We cannot see the truth without love. Discovering the truth is not a neutral enterprise. It requires a dedication that ultimately derives from love, a love of the truth, a passion for the truth. And the fount of all love is God's love. Without the love of God in our hearts, we cannot see the truth.
I was reminded of this while writing a two-part series on climate change denial. It is the love of God in the hearts of those in denial about climate change, or those who are not taking action, which will help them both see and do the truth. Their desire for truth must become stronger than their desire for money, or stronger than the arrogance/insecurity that fuels their ideology, or stronger than any fears that may be preventing them from accepting and acting upon the truth about climate change.
Recently, former Vice President Gore wrote an article in Rolling Stone arguing that if reason was simply allowed to prevail, we would overcome global warming. But reason without love won't help people see the truth. Our ability to reason, in fact, can and does serve either side.
That love is what allows us to see the truth seems counter-intuitive based on common notions of love. Feelings of love are supposed to make us less able to see the truth, say, about our lover's faults, or our children's lack of talent. We can be "blinded by love." These feelings of attraction and attachment can either blind us, or they can deepen our understanding if we allow them to be connected to real love.
For Christians, reality (i.e. what's really true) is all about love. The fount of love is the love of God, God's love. The Universe exists because the Father, Son and Holy Spirit wanted to share the love within the Trinity with other beings who have the ability to freely love in return. That's the ultimate purpose of our story: to freely love God back and thereby become who we were created to be.
To love fully requires both trust and truth. As finite creatures we cannot see all truth, and so we lovingly trust God with what we cannot see. As the Apostle Paul says, we "see through a glass darkly" (1 Corinthians 13:12, KJV). But to love is to strive to see what we can, and not deny what reality presents us about ourselves or how the world works or the challenges society faces.
So by love I mean a Christian understanding of love: love of God, love for others.
Christian love seeks out the truth, the reality of a situation, our condition. God's love for us creates a foundation for seeking the truth in any situation. Because of God's love we can be honest about our own sinfulness, for example. God loves us as we are, but because He loves us He wants us to be whom He created us to be.
The same is true for the rest of His creation. God wants the rest of His creation to be what He created it to be; He wants His intentions for it to be fulfilled because He loves it.
Our role as image-bearers, those who were created to image or reflect God on Earth, is to freely help create what God's love intends within ourselves, within all of our relationships, within society and amongst societies and within His creation. And to do so we need to see the truth as much as we are able.
And so love needs truth. The meaning of our existence, our purpose, requires truth. To deny the truth about ourselves, or about a problem like global warming, is to thwart both love and the truth.
But to know the truth requires a love for the truth. And the truth will in fact set us free, so that empowered by love we can freely do the truth, so that our lives can become the embrace of love and truth.
However much love and truth embrace, that's how far we will be able to travel in our journey to overcome global warming.
The Rev. Jim Ball is author of 'Global Warming and the Risen LORD: Christian Discipleship and Climate Change.'
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The current spat of high temps, is just another example of left wing conspiracy in action.
You watch, they can't keep this up for long. Maybe another five or six months tops. Then we will see the truth. We are actually in another ice age. Global Warming....Ha.
I read it three times, enjoyed it each time, and I'll probably read it several times more.
I'm glad I read it.
Thank you
I believe it is time for our political people to recognize this possibility. I do not believe it premature for the appropriate United Nations agency to form a group of international experts who can better define the C02 problem, assess global and national consequences, and propose credible responses.
(Excerpt from a speech given by Dr Alvin d Weinberg titled Toward an Acceptable Nuclear Future presented on May 5, 1977. Source: Towards an Acceptable Nuclear Future – Alvin Weinberg)
     Lets not wait for a nuclear cloud from another LWR Plant problem or a detonation of WNGN
(Weapons Grade Nuclear Waste) by terrorist to convince us we desperately need to pursue the work Dr Weinberg started in the 1950s at Oak Ridge on LFTRs.
Dr. Alvin Weinberg, the patent holder on LWR, said using LWR for commercial electric power was a
                               “FAUSTIAN BARGAIN“.
The CONVENIENT TRUTH is LFTR is The EARTH Friendly Reactor
China is building a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor LFTR now.
Responsibility is taking care of your own GARBAGE.
Basically, (for a third world country) the more you industrialize, the more CO2 you emit, the fewer little kids die. There is strong correlation here, and also a very clear causal explanation. (As a country becomes wealthier, it tends to have more resources to save sick and hungry children).
So, are Christians supposed to oppose third world industrialization? When Brazillians and Indians and Chinese all start to burn more fuel, but also better protect their children, are we supposed to oppose the former, and pretend it has no bearing on the latter?
Discovering truth (about our environment?) does not require a love of truth. It requires education, and that education is not found within the bible. It's disappointing and disconcerting that this writer appears to assume that embracing Christian love will be enough to combat climate change, or maybe even trusting in their God would prevent catastrophe.
That is not a call to action but a call to do nothing. Loving truth will not decrease your carbon footprint. There is nothing within this article on giving real advice on combating climate change. It gives assertions, non-answers and misinformation on serious real life issues.
This is quite a bit of a stretch, in fact it seems like a rather ham-fisted approach to shoehorn some theology in to the argument, where it doesn't need to be.
"Christian love seeks out the truth, the reality of a situation, our condition."
Could have fooled me, it seems whenever a debate about a natural process occurs, the people on the disbelieving side always seem to be Christian, insisting that the scientific process which has proved the item in question is not correct, because it contradicts god. This is not to say that all Christians feel this way, but you don't see many atheists arguing against evolution or homosexuality.
As to the rest of your article, I am not seeing much of a connection between Christianity and global warming, if there is a connection its tenuous at best.
Sorry no, there is a perfectly good scientific reason for why global warming occurs, we don't need you manufacturing reasons based on silly superstitions.
Christian love leads to Crusades, witch hunts, science retardation (think stem cell research), fighting with others who choose to worship the exact same god in a different way, child abuse in the form of mental scarring with threats of hell, an anti-gay atmosphere (even though gays are clearly NOT making a choice), and general bigotry in the ongoing fight we can call "my god is better than your god, now convert or go to hell."