I pointed to the Cornwall Alliance’s superb work a year ago on Earth day. This fine consortium is still doing excellent work, which was on full display at their conference in Memphis, Tennessee, this past weekend.
Cal Beisner is the founder and President of this organization, whose mission is stated as: “The Cornwall Alliance is a network of evangelical Christian scholars—including theologians, natural scientists, economists, policy experts, and religious leaders—committed to promoting Biblical Earth stewardship, economic development for the poor, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that responsible stewardship of the Earth means working together to enhance its fruitfulness, beauty, and safety, all for the glory of God and the benefit of our neighbors.” Yes, they’re the only game in town. A sample of their fine work is available at: https://cornwallalliance.org/landmark-documents/. Such is one of the fine resources from this league leader available for free
As an example of the need for this kind of conference, recently, Roger Pielke reported that a seriously flawed paper, which had earlier claimed that to mitigate climate inactivity would cost $38T, had been retracted. So much for the settled science, or as Pielke suggests: “The uncertain risks merit serious discussion and responses. But so-called settled science that is built on flawed data and shielded from correction fails both policymakers and the public. By defending flawed data, scientific institutions erode the public trust they need to solve the world’s most challenging problems. The cracks in the foundation of climate research with important policy implications are now too big to ignore. It is time for a course correction.”
After the welcome and opening for the conference (which was held in the chapel of Mid-America Baptist Seminary), Michael Spradlin, President the Seminary gave a rousing address to the group on the importance of this topic with a fine address, namely, “From Creator to Savior: Why Genesis Still Matters for the Gospel.”
Dr. Beisner, then, introduced a “Project for Cultural Renewal” called Whole Counsel—see below. This initiative attempts to bring the breadth of God’s Word to all of life. The final lecture of the first night was on the evangelistic opportunity of speaking about creation stewardship in a scientific age by Christopher Neiswonger, pastor of Graceview Presbyterian Church in Southaven, MS.
Saturday featured talks by the following:
Patricia Engler of Answers in Genesis on “Marx is Back in Green: So Now What?”
Vijay Jayaraj, Cornwall Alliance, and Science & Research Associate, on “Freeing the Two-Thirds World from Western Climate Colonialism.” This was an incredible presentation, full of useful data, and well worth hearing.
Kyle Dillon, teacher of theology and rhetoric at Westminster Academy, Memphis, on “The Apologetic Value of Beauty in Science.”
My topic was “Salt and Light in American Politics: A Century of Wins and Losses.” This speech called for confessing, assessing, and professing by Christians involved in political, scientific, and cultural fields.
The Keynote speaker was Megan Basham, author of the lightening rod expose’, Shepherds for Sale. A contributor for the Daily Wire, Mrs. Basham’s address was “A Moses vs. Pharaoh Story: How and Why the Cornwall Alliance Defeated Progressive Creation Care.” Her speech was well conceived, hard-hitting (as it should be), and a very helpful part of this dialogue.
The conference participants were given a feast and much to take back to their homes, schools, and churches. We remain very grateful for the Cornwall Alliance, which is now spreading its wings further in a new venture.
A debut of sorts occurred. Cal Beisner and others have been quietly but effectively laying the groundwork this year for the launch of Whole Counsel (WholeCounsel.org). Besides the work of Cornwall which is “Trying to save the planet from those who are trying to save the planet,” Beisner explained this new venture as a project in cultural renewal, which would emphasize: The whole counsel of God from the whole Word of God to the whole people of God for the whole of life. We are thrilled with the initial responses to this and the wide-open doors for this new initiative.
Look for some of these speeches to be available on the Cornwall website. In addition, you can sign up to receive free updates on Whole Counsel at: https://cornwallalliance.org/wholecounsel/ and subscribe to the excellent podcast, Sanity Check.
Join us next as CA and WC will participate in the Colson Center Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee in late May.
We hope that Whole Counsel will contribute to folly’s demise in as many ways as possible.