greed rather than biblical values of

care have been the driving force with which the intended purpose for us by God that we nourish,

love civilization with creativity and obedience and praise to God the creator is ignored and

neglected. We as Christians must continue to make personal choices to enjoy and acknowledge

God, and all that he symbolizes in the land, because of our actions, just like the nation mourns

and degrades we also who live in it will waste away. The degradation of the creation is further

categorized into seven forms which include, land degradation; deforestation; species extinction;

water degradation; global modification; the alteration of the atmosphere; and human and cultural

degradation. And many of these degradations is blamed of the radical increase in population

growth. Hence the rise in population growth will only increase the severity of this degradation.

More so, the declaration highlights the dual responsibility that human poverty (as humans

degrade creation to survive) shares as both a cause and consequence of environmental

degradation.

Judeo - Christian Tradition and the environment Date and place and Time

The early 1-1600 CE Judeo-Christian tradition on environmentalism offered a lens through

which the relationship between human nature and technology is understood — an understanding

that perceives humanity's authority as aided by technology in this explorative age as hierarchical
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to and exploitive of the environment. The idea of stewardship the concept of stewardship as

perceived by the Judeo-Christian approach justifies the social constructs created by religion and

evident in the world today. As seen in the first book of the Bible Genesis, implies that humans

were created by God to rule over creation. This anthropocentric view on stewardship. In

looking at the historical roots of our ecologic crisis, Christianity’ mythologies on creation and

concept of time and order of creation. Although Before God made the man, he made the in

Genesis, light darkness the earth and all its plants and animals in it. He gave the man the

authority to name the animals in Genesis 2:19 “Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed

every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he

would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature that was its name.” This was

the root of which Man’s dominance was established according to the Judeo-Christian tradition.

So as God created humanity in his image and out of sand and dust of the earth in Genesis 1:26

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion

over the fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the livestock and all the earth and over

every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." This implies that man is not part of nature and

Christianity is a religion that is anthropocentric and none of the other religions is like

Christianity. God created life and commanded man to explore his beautiful creation which

entails that man was given dominion over the earth and its production. There is, therefore, a

connection between man and nature since man has to protect life as one of the directions given

by God. Christianity, thus, provides the man with the path to control all natural objects and

exploit nature and all the indifference it brings with it. In other words, man has the sole

responsibility of managing all the creation and animals in the world. The dominance given to

man by God over earth makes him the central figure to ensure that the environment is safe and
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there are little or no issues on climate change. Hence, what is required of man is a commitment

to the course and thorough research to ensure that all the systems in the world are working, in

particular, the one that deals with climate change.

In contrast to the pagan way of viewing the nature

St. Francis of Assisi

He was a spiritual revolution the understanding of the environment. Became the saint who

tweaked the Christian creation Dogma of creation and instead offered a belief that crushed the

hierarchical nature of humanity but to preach a sense of humility the virtue thereof. "Francis tried

to depose man from his monarchy over creation and set up a democracy of all God's creatures."

He stressed the emphasis to utilize language as a lens through which nature can be understood

(2018). He had a deep connection with nature that he even spoke to the birds. His perception of

man and quality was based on a different and unique type of panpsychism. He proposed an

alternative view of the relationship between human, life and God's creation. Instead of the

limitless rule of production by man, he offered an idea of equality of all creatures.

Science and Technology

Ten million years ago, since the advent of science and technology, have done significant

damage. This is an evidence of the orthodox Christian arrogance: troubles are primarily rooted in

religious beliefs and therefore to solve these troubles, we also require religious fixing. Human

beings must redeem and rethink their destiny and nature. St Francis calls on spiritual autonomy

of all parts of life. And this may be a good thing in helping us solve the problem.
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Laudato Si

In the LaudatiSi, which was the second encyclical of Pope Francis released in mid-June 2015, a

secular means of communication used by the pope to discuss crucial subject matter that is

pertinent with the church and now the whole world. It coincides with the issue of sustainable

development goals of the United Nations and the concern about climate change, global warming

and galvanizing finances to support the sustainable development goals. He calls for an excellent

revisit to the idea of stewardship for God's creation and the planet although the time and place

context was especially urgent in a time of substantial environmental pollution and human

uniqueness. It is easy for Institutional research organizations in the media to blame natural

causes of population growth to mask the fact that they are legitimizing the existing model of

distribution and consumption. 1/3rd of the food produced is discarded and whenever it is thrown

out “it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor.” Blame population growth over

consumerism. However, it can be said that due to inequalities in population their disparities in

consumption which cause complicated regional scenarios, resulting from the connection between

woes linked to pollution, waste treatment, transport — standards of living and lack of resources.

We are not above nature but of nature and are interconnected, and what we do to our planet, we

do to ourselves - make an urgent appeal to all of humanity Connects science to morality. The

world is connected economically, and although it grows economically due to technology, the

growth is not producing the kind of community that is good for humanity

Religious impact on climate change and the poor Social Justice perspective.

Climate change and environmental degradation is unequivocally a moral issue. And there should

be an element of social justice because the effect of global warming is more prone to people who
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are in developing countries and especially the poor. A there is an urge to avert the danger of

climate change because it is more likely to hurt the poor people 1st and hardest in some country.

Christian Faith based approach/ statements on environmental responsibility Declarations

and Whatnot

Stewardship is the responsibility given to Christians by God to guard and cultivate creation while

still using it wisely. Now although in the bile and as taught by churches, the human is given

everything they need on earth and are told to use creation for their survival, there is an all for

nature to be respected as well. We must use the surface with respect and hand it over to the

people who are coming after us and over to god in good condition. By showing thanks to god for

this provision, we should cultivate the creation with care. The Christian declaration on Nature by

Pope at Assisi in 1986 states that we live in harmony with creation and of production because

God created us all with the aim of interdependence. Humanity should play an important role in

resisting from abusing and destroying all created things by protecting them. The Christian

declaration on nature rejects all kind of ways in which God's creation is denied.

There is a need for a faith response. Just as the problem of economic degradation such as climate

change is reconciled economic, technological and scientific intervention, it also requires

religious and spiritual intervention. Once we look at the way, human life is framed and valued

from the comparisons of present and future generations, "human vs. non-human interests and

how the lifestyle of wealthy countries is to be balanced against the basic needs of the developing

world." Another angle to allow effective action we need to understand that although the people

who are gravely affected by the plight of global warming they are the least contributors to the

problem of global warming.

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Conclusion

Human beings have thrived in innovation and technology and are still trying to make the world

better for future generations. There are so many things that have changed in the last two decades

notably in technology, building and construction, manufacturing industries and education. Global

warming has come as a result of industrialization and many automobiles on our roads. The ozone

layer is suffering all the wrath of carbon dioxide and other harmful gas emissions from vehicles

and manufacturing industries. Without proper techniques to curb global warming, the future

generations will have a rough time on earth trying to deal with an issue that can be controlled

from now. Not only do we need techniques but also we are required to implement them for

sooner efforts that will bring global changes.

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References

(2018). Retrieved from

http://www.arcworld.org/downloads/THE%20ASSISI%20DECLARATIONS.pdf

(2018). Retrieved from http://acen.anglicancommunion.org/media/148818/The-World-is-our-

Host-FINAL-TEXT.pdf

Evangelical. (2018). Retrieved from

https://www.creationcare.org/evangelical_declaration_on_the_care_of_creation

IFEES - The Islamic Foundation For Ecology And Environmental Sciences. (2018). Retrieved

from http://www.ifees.org.uk/declaration/

Laudatosi' (24 May 2015) | Francis. (2018). Retrieved from

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-

francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html
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