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This quasi-religious movement, with its dogma, evangelism, prophets, sins, and heretics, is the outworking of the blindness Paul describes in Romans 1:25, whereby the people “exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.”
In recent years, the climate change discourse has moved beyond anything that sounds like a simple scientific debate, morphing into rhetoric that resembles religious fervor far more than fact-based environmental concern.
And I’m not the only one who thinks this. Ken Hamm, the director of Answers in Genesis and the Ark Encounter, recently commented, “Climate change has become a big topic in Western countries. But I say it’s not just a topic; it’s actually a religion—a religion that worships the creation with man acting as god. The climate change cultists have rejected the God of creation and His Word (the Bible).”
Pastor and conservative commentator Darrell B. Harrison has also pointed out:
“Climate change is a religion. And like every religion, it has a theology (doctrine of god) [Gaia/“Mother Earth”], a hamartiology (doctrine of sin) [use of fossil fuels], and a soteriology (doctrine of salvation) [population reduction]. It also has its evangelists, people who proselytize a “gospel” that is grounded in fear, ignorance, and intolerance of those who refuse to acquiesce to their pagan worldview.”
Hamm and Harrison are right — climate change has become a new religion. This transformation has given rise to what might be called “The Gospel of Global Warming,” a doctrine where belief in radical climate change agendas has adopted the trappings of a fanatical cult.
Let’s consider some of the elements of the (false) gospel of global warming.
Like any religion, the climate change movement has its dogma, which is “a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true.” In Christian terms, the climate change movement has developed what we could call its own theological doctrine.
Central to their dogma is the ironclad belief in an impending apocalypse, a catastrophic end brought about by humanity’s sins against nature, primarily through carbon emissions and “overpopulation.” This narrative mirrors the eschatological aspects of many religions, including Christianity, where the end times are brought about by human misconduct.
However, where Christianity teaches about God appointing a time when Jesus Christ will return to judge the world in righteousness, the climate religion holds out an “end times” of rising sea levels, devastating storms, and mass extinctions.
The prophets of this new religion are relatively easy to find. Scientists, activists, and certain politicians have taken on the role, predicting doom with a certainty that often eschews the nuanced uncertainty inherent in scientific inquiry.
Their “inspired scriptures” are the reports of corrupted bodies like the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The activists and scientists interpret their data with the same enthusiasm as sacred texts. No matter how often their findings are disproven, they treat these reports as inerrant, inspired, “holy” scripture. And every weather anomaly or natural disaster (such as commonly occurring hurricanes, fires, floods, and blizzards) is cited as evidence of their prophecies coming true.
In this religion, the original sin is using fossil fuels and carbon emissions. Humanity’s penance involves carbon offsets, renewable energy investments, and lifestyle changes preached with moralistic zeal (though the loudest advocates against these “sins” all seem to fly on private jets. Odd).
Here, atonement isn’t found through believing in Jesus Christ’s work on the cross, His perfect blood shed for our sins, or in prayer or good deeds as other religions might teach but by “going green” and reducing one’s carbon footprint.
The spread of this global warming gospel relies heavily on what looks almost exactly like Christian evangelism. Campaigns to “save the planet” often employ tactics reminiscent of religious revival meetings, seeking converts with emotional appeals and the promise of salvation from the climate apocalypse.
Schools, media, and public campaigns serve as missionaries, spreading the “good word” of saving the glaciers and the importance of depopulation.
Every religion has its heretics, and in the climate change religion, these are the so-called “climate deniers.” Just as heretics in religious history were ostracized or worse, individuals questioning the mainstream climate narrative face professional repercussions and public shaming and are often labeled as anti-science despite the debate within scientific communities being far from settled.
The “Gospel of Global Warming” has indeed become a quasi-religious movement for many, complete with its dogma, evangelism, prophets, sins, and heretics. For some, the intention behind addressing what they call “climate change” is rooted in a genuine concern for the planet’s future. But for the vast majority of the “leading lights” on this issue, it’s little more than a power play wrapped in the garb of environmental Marxism. As such, the approach has taken on deeply zealous overtones that obscure the scientific nuances of the debate and foster an environment where belief trumps genuine inquiry and the pursuit of truth.
And it is indeed a false gospel. It is the outworking of the blindness Paul denounces in Romans 1:25, the people who “exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”
The new cult of climate change demands that its adherents worship the creation instead of the Creator. It offers a fake account of sin, Scripture, salvation, and the end times.
On the other hand, Christianity tells us the truth — and not just about this world but about us. It speaks of sin against a Holy Creator God, not the inanimate atmosphere. It warns of the real judgment that awaits every soul when Christ returns, not the “vengeance” of angry “Mother Earth.” And it offers a real message of salvation in the cross, not the penance of purchasing carbon credits for driving your car.
Once you realize that climate change is functioning as a new religion, you can spot and reject the false gospel of global warming.
Embrace the true Gospel of our Creator God instead, who promised us that “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Genesis 8:22).
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