The Interfaith Council for Environmental Stewardship (ICES)

Philippians 2:10-11

"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in the earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

The Interfaith Council for Environmental Stewardship (ICES), amounts to a "green" Evangelicals and Catholics Together document, with many involved already having signed the ECT or ECT II or other ecumenical ventures.  Their Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship, signed by Evangelicals, Catholics and Jews, is an environmental statement of faith uniting these same groups in yet another avenue.  

The  Cornwall Declaration states: "...At the same time, many are concerned that liberty, science, and technology are more a threat to the environment than a blessing to humanity and nature. Out of shared reverence for God and His creation and love for our neighbors, we Jews, Catholics, and Protestants, speaking for ourselves and not officially on behalf of our respective communities, joined by others of good will, and committed to justice and compassion, unite in this declaration of our common concerns, beliefs, and aspirations."

"...Human understanding and control of natural processes empower people not only to improve the human condition but also to do great harm to each other, to the earth, and to other creatures. As concerns about the environment have grown in recent decades, the moral necessity of ecological stewardship has become increasingly clear. At the same time, however, certain misconceptions about nature and science, coupled with erroneous theological and anthropological positions, impede the advancement of a sound environmental ethic. In the midst of controversy over such matters, it is critically important to remember that while passion may energize environmental activism, it is reason -- including sound theology and sound science–that must guide the decision-making process. We identify three areas of common misunderstanding:" 1 

Showing the ecumenical basis for their belief's, under the section "Our Belief's ~"Our common Judeo-Christian heritage teaches that the following theological and anthropological principles are the foundation of environmental stewardship: "

1. God, the Creator of all things, rules over all and deserves our worship and adoration.
2.The earth, and with it all the cosmos, reveals its Creator's wisdom and is sustained and governed by His power and loving kindness.
3.Men and women were created in the image of God, given a privileged place among creatures, and commanded to exercise stewardship over the earth. Human persons are moral agents for whom freedom is an essential condition of responsible action. Sound environmental stewardship must attend both to the demands of human well being and to a divine call for human beings to exercise caring dominion over the earth. It affirms that human well being and the integrity of creation are not only compatible but also dynamically interdependent realities. 
4.God's Law–summarized in the Decalogue and the two Great Commandments (to love God and neighbor), which are written on the human heart, thus revealing His own righteous character to the human person–represents God's design for shalom, or peace, and is the supreme rule of all conduct, for which personal or social prejudices must not be substituted.
5.By disobeying God's Law, humankind brought on itself moral and physical corruption as well as divine condemnation in the form of a curse on the earth. Since the fall into sin people have often ignored their Creator, harmed their neighbors, and defiled the good creation.
6.God in His mercy has not abandoned sinful people or the created order but has acted throughout history to restore men and women to fellowship with Him and through their stewardship to enhance the beauty and fertility of the earth.
7.Human beings are called to be fruitful, to bring forth good things from the earth, to join with God in making provision for our temporal well being, and to enhance the beauty and fruitfulness of the rest of the earth. Our call to fruitfulness, therefore, is not contrary to but mutually complementary with our call to steward God's gifts. This call implies a serious commitment to fostering the intellectual, moral, and religious habits and practices needed for free economies and genuine care for the environment

Where is the need and truth of Jesus Christ in all of this?? Even New Ager's speak of God, Creator or Supreme Being. God's "Law" is now brought down to two acceptable, non-offensive points, with elimination of the truth in the New Testament. 

What religious habits and practices are acceptable to non-Christians? Man's "need" and sin  is declared to be found in the palatable statement of  having ignored "their Creator" and defiling "the good creation."  Reason, science and good stewardship are now the answer.   Point 7 can become a way to implement eugenics and selection--only the 'best' can 'breed' or those that are fostered under this system. 

This Declaration and ICES is simply a dumbed-down for Christian's version of the UN's Earth Charter. How can any Christian accept this knowing that to do so is to deny  Jesus Christ and the truth of the Gospel before men??

Luke 12:8-9 "Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God."

The goals of the ICES include the following:

"....we declare the following principled aspirations:

1.We aspire to a world in which human beings care wisely and humbly for all creatures, first and foremost for their fellow human beings, recognizing their proper place in the created order.
2.We aspire to a world in which objective moral principles–not personal prejudices–guide moral action.
3.We aspire to a world in which right reason (including sound theology and the careful use of scientific methods) guides the stewardship of human and ecological relationships.
4.We aspire to a world in which liberty as a condition of moral action is preferred over government-initiated management of the environment as a means to common goals.
5.We aspire to a world in which the relationships between stewardship and private property are fully appreciated, allowing people's natural incentive to care for their own property to reduce the need for collective ownership and control of resources and enterprises, and in which collective action, when deemed necessary, takes place at the most local level possible.
6.We aspire to a world in which widespread economic freedom–which is integral to private, market economies–makes sound ecological stewardship available to ever greater numbers.
7.We aspire to a world in which advancements in agriculture, industry, and commerce not only minimize pollution and transform most waste products into efficiently used resources but also improve the material conditions of life for people everywhere." 2 

The ramification of their goals is easily seen. The control of all will be bound on these agreed parameters with the guiding principles being "two" commandments. "Objective moral principles" will of necessity exclude true Believers in Jesus Christ, because the very basis of Christian belief declares an inability to conform to the world standards of morals and their acceptable religious beliefs. 

"Reason," "sound theology" and "careful use of science" are so wide open in interpretation as to beg the question: what "reason" went into this unity, and what Scripture can uphold it? 

Paul warned Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:20-21 "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen."

Failure to become green conscious will easily be viewed as being 'non-Christian', non-loving and non-friend to the earth--which God gave us stewardship over. It can then be concluded that we must not be of God or obedient to God, since we ignore these groups. Many in the environmental movement are earth worshippers, pantheists and New Age. 

Romans 1:22-23, 25

"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things....”

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen."

Signers of the Declaration include many listed in our series about the One-World Religion, particularly in "EJECT: Ecumenical Jews, Evangelicals & Catholics Together" , and  Evangelicals and Catholics Together. 

Notable supporters of the ICES and signers of the Cornwall Declaration include: 

Dr. William Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ) [CNP]; Dr. Charles Colson (Prison Fellowship); Dr. James Dobson (Focus on the Family)[CNP]; Rev. Dr. D. James Kennedy  (Coral Ridge Ministries) [CNP]; Diane Knippers (Institute for Religion and Democracy); Dr. Richard Land (Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention); Rabbi Daniel Lapin (Toward Tradition); Joseph A. Morris (Midwest Region B'nai B'rith); Father Richard Neuhaus (Institute on Religion and public Life); and Father Robert Sirico  (Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty)  Howard A. Ball, National Director, ChurchLIFE; David A. Noebel, President, Summit Ministries; Rev. Donald E. Wildmon, President, American Family Association; Dr. Peter Huber, J.D, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute See: CNP Joint Projects K-Z; Dr. Henry I. Miller, Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University See: CNP Joint Projects E-J, and many more Evangelicals, Catholics and Jews.  3

Going to the page, "More Signers" includes an astonishing list of names, including more CNP members or associates like Paul Weyrich, as well as representatives from every faith. Catholic, AOG, Evangelicals, Methodist, Seventh Day Adventist, Jewish, and so on. Some that are affiliated with the CNP or merely more examples of the ecumenical nature of the Organization Include 4:  

Michael B. Barkey, Policy Analyst;  Dr. Todd Flanders, Director of Programs, Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty. See: Father Robert Sirico; CNP Joint Projects A-D

Michel Therrien, ... Program Office, Acton Institute

Samuel Casey Carter, ... Bradley Fellow at the Heritage Foundation  See: CNP Joint Projects E-J

Kristian Dahl, J.D., Staff Attorney, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation See: CNP Joint Projects K-Z;  Stephen Goodrick, Timothy McConville, Gaylord K. Swim, James "Jim" B. Taylor

Leonard Liggio, Ph.D., Professor, George Mason University, Executive Vice-President, Atlas Economic Research Foundation See: George Mason University ~ Kevin Gentry & Ann Gentry, Hon. Edwin Meese III,  James C. Miller III; 

Robert N. Mottice, Executive Director, Mercatus Center, George Mason University >See: Kevin Gentry  

Paul Driessen, Senior Fellow, Atlas Economic Research Foundation

Father Michael Scanlan, President, Franciscan University of Steubenville
Michael Welker, ... assistant professor of economics, Franciscan University of Stuebenville

Dr. James B. Shelton, Professor of Theology and New Testament, Oral Roberts University

Scott Gibson, D. Phil., Assistant Dean, Associate Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary See: Harold Ockenga;  George Eldon Ladd;  Rockefeller: Skeletons In the Closet; CNP's John G. Talcott Jr., Paul Maurer

David N. Friedman, Toward Tradition, Washington, D.C. office See Below > Rabbi Lapin

Dr. Kenneth R. Weinstein, Director, Washington Office, Hudson Institute  See: CNP Joint Projects E-J

Dr. Amy Sherman, Senior Fellow, Welfare Policy Center, Hudson Institute, ... See: CNP's Howard Ahmanson, Jr.

Steve M. Antosh, J.D., President, Free Enterprise Institute  See: CNP Joint Projects E-J; Dr. Larry P. Arnn 

Doug Bandow, J.D., Senior Fellow, Cato Institute See: CNP Joint Projects A -D 

Dr. Rick Geddes, National Fellow, Hoover Institution  See: CNP Joint Projects E-J

Dr. Jay Grimstead, Director, Coalition on Revival See: Jay Grimstead; CNP Joint Projects A -D 

Berit Kjos, Christian Author See: More Ecumenical Comrades; The Prophecy Club & Elijah; Illuminated to Cosmic Consciousness

Tom Minnery, Vice President for Public Policy, Focus on the Family >  See: CNP Joint Projects E-J;  Tom Minnery 

Paul Null, D.Min., Dayspring Fellowship

Gregory A. Porter, Campus Staff Member, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

Dr. Jay W. Richards, Program Director and Senior Fellow, Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture, Discovery Institute > See: George F. Gilder, Hon. Edwin Meese III

Dr. John G. West, associate professor of political science, Seattle Pacific University and Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute

David Ridenour, Vice President, The National Center for Public Policy > Hon. Donald Paul Hodel, Burton Yale Pines 

Herbert Schlossberg, Ph.D., Ethics and Public Policy Center >signed the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.; See: Howard Ahmanson, Jr., Dr. Ernest W. Lefever, John Lenczowski, LaNeil Wright Spivy,  Jon Basil Utley

Dr. Thomas G. West, Senior Fellow at the Claremont Institute and professor of politics at the University of Dallas See:  CNP Joint Projects A -D 

John McConnell, Director, Earth Trustees

Humberto M. Rasi, Ph.D., General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists

See: CNP's Joint Projects E-J, Interfaith Council for Environmental Stewardship (ICES) or signer of Cornwall Declaration

The Theological, Scientific, and Economic Resources on the Environment page includes ecumenical, New Age and environmental groups which Christians have no business with. 5  

Examples would, with expanded information and research, include:

The Nature Conservatory 6; one of the principal driving forces behind the Wildlands Project.  

The Thoreau Institute 7, named after one of the fathers of American pantheism; 

American Enterprise Institute > 

See:  William E. Simon, Olin Foundation, Castle Rock Foundation, Sarah Scaife Foundation, Bradley Foundation, Scaife Family Foundation, Alan Keyes, Lewis E. "Lew" Lehrman, James C. Miller III, William J. Olson

The AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies  scholars/advisory board 8 reads like a government list of Who's Who--from World Bank, Rockefeller associates,  to genetics and population control;   See : CNP Joint Projects A-D; CNP's Thomas F. Ellis; Dr. Ernest W. Lefever

Rocky Mountain Institute 9, co-founders Hunter and Amory Lovins~ Fellows of  Lindisfarne Institute, which is a new age think tank pushing earth worship; they work with author, Paul Hawken, father of the natural foods movement and alumnus of Findhorn, and all three are also found at the Natural Capitalism 10 website whose many clients include the UN.  

For Findhorn See: World Vision: Global Education; Jay Gary & The World Future Society; To Embrace Hebrew Roots:..Literal Kabbalah: Gematria & Numerology

The Center for Global Food Issues 11 --a project of  the Hudson Institute.   See: CNP Joint Projects E-J

First Things: A Journal of Religion and Public Life 12  "First Things is published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life, an interreligious, nonpartisan research and education institute whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society" 

Editor-in-Chief: Ecumenist  & Catholic--Richard John Neuhaus ~signed many of the consensus documents/ Williamsburg and Evangelicals & Catholics Together.

Discovery Institute is a Heritage Foundation Think Tank in WA state. 13  See: CNP Joint Projects A-D; CNP Joint Projects E-J; George F. Gilder, Hon. Edwin Meese III

Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty 15   ~ Father Robert Sirico ~ provides a list of links to "Christian environmental organizations" 16 that includes, Cathedral of St. John Divine 17 , the headquarters for the Episcopal Church, the Temple of Understanding and home for New Ager Madeline L'engle.    See: Renovaré and the Christian Mystic

Toward Tradition 14~ headed by Rabbi Daniel Lapin, an Orthodox Jew. As president of Toward Tradition, a national conservative think tank [with a nationwide network], he attempts to impact political leaders and the culture for conservative values. Lapin sits on the Advisory Board of Washington Institute Foundation [WA state], [Formerly WA Institute for Policy Studies] part of the Heritage Foundation's State Policy Network [Paul Weyrich]. Dick Derham [CNP, 1984] recently replaced the former president and radio talk show host [KVI 570, Seattle], John Carlson, who has recently announced his bid for Washington state Governor.  See: CNP Joint Projects E-J; Also: EJECCT: Part 1 Ecumenical Jews, Evangelicals, Charismatics & Catholics Together 

Rabbi Lapin is also on the Advisory Board of the Acton Institute with Heritage Foundation's President Edwin Feulner,  [CNP], Betsy DeVos [husband Rich DeVos  [CNP] and son Richard M. DeVos Jr.  [CNP] and  William E. Simon [CNP] of the John M. Olin Foundation [funder of Heritage Foundation]. 

"The Acton Institute's activities are governed by a Board of Directors. Each member of our board believes in the importance of the Acton Institute's work to promote the compatibility of faith and freedom." 18  

Lapin is frequently featured at Christian conferences, such as those held by the Christian Coalition [Pat Robertson [CNP]. . Ralph Reed [Christian Coalition] has said of Lapin, "Rabbi Lapin is a key leader and one of our most popular speakers." Lapin advertised on the radio [1997/'98] for a seminar he conducts called America's Biblical Blueprint. As he is warmly received and promoted in Christian circles, his appeal is in a large part to Christians. But Lapin is not a Christian. The Bible he teaches from would be limited to the Old Testament: mainly Genesis, Exodus and other books of the Torah. Lapin's message would be void of the revelation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Lapin's colleague and friend is Michael Medved ... a national radio talk show host based in Seattle. When he travels to Washington , D.C., which he does frequently, he broadcasts at his "home away from home" the Heritage Foundation [Paul Weyrich ~ CNP] ...Medved's, wife Diane, who is a psychologist, was a paid speaker at the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's 1996 Federation of World Peace Conference with Beverly LaHaye [CNP] Ralph Reed and Gary Bauer  [CNP].

AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies 19  See: CNP Joint Projects A-D

Reason Public Policy Institute  20 ~ Robert Poole is founder and president of the Reason Foundation and a nationally known expert on privatization and transportation policy. 

Robert Poole was CNP~ 1984. Reason Public Policy Institute is part of the Heritage Foundation State Think Tanks. See: The Reason Foundation, CNP Joint Projects K-Z

The Bible Gateway  21  "Gospel Communications International (GCI) is host and founder of the Gospel Communications Network (Gospelcom.net), a strategic alliance of online ministries." "...Dedicated by the Gospel Films board to the memory of Ed Prince [CNP], our late Board member, Gospelcom is an unprecedented alliance of over 200 national and international Christian ministry organizations Network...."  

"...The idea was presented to Gospel Films President Billy Zeoli, who quickly caught the vision and had the team present the plan to the Gospel Films Board of Directors. The Board, under the chairmanship of Richard M. DeVos [CNP], also saw the great potential for ministry in this new medium. Leading the charge for GCI Board support of the plan was then board secretary Edgar Prince * [CNP], "*Elsa Prince [CNP] is on Dobson's FOTF Advisory Board] See; CNP's Billy Zeoli. 22 

Institute on Religion and Democracy 23:  Diane Knippers runs the Institute on Religion and Democracy and is on the Executive Committee of the NAE. IRD was very involved in passage of Freedom from Religious Persecution. 

For Freedom from Religious Persecution > See: World Vision: A U.N. Global Vision; World Vision: Institute for Global Engagement & Eastern College; Freedom Versus Freedom; Renovaré and the Christian Mystic; CNP's Senator Don Nickles 

We're to be good stewards of what God provides for us, as well as good stewards of sound doctrine. God said very clearly that He will deal with those who destroy the earth. 

Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Christians have no business aligning with ecumenical and spiritual ventures such as ICES. This is no different than the ECT and other nonsense determined to unite true Christians with non-believers. We've been commanded about these very issues.

2 Cor 6:14-17 

"Be ye not  unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"

Footnotes

1. http://www.stewards.net/About.htm; http://www.stewards.net/CornwallDeclaration.htm
2. http://www.stewards.net/CornwallDeclaration.htm
3. http://www.stewards.net/Signers.htm
4. http://www.stewards.net/OtherSigners.txt
5. http://www.stewards.net/Resources.htm 
6. http://www.tnc.org
7. http://www.ti.org/
8. http://www.aei.brookings.org/about/advisory.htm
9. http://www.rmi.org/
10. http://www.naturalcapitalism.org/  
11. http://www.cgfi.com/whoare.htm 
12. http://www.firstthings.com/menus/about.html  
13. http://www.discovery.org/
14. http://www.towardtradition.org
15. http://www.acton.org/environment/index.html
16. http://www.acton.org/environment/theology/orgs.html
17. http://www.stjohndivine.org/
18. http://www.acton.org/institute/board.html
19. http://www.aei.brookings.org
20. http://www.rppi.org/aboutrppi.html; http://www.rppi.org/bios.html 
21. http://bible.gospelcom.net/ 
22. http://www.gospelcom.net/welcome/who-is-gospelcom/index.shtml#brief-history
23. http://www.ird-renew.org/

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