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Book Review: Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt

Posted on 28. Apr, 2010 by Brett in God

I was privileged to get an advance release copy of Jonathan Merritt’s brand new book “Green Like God.” If you grew up in Southern Baptist life like I did, you might recognize Jonathan’s last name from his father James, who was president of the Convention in the early 2000s. Jonathan has already cut out a name for himself in SBC ranks at the age of 27. Several years ago he drafted a “theologically centered response to environmental problems.” In asking denominational leaders to sign it he caused quite a stir and drew the ire of some of the SBC elite.

This incident propelled Merritt squarely in the middle of the “creation care” debate. Creation care is the nouveau term for Christian environmentalism.

I began this book skeptically. I grew up in a very traditional, Southern Baptist church where the Bible, morality, and hot button issues like abortion garnered a lot of attention. Environmentalism, on the other hand, was looked at as a tenet of the liberal manifesto. My only green influence came from Captain Planet.

Let me be clear; I am a capitalist. I believe in business and growth and that humans are the crown jewel of God’s creation. But I’m also insulted at most Christians’ attitudes toward the environment. I could stomach the sleepy ambivalence, but the aggressive stance I see some Christians taking against the environment is embarrassing. So no, I’m not deep “green.” But I’m turning a little limier these days, so I guess this book was written for people like me.

Green Like God is filled with alarming stats. Some of the more interesting ones:

• About half of Earth’s tropical and temperate forests have already been destroyed.
• Americans produce 63,000 garbage trucks of waste per day.
• America consumes more than 20.6 million barrels of oil daily.
• 77 percent of evangelical pastors speak to their church about creation “rarely” or “never.”
• About 30 percent of American’s purchase Christmas presents for their pets; only 11 percent buy them for their neighbors.

Overall, Green Like God is a solid look at the Christian’s response to the green debate. Merritt is reasonable and measured. He does a lot of credibility-building early on displaying his commitment to the core tenets of conservative evangelicalism–centrality of the Gospel, inerrancy of Scripture, etc. I’m one of you, he communicates early on, which I think is a wise move. This ought to help him reach out to the Falwellian old-guard who think any talk of saving the planet is a new age plot of west coast whale-kissers. He helps his cause by summoning a few big time Christian personas, living and dead–John Stott, Francis Schaeffer, Alister McGrath, Billy Graham, Charles Colson, Albert Mohler, et al. He peppers his prose with their creation-friendly quotes, and it lends some real muscle to his arguments.

Merritt spends the first few chapters on passages in Scripture that reference creation. He notes Genesis 2:15 when God–speaking of the garden–tells Adam to “work it and take care of it.” He then contrasts that with Genesis 1:28, “Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over ever living creature that moves on the ground.” He notes of the latter verse, “When this verse is overemphasized at the exclusion of the rest of Scripture, as it often was in the twentieth century, it can lead us to an imbalanced and human-centered ethic.” He then says, “I must understand both as one harmonious command from a consistent God.”

In regards to Genesis 1:28, Merritt goes on to explain how “rule over” from Hebrew was consistent with the power of kings to rule over their subjects–a “monarch-like role.” But, he says, historically God would punish Israelite rulers when they got greedy or abused their power. He talks about man as “benevolent monarch” over the environment. I have to agree with Merritt when he says we should “understand dominion as stewardship of God’s handiwork rather than man-centered domination.”

In chapter 7, “Skeptics, Cynics, and NYT Bestsellers,” Merritt provides the most compelling dialogue in the book. He tells of a conversation he had with his agnostic friend, Don. Don is speaking of the hypocrisy of the church in their indifference towards the environment. Don then asks, “Wouldn’t that be like destroying the playhouse your dad built for you?” Hmmm…what a thought. I imagined my dad in Texas in the early 80’s lovingly building a fort in the living room and then inviting me to come play. I stomp into the room, tear up his creation, and stomp out. That’s a pretty profound context.

Merritt tells another startling story when he cites a recent National Geographic article “Poor Haitians Resort to Eating Dirt.” Merritt goes on to explain, “Charlene Dumas is a typical 16-year-old pregnant woman living in Cite’ Soleil, Haiti, who is so desperately hungry that she has resorted to eating cakes made of vegetable shortening and dirt.” (Note: I’ve been to Haiti and it truly is an environmental disaster. Haiti shares an island with the Dominican Republic. I drove and flew across both countries and the difference is dramatic as the green lush DR landscape turns into a dusty brown Haitian one. Most experts attribute this change to hundreds of years of soil erosion from French and Haitian land abuse.)

There are a few points in Merritt’s book that I take exception with. At one point he attributes some environmental issues to “greedy developers looking to make a buck.” I’ve always had a problem with environmentalists demonizing businessmen, judging them as “greedy” when they’re probably just trying to grow their business. Capitalism is the signature of progress, and while I agree there has to be checks and balances, it works.

Merritt also walks a tenuous line when he mentions swelling populations. He hints at the problems that may cause, but he doesn’t really decry it. So it’s tough to tell where he stands here.

One of the things I respect most about this book is that Merritt never swings the green hammer. He never condemns the Christian community for its apathy towards the environment. In fact he admits several times that he doesn’t have this issue completely figured out, and that if you inspected his life you would find some eco-hypocrisy. He never provides a checklist of do’s and dont’s “because it would fill one of the most unholy longings inside us all: the hunger for rules.” I absolutely love that grace-based approach to this issue, but also to all of life.

There are some whose humanistic ideology forces them to pursue environmental protection with religious fervor. After all, if there is no heaven or hell, and this is all we get, then we better preserve it! There are others–many Christians–who also have a man-centered ideology that puts our economic progress above all else. But I have to agree with Merritt in that there is another path for believers where creation is valued, because ultimately God created it for his glory and not our own.

Do yourself a favor and go pick up a copy of Green Like God. Highly recommended!