Hello Mr. Hamilton,<\/p>\n
Is it a sin to hurt the earth? Are Christians supposed to take care of the earth and the environment?<\/p>\n\t
The difficulty in answering your question is that you are using terms that mean different things to different people.<\/p>\n
For example, it is wrong to hurt people, but doctors perform surgeries, which injure people, in order for the people to get better. What looks like harm in the short term is a benefit in the long term. In the same way, God has hurt the earth while punishing mankind, such as what happened with the Flood. God did not sin in doing so. The earth is a tool in God’s hands and one day it will wear out. “You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail<\/em>” (Hebrews 1:10-12).<\/p>\n Some people think any changes to the natural environment are harmful. Yes, mankind is to care for the earth. “You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen – even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas<\/em>” (Psalms 8:6-8).<\/em>\u00a0However, it is a mistake to think that nature operates best when left on its own. Good management of the resources makes the earth operate better.<\/p>\n The problem is that in the extreme, some put the earth and the environment as their gods. This is why you find people who think it is wrong to shoot an animal to protect human life. Animals are living creatures, but they were not made in the image of God as men were (Genesis 1:27). Man is not to do needless harm. “A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel<\/em>” (Proverbs 12:10). But between an animal and a human life, human life is a superior concern. “Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man<\/em>” (Genesis 9:5-6).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Hello Mr. Hamilton, Is it a sin to hurt the earth? Are Christians supposed to take care of the earth and the environment? Answer: The difficulty in answering your question is that you are using terms that mean different things to different people. For example, it is wrong to hurt people, but doctors perform…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1269],"class_list":["post-48266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-environmentalism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52134,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/couldnt-god-have-made-it-impossible-for-people-to-hurt-each-other\/","url_meta":{"origin":48266,"position":0},"title":"Couldn’t God have made it impossible for people to hurt each other?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: For the question of why God allows evil: Couldn't God have made it impossible to physically harm others? People are still able to go against God, but He could make it impossible for them to shoot, hurt, or do any other bad thing. Like how it's impossible for us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89624,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-need-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":48266,"position":1},"title":"Does God need us?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Someone asked me a question: \"If God needs us in heaven, why did He create us here on earth and not directly in heaven? Answer: Based on what passage does the person conclude that God\u00a0needs us? \"The God who made the world and all things in it, since He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5384,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-new-heavens-and-new-earth-been-already-made-or-will-it-be-created-in-the-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":48266,"position":2},"title":"Are the new heavens and new earth been already made or will it be created in the future?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are the new heavens and new earth been already made or will it be created in the future? Answer: This is a question that leaves me wondering whether an answer one way or another will make any difference in how you and I must live our lives on this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13431,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-new-heaven-and-new-earth-been-already-made-or-will-they-be-created-in-the-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":48266,"position":3},"title":"Are the new heaven and new earth been already made or will they be created in the future?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are the new heaven and new earth been already made or will they be created in the future? Answer: This is a question that leaves me wondering whether an answer one way or another will make any difference in how you and I must live our lives on this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50433,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-the-bible-say-we-will-live-on-earth-after-the-millennium\/","url_meta":{"origin":48266,"position":4},"title":"Doesn’t the Bible say we will live on earth after the millennium?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I read your article\u00a0about Jesus not ruling on a physical throne on earth\u00a0because the earth will perish. Well, the first earth will perish because at the end of the millennium Jesus will make a new one and the eternal city will come down from heaven to the earth.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25263,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-jesus-god-or-someone-god-sent-to-earth\/","url_meta":{"origin":48266,"position":5},"title":"Is Jesus God or someone God sent to earth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: So who exactly is Jesus Christ? Is he the God, or someone whom God had sent down to this earth? Answer: According to the Bible, the answer is both, which confuses a lot of people. Speaking of Jesus as \"the Word\" John said: \"In the beginning was the Word,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48266\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}