"Pollution and the Death of Man"

by Francis Schaeffer & Udo Middelmann, Crossways Books, Wheaton, IL, updated 1992.

This book was written in 1970 in response to articles by Lynn White, Jr. and Richard Means which had presented the opinion that the Christian worldview held by the West places man in dominion over nature and provided the basis for our abuse of nature.  As a solution to our environmental problems, they indicated the need to reshape our culture to the alternative worldview of Zen Buddhism, where both mankind and nature are of one "essence."   Schaeffer refutes that view as being pantheistic, reminding us of the inherent dignity of both man and the rest of creation; God, who is transcendent, rather than a part of nature; the concept that nature has been fundamentally altered by the Fall; and man as having the ability to chose actions that are morally right or wrong.  Schaeffer also chastises the Church, as neglecting its stewardship responsibility to create order in a fallen world.