What do we believe – and why?
Dear Friends,
I recently came across a satirical cartoon entitled ‘The Problem with Greta’, mocking those who dislike the way Greta Thunberg has persuaded so many to take climate change more seriously. Typical of much satire, it is both very funny in places and also very sharp in its observation. One scene in the cartoon caught my attention, where one of the characters is complaining that “she is causing the children needless anxiety! … They’re being brainwashed into this climate cult when they should be in church learning about real things like hell and Satan.”
It doesn’t take much to realise that what the satirist is saying is that the real thing is climate change, while those who believe in hell and Satan have been brainwashed. It made me think about why we believe what we believe. It is increasingly hard to deny the essential findings regarding climate change, which we know by scientific investigation. But why should that mean we need to deny the reality of hell and Satan, even if we know these truths by divine revelation?
And do we need to choose between the two kinds of knowledge and the two truths? Why should believing in climate change mean that we need to deny the reality of hell and Satan (or vice versa). The consequences of not believing in climate change, and not taking the appropriate action, are indeed serious. Dare I say that the consequences of not believing in hell and Satan, and not taking the appropriate action, are even more serious?
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)
20 October 2019