Studies in Environmental Ethics
The way we Christians talk about our responsibility for creation and to our neighbors should not be entirely controlled by the scientific and ideological arguments coming either from the right or from the left. The great biblical narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and final restoration provides the larger story within which we should deliberate. There are also particular texts and themes in the Bible that provide crucial components of a biblically informed humane environmental ethic, such as the way in which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were historically famous for digging wells, or the way in which the ancient Israelites talked about developments in agricultural technology. And biblically informed Christians will never want to forget the development mandate given to Adam and Eve or the way in which God has long been active in his world as both Creator and Redeemer.
Johnson and Schirrmacher have teamed up to present essays which attempt to articulate and address selected themes in environmental ethics that unite a proper concern for creation care with loving our neighbors. Read, and then try to think farther along the paths they suggest.
Bibliography
- Thomas Schirrmacher, Thomas K. Johnson. Creation Care and Loving our Neighbors – Studies in Environmental Ethics. The WEA Global Issues Series. Vol. 17. Culture and Science Publishing: Bonn, 2016. ISBN 978-3-86269-116-6. 64 pp.