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Addressing a topic of growing and vital concern, this book asks us to reconsider how we think about the natural world and our place in it. Steven Bouma-Prediger brings ecotheology into conversation with the emerging field of environmental virtue ethics, exploring the character traits and virtues required for Christians to be responsible keepers of the earth and to flourish in the challenging decades to come. He shows how virtue ethics can enrich Christian environmentalism, helping readers think and act in ways that rightly value creation.
Why should Christians engage in earthkeeping as Christians and from within Christian communities? What is the underlying theological rationale for that? In this book some 19 reasons why Christians may be encouraged to engage in earthkeeping are identified, juxtaposed and assessed in order to call for clarity, to invite discussion and to elicit creative tensions. No single position is advocated ? it would be helpful if Christians could engage in earthkeeping on the basis of any of these motivations.
Ever since its original publication over a decade ago, Earthkeeping has presented a thought-provoking, biblically based call for responsible stewardship. In view of the continuing environmental crisis worldwide and in light of increased ecological awareness in recent years, the book's message regarding "earthkeeping" is now more pertinent than ever. This greatly revised and augmented edition of Earthkeeping updates the original edition while retaining the same breadth of perspective, reflecting the combined insights of Christian scholars in biology, physics, economics, literature, and philosophy. The book begins by laying out, with scientific precision, the state of the planet. Several chapters then carefully examine various historical and contemporary views of creation. Next the authors survey biblical and theological teaching relative to humanity's use of creation. The book concludes by offering helpful, practical guidelines for an earthkeeping ethic. Besides providing an updated "state of the planet" analysis, this revised edition of Earthkeeping deals with recent cultural and religious developments, incorporating new material, for example, on the "Deep Ecology" and "new age" movements, the Gaia hypothesis, and ecofeminism. This edition also takes into account the recent wealth of Christian thinking about the earth, including the recovery of important but neglected voices from the Christian tradition, such as Hildegard of Bingen and Celtic spirituality. At the end of the book, an expanded and updated annotated bibliography, organized according to subject area, and new indexes (of names and subjects and of Scripture references) enhance the value of Earthkeeping as a significant resource fostering better human stewardship of God's creation.
Just as God loves creation, so are Christians called to care for it. Now, amid the accelerating degradation of our global environment, that task has taken on greater urgency than ever. How should Christians respond to the climate crisis and widespread pollution of earth’s shared commons, water and air? How might Christian communities think about human responsibility to other living creatures? In roundtable format, Richard Bauckham, Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, Steven Bouma-Prediger, and John F. Haught navigate the layers of what it means for humans to live in right relationship with earth’s lifesystems. After each contributor’s essay, the other three contributors issue a response—including points of disagreement and questions—thereby modeling for readers productive and respectful dialogue. The ecumenical conversations in Ecotheology represent the diverse viewpoints of contributors’ theological and practical commitments, exploring creation care through a variety of frameworks, including natural science, biblical studies, systematic theology, and Christian ethics.
Today's church finds itself in a new world, one in which climate change and ecological degradation are front-page news. In the eyes of many, the evangelical community has been slow to take up a call to creation care. How do Christians address this issue in a faithful way? This evangelically centered but ecumenically informed introduction to ecological theology (ecotheology) explores the global dimensions of creation care, calling Christians to meet contemporary ecological challenges with courage and hope. The book provides a biblical, theological, ecological, and historical rationale for earthcare as well as specific practices to engage both individuals and churches. Drawing from a variety of Christian traditions, the book promotes a spirit of hospitality, civility, honesty, and partnership. It includes a foreword by Bill McKibben and an afterword by Matthew Sleeth.
This substantially revised and updated edition provides the most thorough evangelical treatment available on a theology of creation care.
Beyond Stewardship is intended to equip Christians to live better in this world by helping us all think more intentionally about the relationship we have with the nonhuman creation in which we are necessarily and thoroughly embedded. It responds to these questions: "What if God didn't place humans on earth to be stewards of creation, but something else?" and "if not stewards, then what?" The chapters in Beyond Stewardship are written by scholars from diverse disciplines who share a deep passion for a flourishing creation. Each chapter begins with a compelling story that draws the reader into new ways of thinking. Each author then looks beyond stewardship from the context of her or his own discipline and experiences. Some reimagine creation care by expanding on the traditional notion of stewardship. Others set aside the stewardship model and offer alternative ways to understand our presence within the broader creation. The chapters mark out ways to live better in the places we inhabit as individuals, communities, and institutions. Collectively, the essays in Beyond Stewardship offer an expanded and enlivened understanding of the place of humans in the context of God's creation.
This book is a brilliant use of metaphor that makes clear why the world leaves us feeling so uneasy!