LOVE - Has Restoring Eden misused a scripture in our mission statement?
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by Peter Illyn
Question: Your mission statement says that you “Speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves,” a quote from Proverbs 31:8 which seems to clearly be talking about humanity, not the land. Aren’t you taking this verse out of context by applying it to ecosystems and animals?
Answer: This is a good question that deserves a thoughtful answer. First off, you’re mostly right that Proverbs 31:8 seems to be concerned with humanity, and is not typically interpreted as being concerned with species and ecosystems. But I would like to defend Restoring Eden’s use of it in that way since it was an “epiphany verse” along my personal spiritual journey. There are also solid hermeneutical reasons why I believe advocating for the natural world is also an acceptable application of this verse.
First my story…. years ago I was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with my pack llamas. I was camping in the edge trees of a high mountain meadow. In the middle of the night I was woken by a herd of wild elk that came into the meadow to feed by the moonlight. I quietly climbed out of my tent and was standing in the moon-shadows, when I saw this huge bull elk raised his antlered head and let out an eerily rutting bellow. It was primal. It was awe-inspiring; the cry of a king of the forest. Now granted, I was already a backcountry aficionado or I wouldn’t have been walking in the wilderness with llamas, but that night I fell even more deeply in love with the wild realizing that it has a special place in the heart of God.
But two days of hiking later, I came out of the wilderness into one of the biggest forest clear-cuts I had ever seen. It was such a bleak, stark contrast to the protected wild glade where I encountered the bull elk. I realized that all these elk had left of their original habitat was a small strip of wilderness land to live on.
I sat down on a huge stump of a fir tree probably 500 years old before it had been logged. In the afternoon sunlight, I’d been reading a chapter of Proverbs every day. Lo and behold, that day I read the 31:8 which reads, “Speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.” I had read that verse many times before, but this time, reading it on that stump on the edge of the wilderness it became bigger than just advocating for humanity.
I sat there, broken in my spirit and cried out to God…. “Where’s your voice for creation? Who cry’s out for the trees? For the forest? Where was the voice for the salmon? For the spotted owl? For the elk?” I reread that verse over and over again – “Speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves” – and it became bigger than just speaking out for humanity alone. For me, it became a call to speak out for all of God’s creation. It was on that day and reading that verse that I became an environmental evangelist.
But a story doth not good theology make, so hermeneutically, I want to defend my more expansive interpretation of this verse.
One of the concepts of biblical interpretation (hermeneutics) is understanding the context and core principles in which we read specific Bible verses. But we also have to be aware of the danger of locking in a verse’s principles to the specific contexts they were written in so that they are forever neutered of wider application. Proverbs was written for future kings of Israel, but we still apply its wisdom today because that context does not limit its wider application to all of God’s people. Or consider all of the warnings against worshipping idols in the Old Testament. Pastors and teachers of the Bible today safely and responsibly apply the principles of such passages to today by warning us to guard our hearts against whatever we might place ahead of God and no one questions this contemporizing the application of the Bible’s principles regarding idolatry. I contend that Restoring Eden’s use of Proverbs 31:8 is similar.
In this specific instance in which the Bible is talking about the place of a voice for humanity, the overarching principle is answering the question, “What responsibility do those with power and influence, have toward those who have no power or have no influence?” And throughout scripture and throughout church history, we have examples of the answer, which is identifying with the “least of these,” because God loves them, too, and is fond of using the neglected and the beaten down in his creation for his larger purposes (1 Cor 1:26-29).
Herein is the paradox of Christianity, exemplified in the Servant-Kingship of Jesus, who left the perfect comfort of the Father’s presence to save his fallen creation. It’s this idea that those with power are called to serve those who are weak. We see it in Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, in his commands that speak of being other-minded. Matthew 24:45 further reveals that the role of the chief servant is to see that the rest of the master’s household has food at the proper time.
Time and again, the principle of Proverbs 31:8 is lived out by Jesus. The principle this scripture is talking about is a call to becoming a voice for the voiceless. Again, I agree that Proverbs 31:8 most clearly calls for speaking out for the voiceless of humanity. That is clear in its context!
But is that all it can mean? Does it preclude those principles of advocacy, justice, mercy and care for the rest of God’s household? I believe it does not, because of the biblical principle of community which show that there are moral duties that go with whatever God is in relationship with. Does God have a relationship with humanity? Yes, so we love people. Does God have a relationship with rest of creation? Absolutely. In fact, Psalm 145 says that God is loving towards all that he has made.
What, then, is our moral responsibility to creation? To love, serve, and protect it.
The biggest threats as I see it are economic utilitarianism. People are taking too much too fast and are pushing the last of the wild places and hundreds of species towards extinction. Should we not speak out for the salmon on the verge of extinction? Yes. Should we speak out for the forest ecosystems on the verge of extinction? Absolutely.
It’s not just about us and all about the money. God loves all of his creation, even the wild species and wild places that praise his name. But they have no immediate voice in the halls of government, in the marketplace, or among God’s people. This is why I believe God expects us, as his stewards to speak out.
We’re not taking Proverbs 31:8 out of context, but maybe we are giving it an expanded context. We’re saying to God’s people, “Let’s apply it to all situations of power and dominion where there is a voiceless.” What is the heart of God in that? For people who have power to speak out for the parts of his creation, human or not, that do not have such power.
Question: Your mission statement says that you “Speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves,” a quote from Proverbs 31:8 which seems to clearly be talking about humanity, not the land. Aren’t you taking this verse out of context by applying it to ecosystems and animals?
Answer: This is a good question that deserves a thoughtful answer. First off, you’re mostly right that Proverbs 31:8 seems to be concerned with humanity, and is not typically interpreted as being concerned with species and ecosystems. But I would like to defend Restoring Eden’s use of it in that way since it was an “epiphany verse” along my personal spiritual journey. There are also solid hermeneutical reasons why I believe advocating for the natural world is also an acceptable application of this verse.
First my story…. years ago I was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with my pack llamas. I was camping in the edge trees of a high mountain meadow. In the middle of the night I was woken by a herd of wild elk that came into the meadow to feed by the moonlight. I quietly climbed out of my tent and was standing in the moon-shadows, when I saw this huge bull elk raised his antlered head and let out an eerily rutting bellow. It was primal. It was awe-inspiring; the cry of a king of the forest. Now granted, I was already a backcountry aficionado or I wouldn’t have been walking in the wilderness with llamas, but that night I fell even more deeply in love with the wild realizing that it has a special place in the heart of God.
But two days of hiking later, I came out of the wilderness into one of the biggest forest clear-cuts I had ever seen. It was such a bleak, stark contrast to the protected wild glade where I encountered the bull elk. I realized that all these elk had left of their original habitat was a small strip of wilderness land to live on.
I sat down on a huge stump of a fir tree probably 500 years old before it had been logged. In the afternoon sunlight, I’d been reading a chapter of Proverbs every day. Lo and behold, that day I read the 31:8 which reads, “Speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.” I had read that verse many times before, but this time, reading it on that stump on the edge of the wilderness it became bigger than just advocating for humanity.
I sat there, broken in my spirit and cried out to God…. “Where’s your voice for creation? Who cry’s out for the trees? For the forest? Where was the voice for the salmon? For the spotted owl? For the elk?” I reread that verse over and over again – “Speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves” – and it became bigger than just speaking out for humanity alone. For me, it became a call to speak out for all of God’s creation. It was on that day and reading that verse that I became an environmental evangelist.
But a story doth not good theology make, so hermeneutically, I want to defend my more expansive interpretation of this verse.
One of the concepts of biblical interpretation (hermeneutics) is understanding the context and core principles in which we read specific Bible verses. But we also have to be aware of the danger of locking in a verse’s principles to the specific contexts they were written in so that they are forever neutered of wider application. Proverbs was written for future kings of Israel, but we still apply its wisdom today because that context does not limit its wider application to all of God’s people. Or consider all of the warnings against worshipping idols in the Old Testament. Pastors and teachers of the Bible today safely and responsibly apply the principles of such passages to today by warning us to guard our hearts against whatever we might place ahead of God and no one questions this contemporizing the application of the Bible’s principles regarding idolatry. I contend that Restoring Eden’s use of Proverbs 31:8 is similar.
In this specific instance in which the Bible is talking about the place of a voice for humanity, the overarching principle is answering the question, “What responsibility do those with power and influence, have toward those who have no power or have no influence?” And throughout scripture and throughout church history, we have examples of the answer, which is identifying with the “least of these,” because God loves them, too, and is fond of using the neglected and the beaten down in his creation for his larger purposes (1 Cor 1:26-29).
Herein is the paradox of Christianity, exemplified in the Servant-Kingship of Jesus, who left the perfect comfort of the Father’s presence to save his fallen creation. It’s this idea that those with power are called to serve those who are weak. We see it in Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, in his commands that speak of being other-minded. Matthew 24:45 further reveals that the role of the chief servant is to see that the rest of the master’s household has food at the proper time.
Time and again, the principle of Proverbs 31:8 is lived out by Jesus. The principle this scripture is talking about is a call to becoming a voice for the voiceless. Again, I agree that Proverbs 31:8 most clearly calls for speaking out for the voiceless of humanity. That is clear in its context!
But is that all it can mean? Does it preclude those principles of advocacy, justice, mercy and care for the rest of God’s household? I believe it does not, because of the biblical principle of community which show that there are moral duties that go with whatever God is in relationship with. Does God have a relationship with humanity? Yes, so we love people. Does God have a relationship with rest of creation? Absolutely. In fact, Psalm 145 says that God is loving towards all that he has made.
What, then, is our moral responsibility to creation? To love, serve, and protect it.
The biggest threats as I see it are economic utilitarianism. People are taking too much too fast and are pushing the last of the wild places and hundreds of species towards extinction. Should we not speak out for the salmon on the verge of extinction? Yes. Should we speak out for the forest ecosystems on the verge of extinction? Absolutely.
It’s not just about us and all about the money. God loves all of his creation, even the wild species and wild places that praise his name. But they have no immediate voice in the halls of government, in the marketplace, or among God’s people. This is why I believe God expects us, as his stewards to speak out.
We’re not taking Proverbs 31:8 out of context, but maybe we are giving it an expanded context. We’re saying to God’s people, “Let’s apply it to all situations of power and dominion where there is a voiceless.” What is the heart of God in that? For people who have power to speak out for the parts of his creation, human or not, that do not have such power.