Sean Cleary is a Physics and Earth and Space Science teacher at KingsWay School, and also a new Board member of New Zealand Christians in Science. He spoke as part of the Auckland Winter Lecture series on Mātauranga Māori, science and God.
Climate Warming in the Light of an Ethic of Responsibility
Petrus has written a paper for the Catholic Lutheran Dialogue, outlining the reality of climate warming, biblical and theological responses, and concluding with a checklist expressing human responsibility.
Humans are animals. We can be in no doubt. Not only are humans animals but we bear the unmistakable fingerprint in our DNA of being related, by ancestry, to animals. So why did God allow us to develop as animals, as animals related by ancestry to other animals? And what did he intend by those other animals, especially ones that we would never eat or have a practical use for – the hyena, horse-flies, hummingbirds?
"As a Christian, I hold to the view that there is more to life than what we see in the physical realm. Truth is not confined to physical reality but reaches deep into the unseen from which we derive moral sensibility and a profound sense of place and meaning. And if indeed the physical universe is Created then the ultimate truth surely is to be found in the search for our Creator. We as humans build our lives around the as-yet unseen and it is only natural that we should reach out to the ultimate Unseen."
Eliala Fihaki recently moved with her family to Auckland. She works with Tearfund New Zealand as Senior Programme Specialist. Eliala is also doing a PhD through the University of the South Pacific. Silvia Purdie, interviewed Eliala as part of the book, 'Awhi Mai Awhi Atu: Women in Creation Care'.
