The Bible and the Environment

The biblical and Christian traditions have long been seen to have legitimated and encouraged humanity's aggressive domination of nature. Biblical visions of the future, with destruction for the earth and rescue for the elect, have also discouraged any concern for the earth's future or the welfare of future generations. But we now live in a time when environmental issues are at the centre of political and ethical debate. What is needed is a new reading of the biblical tradition that can meet the challenges of the ecological issues that face humanity at the beginning of the third millennium. 'The Bible and the Environment' examines a range of biblical texts - from Genesis to Revelation - evaluating competing interpretations. The Bible provides a thoroughly ambivalent legacy. Certainly, it cannot provide straightforward teaching on care for the environment but nor can it simply be seen as an anti-ecological book. Developing an 'ecological hermeneutic' as a way of mediating between contemporary concerns and the biblical text, 'The Bible and the Environment' presents a way of productively reading the Bible in the context of contemporary ecology.

Autorentext

David Horrell is Professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter.

Inhalt

Preface Part I: Reading the Bible in Light of the 'Ecologic Crisis': Approaches to Interpretation 1. The 'ecologic crisis' and the challenge to the Christian tradition 2. Approaches to reading the biblical tradition in relation to environmental issues Part II: A Survey of Selected Biblical Texts and Their Varied Interpretation 3. Human dominion over creation? 4. The 'fall' and the flood: a covenant with all the earth 5. Creation's praise and humanity de-centred 6. Jesus and the earth: the Gospels and ecology 7. Paul and the redemption of the cosmos 8. Future visions of creation at peace 9. Apocalyptic visions of cosmic catastrophe Part III: Dealing with an Ambivalent Legacy: Proposals for an Ecological Hermeneutic 10. Towards an ecological hermeneutic: biblical texts and doctrinal lenses 11. A critical ecological biblical theology and ethics