Answer
The earliest written and most reliably dated references to Mother Nature are found in Mycenaean Greek transcripts dated in 12 or 13 BC. The term Mother Earth is transliterated as “ma-ga” or “Mother Gaia.” This notion had its roots in the pre-Socratic philosophers who had “invented” Nature, and it was further championed by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Other cultures have embraced the notion that “nature” had its own spirit and relevancy unique from God the Father. The American Indian is one such culture that believes that there is something called an “Earth Mother” that provides the water of life that gives them the abundant provision of food. In reality, no one but God provides our basic needs of food, shelter, water, and life.
The term Mother Nature is sometimes used in a general way to refer to the environment as a whole. The term is sometimes used in association with political and cultural ideologies such as global warming, environmentalism, and climate change. For some, news reports of rising temperatures, rising sea levels, savage wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, the emergence of new and even ancient diseases, and the like demonstrate that "Mother Nature" is a kind of capricious goddess who wreaks havoc throughout the earth.
It is God who controls the forces of nature: “But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses” (Jeremiah 10:12–13). Jesus demonstrated His divine power over nature by calming the raging sea (Matthew 8:26). It is also true that there are natural laws at work in our environment; these are systems God instituted (Genesis 8:22). God created our world; human sin damaged it (Romans 8:19–22). Yet God still holds our world together (Colossians 1:16–17). There is no capricious goddess at play.
Another bizarre idea is that Mother Nature is somehow the wife/consort of God and she rules in heaven alongside Him. This idea of a “mother and father god” is seen in some Roman Catholic traditions that declare Mary to be the “queen of heaven.” The Bible, however, declares that God, in the triune Godhead, rules heaven and earth alone and unaided (Daniel 4:25). Nature is His creation and He alone sustains and protects it and, in doing so, He testifies to His goodness and kindness toward it. “He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy" (Acts 14:17).
