"The earth is many things to each of us. It is a temporary home to humanity—the native venue for our work, our relationships, and our fleeting days. And ultimately earth is the setting of a cosmic combat—its peculiar blend of cold hostility and lingering beauty reminders of what happened since the “apple.” As Isaiah said, it is “growing old like a garment” and requires a complete overhaul before we enter eternity.
So how has the earth been corrupted? One increasingly popular view is found in an environmentalist re-interpretation of the Bible. The verse they most often quote is Revelation 11:18. “The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.” The last portion of this verse has become the Magna Carta of a rapidly growing green movement, quoted by ham-fisted environmentalists and church-going pie-baking individuals alike. And it is being grossly taken out of context.
“Destroy (diaphtheiro) them which destroy (diaphtheiro) the earth” reads literally “corrupt them which corrupt the earth. Does that sound familiar? It should. Put your finger there and let’s go to Genesis.
The same word—diaphtheiro— is used in 1 Timothy 6:5 to refer to “men of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth….” Jesus used diaphtheiro to describe what moths do to treasure in Luke 12:33. They corrupt, or defile it. So the problems described in Revelation 11:18 is not that people in the end times are using plastic, fossil fuel and SUV’s, they are defiling the earth with violence and iniquity—just as it was in the days of Noah.
Now let’s look at something fascinating in Revelation 19. There is someone leading out in this collective corruption of the earth.
The great harlot has “corrupted the earth with her fornication.” Do you know who the great harlot is? You do. Do you know what fornication is? In this setting it is spiritual adultery and idolatry! That is the corruption that “destroys” the earth, along with violence and shedding innocent blood.
The great harlot is the conductor of this sin symphony; it is through her influence that the earth is being destroyed, or corrupted. “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth” (Revelation 18:4). Where? On earth. False worship, intoxication with spiritual errors, and a murderous spirit towards God’s righteous children combine to fill the earth with corruption—or destroy it.
So where does this green reinterpretation of Revelation 11:18 come from? Romans 1:25 declares that we either worship creation or we worship the Creator. These words have rarely been more relevant than they are today as western culture is being hijacked by a neo-pagan revival of ancient polytheistic religions. This false revivalist movement (neo-paganism) is at the heart of radical environmentalism, the more extreme elements of the social justice movement, and theological liberalism. And these concepts are being smuggled into the church through the emergent movement, and a growing number of progressive leaders/pastors whose minds are charmed by this “new spirituality.”
“Destroy (diaphtheiro) them which destroy (diaphtheiro) the earth” reads literally “corrupt them which corrupt the earth. Does that sound familiar? It should. Put your finger there and let’s go to Genesis.
“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth” (Genesis 6:11-12). Revelation 11 is connected to Genesis 6 by no less an authority than Jesus Himself “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37; Luke 17:26). The earth is being corrupted by sin/violence in both cases.
Now let’s look at something fascinating in Revelation 19. There is someone leading out in this collective corruption of the earth.
The Great Harlot
“After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! “For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her” (Revelation 19:1–2).The great harlot is the conductor of this sin symphony; it is through her influence that the earth is being destroyed, or corrupted. “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth” (Revelation 18:4). Where? On earth. False worship, intoxication with spiritual errors, and a murderous spirit towards God’s righteous children combine to fill the earth with corruption—or destroy it.
So where does this green reinterpretation of Revelation 11:18 come from? Romans 1:25 declares that we either worship creation or we worship the Creator. These words have rarely been more relevant than they are today as western culture is being hijacked by a neo-pagan revival of ancient polytheistic religions. This false revivalist movement (neo-paganism) is at the heart of radical environmentalism, the more extreme elements of the social justice movement, and theological liberalism. And these concepts are being smuggled into the church through the emergent movement, and a growing number of progressive leaders/pastors whose minds are charmed by this “new spirituality.”
Guess Who?
One of these statements below was made by John Harvey Kellogg, the architect of the Alpha apostasy, one was made by a Pope, and one was made by an ecofeminist theologian. See if you can guess which is which. Extra points if you don’t cheat.
A: "Faith in Jesus Christ can provide rich resources for an ecological ethic that is critically needed at this time of Earth's distress. In union with the love that creates and embraces all reality and is glimpsed concretely in Jesus Christ's incarnation, ministry, death, and resurrection, we need to shape our lives in the knowledge that nature is grounded in the sacred. Salvation encompasses not just human life but all life and the whole cosmos itself.
For billions of years the universe has had the character of an adventure, discovering and bringing forth new things never seen before. And the process is not finished yet. Human action that aborts nature's possibilities by wreaking harm to ecosystems and other creatures is nothing less than a profoundly sinful violation against life. It shortchanges nature's promise, killing off what might yet be. In so doing, it frustrates God's own creative vision for the future of this universe."
B: “It is certainly to be hoped that the time may come when there will be preached, not only in civilized lands, but also in heathen lands, that greater gospel which was sent not to save man out of the world, but to save him from himself in the world, and to save, to rescue, to redeem the world itself, — man, animals, plants, the whole creation.…”
C: “Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened. Let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.”
AdVindicate/Gerry Waggoner
A: Professor Elizabeth Johnson
B: J.H. Kellogg
C: Pope Francis
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| "Elizabeth A. Johnson is a Christian feminist theologian. She is a Distinguished Professor of Theology at Fordham University, a Jesuit institution in New York City. She is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood." wikipedia |