What Do World Religions Say About Environmental Stewardship?

The principle of stewardship appears in the sacred texts of most of the world’s religions. Sometimes that stewardship is described in terms of our duty toward other humans. Sometimes it appears in the context of taking care of other forms of life that dwell on the earth. And, at other times, sacred scripture speaks of stewardship for the planet.

Regardless, our modern English word “stewardship” evolved from a 15th century Old English term (stigweard), and carries the original meaning of one who is a “guardian” or protector of a house, person, or thing. Thus, regardless of what we are “stewards” over (or, better put, “for”), the concept of stewardship means to protect that thing—even if that “protection” requires a measure of sacrifice on our part.

Because there are so many religions whose holy books teach some form of environmentalism, it would be impossible to offer a thorough treatment of all the relevant verses here. However, we will survey some of the most significant teachings on this topic and highlight the implication of those for practitioners of the various faith traditions.

Buddhism

While Buddhists don’t typically use the term “scripture” for their most sacred texts, and while their equivalent of “canonical” books are not centralized like the scriptures of the Abrahamic faiths, nonetheless, Buddhism does have a position on the environment; and that “position” is (at least partially) textually based.

One of the best known of Pali Buddhist texts is the Dhammapada, which is a collection of core Buddhist teachings written in stanzas. The 129th stanza of this text states, “All tremble at violence; all fear death… One should not kill.” This passage, while having specific application to violence committed against other humans, nevertheless, speaks generically of how doing “violence” or causing “death” is wrong, whether those acts of “killing” are against a human, an animal, or this earth.

Thus, the famous Lotus Sutra speaks of the “world-protectors” and it emphasizes the interconnectedness and sacred nature of all living things, not just human or animal life. Buddhism has always taught the need to be compassionate toward all forms of life. In the Jataka Tales—which are a compilation of stories about the Buddha’s past lives—Sidhartha Gautama is depicted as living in harmony with nature and the planet. That same environmental spirit is alive and well in most of Buddhism today.

The Christian canon (which includes the books of the Tanak, or Jewish Hebrew Bible) contains many references that encourage an environmental spirit. For example, God says that Adam and Eve were to “subdue” the earth and have “dominion” over everything in it (Gen. 1:28). However, in giving them that privilege, He also commanded them to “take care” of it or “serve” it, as the Hebrew implies. (Gen. 2:15).

In the Book of Deuteronomy, YHWY tells His people (who are at war), if they capture a city, “do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?” (20:19) Essentially, the God of the Israelites tells believers, The people of that nation may be your enemies, but the trees will feed you and take care of you (unlike the armies of your opponents). YHWH is highlighting the fact that He commanded Adam to “serve” the earth, but here He says the earth—if you don’t destroy it—will take care of you. Even the Apostle Paul’s seemingly passing comment, that “everything God made” (EXB Romans 8:19) longs for redemption and “groans” or “feels,” suggests that this earth is a living creation of the divine. (See V:19-22)

In his commentary on the Book of Romans, New Testament Scholar Douglas Moo explained, “passages such as Romans 8:19-22 should lead believers to be environmentalists… Paul reveals that God is…concerned about the entire world he has made. Simply understood, this leads to environmentalism.”

Hinduism

In ways that might be foreign to the Abrahamic faiths, Hindus generally see more connectivity between the various forms of life—largely because they typically believe that each of us have at some point lived as humans, animals, insects, and even as plant life. Thus, a reverence and respect for the environment is simply the equivalent of reverencing the “universal soul” or “world soul”—of which we are all a part.

In traditional Hindu thought, to see yourself as distinct from other forms of life (including the earth) is to believe an illusion, a falsehood. In the sacred Hindu Upanishads, it states that “All this—whatever exists in this changing universe—is pervaded by the Lord.” Thus, the passage says, we should not “covet” the earth’s goods but should “renounce” the cravings which cause us to be possessive or greedy, and which ultimately lead to the abuse of the planet’s resources. (See Isah Upanishad V:1) The doctrine of ahimsa (or “non-violence”) so prevalent in the various dharmic religions teaches that violence toward anything (including the planet) is wrong and necessarily must be avoided.

Indigenous Peoples

Like Hindus, most Indigenous Peoples typically believe that there is a reciprocal relationship between humans and the planet. They also hold that God is most accessible in and through nature. Thus, while the Indigenous don’t typically point to a written textual tradition, oral traditions among the various tribes consistently speak of the sacred nature of the planet and the chaos or disharmony (hocho in Navajo) that ensues when humans abuse the planet or live without “natural cooperation” with all forms of created life. Thus, many of the rites of First Nations people are geared toward restoring that balance that has been lost through selfishness or abuse of the planet’s resources.

Islam

While Muslims are not nearly as supernatural or mystical in their approach to these matters as are Hindus or Indigenous Peoples, nonetheless, the Qur’an is quite pointed about how Allah feels regarding such things. For example, Muslims are counseled to “waste not by excess” what the earth produces, “for Allah loveth not the wasters” of the earth’s resources. (Sūrha 6:141; see also 7:31, Abdullah Yusuf Ali Translation) Similarly, Allah invites humans to “eat and drink of the sustenance provided by Allah” but “do no evil nor mischief on the face of the earth” by abusing it. (Sūrha 2:60).

Importantly, the 50th Sūrha speaks of the “balance” which God has set within His creations. He commands humans to not “transgress” that “balance”—which exists for the benefit of all that He has made. While these are only a few of the many Islamic scriptural passages that speak in environmental terms, the Qur’an is replete with similar statements, suggesting that we must be khulafā’ (or stewards) of the earth and all things upon its face.

Jainism

Arising out of the dharmic tradition of Hinduism, Jainism likewise sees the earth and all life upon the face thereon as sacred. Thus, one important Jain sutra declares that if one tries “digging up and cutting…living bulbs, roots, rind, or spouts” in order to create a remedy for sickness, he should remember that “all sorts of living beings experience sensation.” In other words, there is life and sensation even in the earth and the plants which grow in its soil—because they too are alive. (Akaranga Sutra, Second Part, Lecture 14.) For Jains, our stewardship over the earth is less akin to what one would find in the Hebrew Bible (i.e., that God has given us the earth as a gift and we need to reverence that gift), and more based in the belief that we are to live a cooperative co-existence with all life, because injury to one is injury to all. In Jainism, ahimsa (or “non-violence”) should be manifest toward the environment just as much as it is in the treatment of human beings.

Shinto

Shinto is not a text-based tradition—at least not in the sense of having “scripture.” That being said, its two most important volumes are the Kojiki (or “Records of Ancient Matters”) and Nihongi (or “Chronicles of Japan”). From these two texts, practitioners of this ancient faith draw their mythology and many of their foundational beliefs.

One of the primary teachings of Shinto, which impacts their views of the environment, is the belief that there are spirits or kami dwelling throughout nature, in mountains, trees, rivers, and even the rocks. The wind, the rain, and just about anything one might associate with nature, has a kami (or spirit) dwelling in it. Thus, Shinto places heavy emphasis on keeping the kami happy or appeased, and part of that is the belief that practitioners have a strict obligation to watch over their environment, keeping it clean, ordered, and blessed through the commemoration of matsuri (or festivals), the making of offerings to the kami, and through ritual washings.

Though kami are not solely present in nature, they are more prevalent there. Accordingly, Shinto shrines are typically built (where possible) in locations where they can be completely surrounded by nature and, in an ideal situation, they are constructed of all natural materials—thereby enhancing the presence of these divine spirits in the shrine and in the life of the worshipper who visits it. Thus, for practitioners of Shinto, environmentalism is crucial because, to not be environmentally conscious is to offend the gods or spirits; and that can bring disaster upon the nation, the community, the family, or the individual.

Sikhism

Sikh tradition might be the least environmentally focused of any of the religions we’ve discussed so far. However, it does still offer a measure of scriptural precedent for reverencing the earth. As an example, in their sacred book, the Guru Granth Sahib, we are reminded that “the great earth [is] the mother.” (Japu One Slōk) From Her flows all that we need, and she is essential to spiritual life. Indeed, the Grath goes on to say that this entire “world is an enclosed garden-bed” with the “Lord the gardener.” (Māĵh; Mahala 3:5)

Therefore, while Sikhism doesn’t put heavy emphasis on environmental issues, their sense of the divine side of the planet, and how God uses the earth to sustain and bless us, can serve as an invitation to every faithful Sikh to be grateful for the earth, and to do all that they can to reverence it as their “Mother” and provider.

Conclusion

While there are other religious traditions with articulated beliefs about the environment, suffice it to say that what we have discussed establishes that there is a consistency across religious traditions on the importance of the environment. Believers in a Creator God can only reverence the handiwork of that divinity if they embrace a genuine concern for the earth and nature. These ancient textual mandates, indicating that we have a stewardship for the planet and its various resources, need not be interpreted or applied in divisive or politically charged ways.

Rather, the canonical books of many religions simply teach that the divine has given humans access to the earth and all that rests upon the face of the planet; but with that “access” comes an obligation to reverence and protect those same gifts given to us by God. Essentially, every major religion teaches that believers are obligated (by both scripture and the God who inspired those sacred books) to act as “guardians” or protectors of God’s creations and, at the beginning of that creative work, is always the environment.