Brooklynn McMurray
Liberty University
Abstract
This paper presents a Toulmin model argument for the care and usage of the Earth and its natural resources as dictated by God in the Holy Bible (NIV). The Old Testament provides many guidelines for man to live fruitfully on Earth. Because it was made by God and given to us, we must follow the guidelines that he has set forth in the care and preservation of our planet.
Earth: Our Gift From God
Before God created man, he created the heavens and the Earth. Anyone who has read Genesis can plainly see that Earth was created by God as a place for man to dwell. However, God didn’t just give us shelter and leave us to our own devices. God made the Earth specifically …show more content…
We are mortal, and therefore need many things. Our rivers and springs provide the water we drink. Our fields and farms provide the food that we eat. Our forests produce oxygen for us to breathe. Man and all of the world’s animals survive and thrive because God designed the Earth to provide for our needs. Isaiah 43:20-21 states, “ The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” All of the ‘long lost’ rainforest cures or super foods are just what they have always been – gifts from God to man. Just as we have been given dominion over animals, we have dominion over the Earth. Having dominion over something doesn’t just mean control; it means that you have the responsibility to care for those things in your …show more content…
Some of them refer to the book of Genesis where God charges man with the keeping of animals. They think that because we are higher on the ‘food chain’, we do not have to care for them. In countless verses God and Jesus remind us that we must care for animals because they are God’s creatures and part of his creation. All that God has made is special and dear to him. Also, many skeptics often refer to the book of Revelations, where the Apostle John talks about God creating a ‘new Earth’ and burning the old one. They believe that this Earth will be physically destroyed and that God will create us a new home. However, John later goes on to talk about what will happen to those who disobey God and fail to care for his creation.
Revelations 11:18,” The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great — and for destroying those who destroy the