The Christian Naturalist Initiative is a project designed to help Christians remember and practice our original vocation.
At this point everyone says Yes! The Great Commission! Well…. not exactly. There was an arguably much bigger assignment from God long before that one came along.
Lets start with some definitions and explanations shall we?
What is a Nature?
Nature refers to the physical world—including plants, animals, landscapes, and forces (weather, geology)—that exists independently of human creation. It also defines the inherent character, essence, or “nature” of a person or thing.
What is a Naturalist?
A Naturalist is a person who studies the natural world. Naturalists make observations of the natural word and how it works.
why christians?
Naturalist is the original vocation of human kind. We were made for this very purpose.
Genesis, The very fist book of the Christian Bible clarifys three inportant points in relation to this.
#1 All of nature is Gods creation.
#2 Mankind is Gods creation.
#3 Mankind was created for and charged by God with knowing and ruling over all of his creation.
(On a side note it tell that us God was very pleased with the natural world that he created. So it has to be really awesome!)
Genesis Chapter I
26: Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27: So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.28: God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”