You Will Know Them by Their Fruits: False Prophets at COP 29

And an Ecological Testimony: A Book Review of EcoActivist Testament by H. Paul Santmire

One of many species of hummingbirds at the Finca Alejandro Reserve near Cali, Colombia. This is a Booted Racket-Tail. Photo by Jessica Hetherington

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I’m still in the thick of digesting my experiences at COP 16; I’m preparing a sermon for this Sunday reflecting on COP 16 in light of Mark’s exhortation to his followers to “Beware that no one leads you astray.” And I’m still allowing my encounters with hummingbirds at a sanctuary near Cali to transform my heart.

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Yet even as I haven’t fully processed COP 16, I’m now following the proceedings at the climate COP 29 going on right now in Baku, Azerbaijan. I’m struck by the speed of the media around all of this, yet the glacial pace of action being taken on behalf of biodiversity protection and climate action.

I’m also noticing the continued hypocrisy of having the oil and gas industry at the table, never mind the dominance of their role at this and previous climate COPs. I’m reminded of this passage from the Gospel of Matthew:

¹⁵ ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will know them by their fruits. Matthew 7:15-20, NRSV

False prophets indeed. Did you hear about the undercover operation by the climate organization Global Witness which exposed the hypocrisy of the leadership of COP 29? Azerbaijan’s deputy energy minister Elnur Soltanov, the CEO of COP 29, was caught using his position at COP 29 to negotiate a fossil fuel deal for the country, in clear violation of the UN’s ethics policy for COP leaders, and in defiance of the climate crisis itself.

global_witness

A post shared by @global_witness

We will know them by their fruits; until the oil and gas industry is removed from the table of climate COPs, we will not achieve the transformation needed from oil and gas to renewable energy.

Delegates from the World Council of Churches Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development, the commission that I’m a part of, are at COP 29 now, and they are calling on developed nations to drastically reduce fossil fuel emissions, as well as increase their financing of communities that are being disproportionately impacted by the consequences of global heating. Let us pray for the WCC delegates who are in Baku right now, and also pray that world leaders heed the call of the WCC and others in making the transformative changes that are necessary now.

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Recent Publication

This month I published a historical overview of the field of ecotheology in Touchstone, a journal of “theology and heritage, published by a non-profit board consisting of lay and ordained members of the United Church of Canada.”¹ It is included in an edition that focuses on ecotheology. If you’re interested in reading that essay or in learning more about ecotheology, I encourage you to reach out to Touchstone to purchase a copy of the issue.

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Book Review of EcoActivist Testament by H. Paul Santmire

This book review was first published on my blog a few years ago. I have closed the blog and migrated its posts over to this newsletter. As we continue our work as people of faith taking climate action, this book might be helpful for some. Enjoy!

I first encountered the work of the Rev. Dr. H. Paul Santmire when I began my M.A. in Theology, 20 years ago. By then, Santmire had already been publishing academic books of ecotheology for 40 years, with his first book, Brother Earth: Nature, God, and Ecology in a Time of Crisis published in 1970. Santmire, thus, was an early ecotheologian in an emerging discipline.

In my doctoral dissertation, I describe Santmire’s theology as revisionist, meaning that he works within classical Christian thought and texts to offer more nuanced ways to interpret God, nature, and humanity to better respond to the ecological crisis. In Brother Earth¸ he suggests different ways of understanding the role of humans, including “overlord, caretaker and wondering onlooker.”²

My own ecotheology goes in a different direction, exploring how human experience, and the wisdom from natural sciences and cosmology, can inform and transform the Christian tradition to be more responsive in our unprecedented time. It has been a while, then, since I have read or worked with Santmire’s ideas. When the opportunity arose to read his latest book, and by his own admission, likely his last, I looked forward to learning from him again.

EcoActivist Testament is a very different book from the ones I read before; this one is not an academic text. It is deliberate in not containing any footnotes or a bibliography. Instead, Santmire wants to have a conversation with those who, like him, are Christians concerned about and committed to responding to the ecological crisis and seeking to make healing change in the world.

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