Does Nature Speak?

A new video series from Conservation International personifies nature to educate people about the supposed danger of looming human extinction, but really it is an ardent promotion of nature worship.

Screenshot of natureisspeaking.org.

These short films, voiced by famous actors such as Harrison Ford and Julia Roberts, declare without compassion such things as,

I [the Ocean] am the source. I am what they crawled out of. Humans, they’re not different. I don’t owe them a thing . . . . It’s not their planet anyway. It never was. It never will be.

I’ve [Mother Nature] been here for over four and a half billion years . . . . Your future depends on me . . . I have fed species greater than you and I have starved species greater than you. My oceans. My soil. My flowing streams. My forests. They all can take you or leave you . . . Your actions will determine your fate . . . I’m prepared to evolve. Are you?

Each of these videos portrays humans as just another species on Earth (and latecomers at that). They emphasize that nature is what gave us life, and we are completely dependent upon it. These videos lift nature to the point of a god, and assign to it attributes that belong to the true Creator God alone—such as Creator, Life-giver, and Sustainer. But these are not attributes of nature—they are attributes of the God of the Bible (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 147:8–9; 1 Timothy 6:13)! It is not nature but Jesus Christ who “upholds all things by the Word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3).

Well, nature—the god worshipped in these videos—is certainly not portrayed in any way as a loving, caring, or compassionate god. Nature doesn’t care about humans as shown by the ending of each video, “Nature Doesn’t Need People.” This god is completely different from the loving God of the Bible who made humans lovingly in His own image (Genesis 1:27). Humans are not some species that simply evolved late on the planet. Humans were created at the beginning (Matthew 19:4) and they were created distinct from the animals (Genesis 1:27). We do not owe our life to the oceans or to Mother Nature as Conservation International would have us believe. We owe our life to our Creator Jesus Christ (Colossians 3:4).

Now, it’s certainly important that we be good stewards of what God has given us (Genesis 1:28, 2:15). But many people go from caring for the earth to making it a god. Romans 1 speaks of people who “worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). This is exactly what these videos are seeking to do—elevate nature to the level of deserving worship. In fact, these videos are prime examples of what God describes in Romans 1! But worshipping nature doesn’t do anything to help humanity. It degrades and devalues the preciousness of human life. Giving praise to our Creator who fashioned us in His image and who loved us so much that He gave His Son for our salvation (John 3:16) is the proper response!

Certainly, man was given dominion over the creation (Genesis 1:26), but that means looking after and using the creation for man’s good and for God’s glory.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.