Apocalypse Then...
When I was about thirteen years old, my grandfather assured me that I would not get married or have children, because the Second Coming was imminent. Soon after this he published a pamphlet with the sobering title of Coming Solemn Certainties in which he outlined his prediction that 1961 would be the year of that Second Coming. 1961 came and went and my scepticism about Biblical prophecy was getting well established. However there was still plenty of Second Coming talk in the following decade with songs like Larry Norman’s I Wish We’d All Been Readyand the best seller The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lyndsey published in 1970 and predicting a likely end of the world in the 1980s. My scepticism strengthened. and I was certainly not on my own. My impression is that by the 1990s and the early years of the 21st century, fewer Christians were giving much attention to end of the world scenarios.
Apocalypse Now...
But while this kind of end times talk was in decline, another very different kind of conversation was gathering momentum around the growing concerns over the climate crisis. We are now all very familiar with such things as warnings about the prospects of global warming leading to rising sea levels with the loss of low lying islands and flooding of coastal cities, increasing forest fires and changing weather patterns, making it harder to know when to plant crops, the over use of chemical fertilisers leading to depleted soil, the increasing dangers of pandemics, mass migration, the prospect of more wars over scarce resources like water and so on.
On a personal level, I am a keen ornithologist and I am amazed at the great differences I have noticed since I began birdwatching in the 1970s. I will give two examples. Firstly, fifty years ago I would walk through Abernethy Forest near Loch Garten in Speyside and one of the commonest birds was the spotted flycatcher. In those days there was a great abundance of insects for flycatchers to feast on. If you are over 50, you may remember that if you made a long car journey in the summer, keeping the insects off the windscreen was often a challenge, but what has been called Insectageddon has led to a very different situation. I rarely clean insects off my windscreen now and on my visits to the Abernethy Forest in recent summers, I have not seen one flycatcher. Similarly, one of my favourite birds, the lapwing has declined rapidly. Often large flocks of lapwings and gulls would follow when a tractor was ploughing the land, whereas now, there may be a few gulls but very rarely any lapwings.
Until fairly recently, the majority of people who believe in the seriousness of the climate emergency, have thought that if we work hard at renewable sources of energy and reduce our dependence on oil, there will be reasonable prospects of averting a major crisis and ensuring a transition to a better future. However that situation is beginning to change. There are a growing number who believe that we may have passed the point of no return and that we should prepare for the possibility of the collapse of civilisation and perhaps even the extinction of the human species.
One of these is Jim Bendell who is professor of sustainability leadership and founder of the Institute for Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS) at the University of Cumbria. In 2018 he published a paper called Deep Adaptation which has been downloaded over a million times. In it, he contends that the indicators of the collapse of civilisation are already with us and that we are not seeing the kind of policy changes from governments or lifestyle changes from individuals that will significantly reduce climate change. In the light of the seriousness of the situation, Bendell calls for “a commitment to working together to do what’s helpful during the disruption and collapse of societies” and to adopt “an ethos of being engaged, open-hearted and open-minded about how to be and how to respond.” For more on this see https://www.resilience.org/stories/ 2021-07-09/jem-bendell-on-deep-adaptation-to-climate-chaos/
Comparisons
It is interesting to compare the end of the world scenario that I encountered in my youth with that which I am now encountering. The 1970s version was something very much presented by Christians for Christians or for the purposes of evangelism. It was something that did not touch mainstream culture. It was based on particular interpretations of Biblical prophecy. It is difficult to
assess the levels of anxiety or mental health issues which ensued, but amongst my acquaintances I cannot recall anyone mention this. Younger Christians were less likely to align themselves with end times prophecy than older Christians.
The present situation could hardly be more different. The predictions about our future are coming mostly from scientists. Convictions about the seriousness of the situation have very much entered the mainstream culture. Older people are more inclined to downplay the climate crisis while younger people are much more likely to follow the lead of people like Greta Thunberg and they are said to be the first generation who do not believe that they are likely to have a better life than their parents. Mental health issues related to this are on the increase. In the Winter/Spring 2022 RSPB magazine, 16 year old climate activist Indy Kiemel Greene writes:
“On World Mental Health Day, on Twitter and Instagram everyone was talking about eco-anxiety. It was interesting to read what people were doing to deal with it. Some are getting therapy; some go out in nature; some cry at home.”
Post-doom Perspectives
I am finding that it is very difficult to open up conversations about this issue. Not surprisingly, most people are concerned about how bad things are right now and do not want to hear anything that might suggest things could get any worse. However if there does seem to be a possibility that the collapse of culture as we know it has started and will probably accelerate during this century, surely we should not be living in denial, but rather making preparations about how we can navigate our way through this time in a meaningful way.
What has struck me about those who have taken up this position is that they are not doom merchants. While they fully face up to the seriousness of the human and planetary predicament, they urge people to be pro-active in every way. It is similar to the person who receives a terminal cancer diagnosis who goes through a grieving process, but then becomes focussed on what really matters and makes life meaningful. The term Post-doom has been used to describe their position. It’s not a phrase I find very appealing, but it is used to convey the sense of moving beyond the immediate crisis as this definition explains:
Post-doom definition
What opens up when we remember who we are, accept the inevitable, honour our grief, and
prioritise what is pro-future and nourishing.
A fierce and fearless reverence for life and relative equanimity even in the midst of abrupt
climate change, a global pandemic, and collapse of both the health of the biosphere and
business as usual.
Living meaningfully, compassionately and courageously no matter what.
John Halstead has commented that “what these “Post-Doomers” have in common is that they have passed through a kind of “dark night of the soul” with regard to climate change and environmental devastation generally, and they are now exploring the terrain on the other side of despair. It isn’t so much about recovering a lost hope, as it is figuring out how to live joyful and socially-responsible lives in light of impending collapse.” See https://anotherendoftheworld.org/what-is-post-doom/
It is noticeable that spirituality features quite prominently in these circles and Christians including Michael Dowd and Richard Rohr are very much making their contributions. Jim Bendell outlines four Rs to guide us towards appropriate adaptations to this situation all of which resonate strongly for Christians:
Resilience: what do we most value that we want to keep, and how?
Relinquishment: what do we need to let go of so as not to make matters worse?
Restoration: what could we bring back to help us with these difficult times?
Reconciliation: with what and whom shall we make peace as we awaken to our mutual
mortality?
Biblical Perspectives
As I come towards the end of these reflections, I would like to bring a specifically Biblical perspective to the debate. While I was not happy with the particular approaches to the Bible adopted by Hal Lyndsey and others in my youth, I believe scripture has much to say that is relevant to all this...
Firstly, the Bible is realistic about the collapse of civilisations. Whether it is describing events that have happened in the past like Noah’s Flood or is speaking about times to come, the rise and fall of civilisations is very much the norm. Chapters like Revelation 6-9 make uncomfortable reading with earthquakes, floods, fires, wars and pandemics and a third of the population dying, but as with today’s post-doomers, Revelation is full of encouragements to persevere and live well in times of tribulation. Post-doomers also talk about ‘long history’ in contrast to ‘short history’ where people are only thinking about the welfare of their own generation and perhaps the one to come, rather than taking the long view. That is certainly in line with Biblical perspectives on God’s purposes unfolding gradually down through the ages.
Secondly there is the hope and the promise of new heavens and a new earth. Looking through Isaiah 65:17-25, we get a tantalising glimpse of the preferred future we would love to see if humanity survives this crisis. It includes a renewed garden city, good housing, food security, meaningful work, a hopeful future for children and ecological harmony and reconciliation. This wonderful vision is reinforced as a glorious encouragement and conclusion to the Bible in Revelation 21. I can do no better here than quote Brian McLaren in his book We Make the Road by Walking (pages 256-257): “Here is a beautiful visionary scene that is as relevant today as it was in the first century. It doesn't picture us being evacuated from Earth to heaven as many assume. It pictures a new Jerusalem descending from heaven to Earth. This new city doesn't need a temple because God's presence is felt everywhere. It doesn't need sun or moon because the light of Christ illuminates it from within. Its gates are never shut, and it welcomes people from around the world to receive the treasures it offers and bring the treasures they can offer. From the centre of the city, from God’s throne, a river flows - a river of life or aliveness. Along its banks grows the Tree of Life. All this of course, evokes the original creation story and echoes God's own words in Revelation: ‘Behold I'm making all things new!’”
Thirdly, in Romans 8:19-22 we have the moving image of a groaning pregnant creation, going through the birth pangs before emerging into a new and glorious reality along with a renewed humanity. I grew up with the conception of the old earth being destroyed and then the new heavens and the new earth coming about instantly in some other place, but surely scriptures like this point to this present earth being renewed after a difficult labour.
None of us knows what lies ahead, but it does seem most likely that it will be a challenging time. We need to ask ourselves to what extent are we preparing ourselves and future generations to live well in the coming days? I cannot see much evidence of this either in schools or universities or in our churches. For some clues about ways we might move forward on this I would recommend the website of educator Nikolas Winter-Simat wintersimat.com He argues that we need to educate in such a way that it becomes clear that “our current human systems, based as they are on mechanistic and anthropocentric ways of thinking, are completely misaligned with the planet’s capacity to support life.” Education for the future needs “to prioritise whole human development within the context a highly interconnected more-than-human ‘living world’. A living world that bends towards relationships of collaboration, mutual benefit and emergent novelty.”
I have noticed that as I walk in the countryside these days I experience very mixed emotions. I feel a sadness when, for example, I find curlews are no longer nesting in the field where they have raised their chicks for many years. At that moment I can identify with the deep groaning spoken of in Romans 8:22, but it is not a groaning without hope. Recently on a January day I saw a small flock of fieldfares, the first I had seen all winter. I used to see large flocks from Scandinavia by October, but rather than feeling sadness, I experienced a sudden elation, remembering that, after the birth pangs, large flocks of fieldfares will surely fly in the renewed creation! While I will want to prepare my descendants to face un uncertain future with courage and resilience, it is this major theme of a confident hope in God’s promises that I want to pass on to them. I also hope that they can grasp a vision for an exciting future as active participants in God’s call to work towards the realisation of that new creation.
The above is a quote from a comment about Micah 6:8 in the Talmud.