BWA World Congress Resolution 1970.3
We, the representatives of the Baptist World Alliance assembled in Tokyo in July, 1970, acknowledge that . . .
In this world we are called to be fellow workers with God in fulfilling his creative intention. The possibilities which he has placed in his creation wait upon us for their fulfillment. They provide an area in which we may exercise our God-given creative freedom and be truly God’s sons.
We acknowledge the sinfulness of our torn humanity. We have too often prostituted scientific knowledge to our own ends and used our technology to exploit the natural order for private and public greed.
We urge all men of good will to mend the ravages which we have inflicted and we are inflicting on our natural resources—air, water, plant life, and animal life. We would encourage all efforts, public and private, which are activated by such a concern.
We believe that God wills the blessing of good health for all his children and that all healing gifts come from God. We urge special attention to be given to the allocation of these healing gifts so that the world’s poor and forgotten people shall receive their just share.
We support all efforts which are rooted in the biblical concept of the sanctity of life and the integrity of human personality to limit the population of the earth.
We would, above all, urge our churches to place the gospel of Christ in the center, knowing that ultimately only in and through him and men’s acknowledgement of him, can the greed and selfishness of arrogant sinful man be dealt with effectively.
We would, however, declare our conviction that as Christians we are called upon to play our part not only in redeeming men but also in supporting all efforts to prevent the further destruction of our natural environment and to return nature to that balanced ecology that the Creator intended. We do this always with our eyes upon the ultimate consummation in Christ when God’s full purpose shall stand complete.
Citations
Original Source Bibliography: Bryant, Cyril E., editor. Reconciliation Through Christ: Official Report of the Twelfth Congress, Tokyo, Japan, July 12-18, 1970. Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1971.
Original Source Footnote/Endnote: Cyril E. Bryant, ed., Reconciliation Through Christ: Official Report of the Twelfth Congress, Tokyo, Japan, July 12-18, 1970 (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1971), pp. 252-253.
Online Document Full Citation: BWA World Congress Resolution 1970.3 Man’s Stewardship and Survival on This Earth; https://baptistworld.org/resolutions.
In-text Online Document Citation: (BWA World Congress 1970.3).