Understanding Evangelical
Climate Denial
What are key arguments unique to evangelicals?
Understanding Evangelical Climate Denial:
#1 God’s Sovereignty
 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” - Isaiah 55:9
 “Religiously unenlightened hubris” to believe humans can influence
climate system
 “It does not seem likely to me that God would set up the world to
work in such a way that human beings would eventually destroy the
earth by doing such ordinary and morally good and necessary things
as breathing, building a fire to cook or keep warm, burning fuel to
travel, or using energy for a refrigerator to preserve food.”
- Wayne Grudem, Cornwall Alliance (2006)
 Argument: Climate change is simply not possible
Brian Webb
Understanding Evangelical Climate Denial:
#2 Our Special Status
 Imago Dei
 “So God created humankind in his own image…” Gen 1:27
 “Dominion” theology
 “God blessed them and said to them, ‘be fruitful and increase in
number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea
and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves
on the ground.’” Genesis 1:28
 Anthropocentrism – our needs/wants trump ecological
considerations
 Argument: If real, climate change doesn’t matter because we are
more important than trees.
Brian Webb
Understanding Evangelical Climate Denial:
#3 End-Times Thinking (Eschatology)
 Premillenial dispensationalism
 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The
heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be
destroyed with fire, and the earth and everything done
in it will be laid bare.” – 2 Peter 3:10
 Temporality of the earth
 Argument: Climate change is of no concern since the
earth will be destroyed anyway
Brian Webb
Understanding Evangelical Climate Denial:
#4 Fear of Pantheism
 Christian exceptionalism – unique and extraordinary
 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one
comes to the Father but through me” - John 14:6
 Environmental movement can have strong religious
overtones (ex. Avatar)
 Argument: Climate change is a tool to get us to
worship nature
Brian Webb
Understanding Evangelical Climate Denial:
#5 Distrust Scientists
 Climate change is a matter of trust
 Politicized atmosphere between faith and science communities,
largely on account of the creation-evolution debate
 “But perhaps no result of the creation-evolution stalemate is as
potentially disastrous as the way it has stymied courageous
action on climate change.” – Andy Crouch, Christianity Today
(2005)
 Evangelicals segment out (disbelieve) scientific claims that are
perceived to conflict with religious beliefs (Evans, 2011; Carr
2012)
 Argument: Scientists are not trustworthy, so I can’t believe what
they say about climate change.
Brian Webb
Responding to
Evangelical Climate
Denial
How can we engage evangelicals on climate change?
Responding to Evangelical Climate Denial:
#1 Seek Common Ground
 Listen
 Look for areas of agreement
 Common interests/background/etc.
 Faith
 Shared “environmental” views
 Avoid arguments (not productive)
 Find allies; embrace evangelical efforts
Brian Webb
Responding to Evangelical Climate Denial:
#2 Consider their Worldview
 Evangelicals are a subculture
 Climate change is risky
 Use language strategically
 Good: creation care, stewardship
 Bad: mother earth, spirituality, Gaia
 Share your environmental “testimony”
Brian Webb
Responding to Evangelical Climate Denial:
#3 Make it a Moral Issue
 Focus on people and poverty
 Highlight humanitarian impacts
 Use specific examples/stories (narrative is powerful)
Brian Webb
Responding to Evangelical Climate Denial:
#4 Talk about the Science
 Promote dialogue (not debate)
 Explain why science is convincing to you and refer to
experts (scientific consensus, NOAA, NASA, etc.)
 Initiate Faith-Science partnerships/forums/etc.
 Remember, evangelicals are not anti-science, but they
are skeptical/hostile when there is a perceived conflict
Brian Webb
Responding to Evangelical Climate Denial:
#5 Engage the Theology
 When conversations turn political, divert back to
theology or ethics
 Gain a basic understanding of key evangelical
theological barriers & responses
Brian Webb
Theological Responses to
Evangelical Climate Denial
 Our Special Status counterargument:
 Biblical model of leadership (Phil 2:5-8)
 Earth belongs to God (Psalm 24:1);
We are stewards (Gen 2:15)
 God called earth “good” (Gen 1);
Do we want to destroy something he called good?
Brian Webb
Theological Responses to
Evangelical Climate Denial
 God’s Sovereignty counterargument:
 Does God control everything? Or are there decisions we
can make on our own? And if so, might those decisions
have consequences?
 Isn’t it possible that God might allow us to suffer the
consequences of our own addictive patterns of
consumption?
 Fear of Pantheism counterargument:
 This represents a tiny minority of those concerned with
environmental issues
Brian Webb
Theological Responses to
Evangelical Climate Denial
 End-Times counterargument:
 Many theological interpretations that do not hold to a belief
in a destroyed earth
 Even if the earth is destroyed, would it be our place to destroy
it? Or should we leave it to God’s timing and methods?
 With extremists you may just have to concede this argument
 Distrust of Scientists:
 Where is the theological conflict with the scientific evidence
of climate change?
Brian Webb
Thank you
Brian Webb: brian.webb@houghton.edu
 Resources:
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Young Evangelicals for Climate Action
Evangelical Environmental Network
A Climate for Change by Katherine Hayhoe
Between God & Green by Katharine Wilkinson
Global Warming & the Risen Lord by Jim Ball
Resisting the Green Dragon
Cornwall Alliance
Brian Webb