Faithful Stewards of God's Creation? [Elektronisk resurs] Swedish Evangelical Denominations and Climate Change

• Studies from the United States (U.S.) show that opposition to climate policy is strong among some Christian groups, especially White evangelical Protestants. Much of this opposition is channelled through organisations such as the Cornwall Alliance, which argue against climate measures on religious, economic and what they claim to be science-based grounds. In the present study, we investigated to what extent these convictions were present among Swedish evangelical denominations. Representatives from the Evangelical Free Church, the Pentecostal Alliance, the Swedish Alliance Mission, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church were interviewed to identify the denominations' views on the scientific underpinnings of climate change and the moral implications of climate policy. Our data show that the denominations' views differ markedly from those expressed by climate-oppositional evangelical groups in the U.S. The denominations held homogenous views on the legitimacy of climate science, expressed a clear biblical mandate for climate policy based on the notion of human stewardship, and believed that climate change was inextricably linked to poverty and, thus, had to be addressed. Our results point to the need for further studies on the factors behind acceptance and denial of climate science within and between faith-based and other communities in different countries. 

Ämnesord

Humanities and the Arts  (hsv)

Philosophy, Ethics and Religion  (hsv)

Religious Studies  (hsv)

Humaniora och konst  (hsv)

Filosofi, etik och religion  (hsv)

Religionsvetenskap  (hsv)

Natural Sciences  (hsv)

Earth and Related Environmental Sciences  (hsv)

Climate Research  (hsv)

Naturvetenskap  (hsv)

Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap  (hsv)

Klimatforskning  (hsv)

Genre

government publication  (marcgt)

Indexterm och SAB-rubrik

evangelical

climate change

environment

creation care

climate denial

Sweden

United States