Faith in a Changing Climate

​

We are working on a book Faith in a Changing Climate. Information to do with the current draft is provided at this page. The book starts with a A Three Point Sermon, which is provided in full here. The current Table of Contents (subject to change) is provided here. A brief description of the chapter contents is as follows.
 

Chapter 1— A Predicament and an Opportunity

This first chapter provides an overview of the contents of the book. It describes how each chapter starts with a passage from scripture and a modern parable. This chapter also stresses that predicting the future, particularly with regard to a highly complex system such as the Earth’s climate involves a large amount of uncertainty — humility is called for. The chapter concludes with information to do with the overall ‘Age of Limits’ and climate change.

​

Chapter 2 — The City of Man

This chapter describes how society and our industrial infrastructure became to be dependent on fossil fuels and why that dependency has created such serious problems for us now. About 300 years ago we learned how to extract fossil fuels (coal, then oil and natural gas) and how to use those fuels to start a 300-Year Party, the Industrial Revolution. But now the good times are coming to an end. We are learning that we cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet. Hubris has led to nemesis. Our faith in Hubris has led us to become members of the Church of (Material) Progress.

​

Chapter 3 — The Death of God

The term ‘Death of God’ is used to describe how people in modern society have, by and large, lost their faith in a divine power. Instead they put their trust and hopes in technology.

​

Chapter 4 — Technology to the Rescue

Many people have faith in technology, that “they” will come up with something. This chapter works through some of the technological responses. Many of these responses can indeed make a contribution toward reducing the rate at which the climate is changing, but none of them are a solution — they do not make the predicament go away.

​

Chapter 5 — A New City of God

The previous chapters have described the climate change predicament. They have also shown that technology is not “the solution”. In this chapter we consider how people of faith and how the church overall can respond.

​

Chapter 6 — The Church’s Response

In this final chapter we discuss how the church can respond to the dilemmas that we face, how we can leave the Church of Progress and what actions can be taken, both as individuals and as a corporate body.