Causes of climate change?

I've always been sceptical about the causes of climate change. My geography and geology A-levels taught me that the climate was warming and cooling in cycles long before the industrial revolution.

But perhaps I need to change my thinking.

Hosea 4:1b-3
There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land mourns [or 'dries up'] and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.

On the basis of these verses various reports from Christian organisations have concluded that the Bible says that our actions have disrupted nature and caused global warming.

But is this a careful enough reading of the text?

This passage is written, not about the whole world, or even all of God's people, but about Israel (not even Judah, cf v15) and the Promised Land, 'Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites' (v1). It is true that their sin was affecting their land, but this was a specific punishment from God for their persistent idolatry - they were saying, 'I will go after my lovers who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.' (1:5). They were attributing God's provision to idols ('lovers'). So God removes his provision from them - their land dried up, their fish died etc.

So this is not a general statement about the causes of global warming. It's a specific warning for a specific sin at a specific time. Of course there may well be principles here that we must take to heart, but these must be discerned by reading the OT passage in the light of the coming of Jesus and the NT.

The NT equivalent of Israel is the Church, not the whole world. So we must ask, 'Is the church demonstrating faithlessness and lack of love? Is it failing to acknowledge God as the sustainer & provider of all we need?' If so, the NT warnings for us would include 1 Corinthians 6, Galatians 5, Hebrews 2 and James 2 - warnings that unfaithfulness, lack of love and disregard of God among those who appear and claim to be his people, will lead, not to a damaged and fruitless land, but to exclusion from the kingdom of God and eternity in a place of death, drought and disaster.

And as for my views on global warming? Well, I'll keep on looking & listening for the evidence.