Factors related to the understanding of the cultural mandate in the creation account of Genesis among the Convention of Philippine Baptist ministers in the Province of Iloilo: Its implications to CPBC ministers’ current perceptions of environmental Christian stewardship

Abstract

This study aimed to determine factors related to the Convention Baptist ministers’ understanding of the cultural mandate in the creation account of Genesis and its implications to their current perception of environmental Christian stewardship. The researcher used the one-shot population survey. The statistical tools used to test the research hypotheses were the mean and percentage distribution, gamma, t-test and the One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Gamma was used to determine the relationship of variables while ANOVA for the difference set at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that majority of the respondents are male, 40-49 years old, married, college graduate, trained but non-ordained. This study showed that 39.0 percent of the respondents got an average rating, while 31.0 percent got a high rating in terms of their level of understanding of the cultural mandate in the creation account of Genesis. In other words, majority of the respondents understood the questions correctly.

Moreover, this study revealed that there was no significant relationship between the respondents’ understanding of the cultural mandate and their current perceptions of environmental Christian stewardship in the biblical-theological (gamma value of -.094 and a level of significance of .840), ethical-economic (gamma value of .009 and a level of significance of .965), socio-political (gamma value of -.009 and a level of significance of .044), and cultural-contextual (gamma value of -.363 and a level of significance of .359). Results further revealed no significant difference in the respondents’ understanding of the cultural mandate in the creation account of Genesis when they were classified by age (p = .824,p > 0.05), sex (p = .926,p >0 .05), residence (p= .847,p > 0.05), educational attainment (p = .819,p > .05), length of service (p = .428,p > 0.05), and pastoral status (p = .051, p > 0.05) except when they were grouped by marital status (p = .019,p> 0.05). Finally, in the exegesis of Genesis 1:26 and 28, this study reveals that human beings have a responsibility to be good and responsible stewards of their environment and the world that God had created out of nothing. They are to utilize their God-given gifts and their moral responsibility to fill, subdue, and rule the creation sensibly and selflessly. As God’s children they are to show their utmost love and faithfulness to their Creator and Lord. As shown in the survey, majority of the CPBC ministers in the province of Iloilo are knowledgeable of the cultural mandate; however, the survey indicated that the respondents were behaviorally passive in their participation in environmental Christian stewardship. Thus, ministers are called to reflect on the biblical issue about sin of omission.