Heat waves in Europe during the summer of 2026 renewed concerns about global warming. Headlines announced, “Climate change tripled the death toll” of the heat wave. Those working to reduce climate change are concerned global warming will lead to more extreme weather events which will destroy communities and lives, to increased ocean levels which will flood major cities, and to hotter summer temperatures which will cause more heat-related deaths. Since the 1860’s eyewitness observers have tracked atmospheric temperatures across the globe. Their observations indicate the last fifty years have experienced a genuine increase in average, global atmospheric temperatures. Glaciers are shrinking. Arctic ice is thinning. Summers are hotter.

Failure to address climate change portends unthinkable disaster for future generations. Efforts to slow global warming have the potential to profoundly disrupt industry, travel, medicine, farming, and communication. Questions about the severity of global warming and the best response to it trouble many. Christians must consider an additional question. How does the Bible’s teachings shape the Christian’s understanding of the problem of climate change and the proposed solutions to the problem?

The cause of global warming is at least partly attributable to human actions– anthropogenic global warming. That man is a contributor to the warming of the atmosphere seems to be a logical and unavoidable conclusion. The presence of 8 billion people who need to keep themselves warm, grow food, and cook meals is going to have an impact on the environment. The development of technology to make better housing, mass produce materials, improve transportation, and speed communication must inevitably impact the world around us.

Many question the reality or severity of global warming. However, a Christian response to this issue is largely unaffected by one’s understanding of the nature of the problem. In other words, how Christians should relate to the rest of the created order remains essentially the same even if global warming is untrue. Questioning the fact of recent global warming is unnecessary and unwarranted. If global warming is true and if the most recent warming is attributable to human activity, how should the individual Christian respond to those facts? The issue and its answers are overwhelmingly complex. To propose adequate and workable solutions requires a team of specialists. Despite the complexity of the problem, the Bible provides clear guidance which directs and limits the Christian’s response.

Contrary to some extreme environmentalists, the Bible does not treat mankind as a virus whose presence on the earth is unnecessary and destructive. Genesis 1 places man at the pinnacle of creation. God specially and purposefully created man to fill the earth and to exercise dominion over the world. (Genesis 1:26-28) Man has not abdicated or lost that dominion. He retains rule over all the earth and all the creatures on it. (Psalm 8:6)

The Bible does not treat all alteration of the environment as inherently wrong. Man was put in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. (Genesis 2:15) The Old Testament often uses the word “tend” for tilling the ground. Tilling necessarily requires changing nature. God instructed man to alter the original environment of the Garden of Eden by tending and keeping it. The law of Moses assumed man would till, plant, harvest, and build. At no point does the Bible suggest man errs by altering his environment. Man was intentionally created by God to exercise dominion over the earth by changing his environment.

The Bible explicitly treats man as more important than animals. Only man is created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27) Animals are given to mankind for food (Genesis 9:3; 1 Timothy 4:4). The penalties given in the law of Moses for causing injury or death to another person’s livestock were far less than the penalties of causing injury or death to another person. Animal life is not as important as human life, but animal life is not unimportant. Humanity’s responsibility to tend and keep the earth involves proper care for creation which leads to its flourishing and fructifying. This care seeks to protect creation from harm and unnecessary damage. “A righteous man regards the life of his animal.” (Proverbs 12:10)

The Bible is the only proper foundation of a Christian response to climate change. The Bible teaches man was intentionally created by God in His own image. God gave man rule over the earth as a blessing to man and for the good of the world. The stewardship of man’s God given dominion requires people use creation according to its God intended design. Man’s elevated status does not justify predatory or wasteful practices. Man must steward God’s creation for the glory of God, the good of himself, and the good of creation. The God given supremacy and rule of mankind makes global warming a problem humanity must solve. Before a proper response to climate change can begin to be formulated, two supreme, non-negotiable principles must be discussed. They will be the subject of the next article.