Creation Care: The Construction of an Evangelical Environmentalism

Chris Toner

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Brain, David

Keywords

Evangelicalism, Environmentalism, Social Movements

Area of Concentration

General Studies

Abstract

As climate change becomes a serious political issue in recent decades, dialogue concerning how to address the problem has intensified. The evangelical community has made a surprising entrance into this discussion. Evangelicals have traditionally fought for conservative social causes, and environmentalism has been stereotyped as liberal and secular. The manifestation of an evangelical voice in the discourse has heavy implications for the future of environmentalism and governmental approaches to the issue. However, there has been considerable debate over how “dominion belief,” anthropocentrism, and theological and political conservatism affect environmental attitudes. In the context of this debate, then, what obstacles had to be overcome for this “evangelical environmentalism” to emerge? This thesis looks at one of the more recent and major groups at the head of this social movement, the Evangelical Climate Initiative. Backed by major evangelical figure, the ECI has created a social and political space within which evangelicals can redefine environmentalism through a Christian theological perspective. In order to successfully create an evangelical environmental movement, the ECI has bridged the gap between environmental attitudes and evangelical beliefs. By utilizing frame alignment theory, the organization’s methods of constructing an evangelical voice around the issue can be better understood. My findings show that there are several major themes evident within the ECI literature that help overcome barriers between evangelicals and ecological concern.

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