The Bible Goes Green

 

After some work today with Sustainable Girdwood with their greenhouses, I thought I'd give the "Green Bible" some space today.  They were selling these at the Cokesbury store at Annual Conference.  Now, truth be told, I don't have one of these.  I have enough Bible translations and study Bibles for my purposes at this point.  But I think the concept is cool.  And this could make a great resource for a Bible Study about creation-care or a sermon series.

From The Green Letter Bible Website:

About The Green Bible

• The Green Bible is the definitive movement Bible that shows that God is green and how we can care for and protect God's creation.

Featuring:

• Green-Letter Edition: Verses and passages that speak to God's care for creation highlighted in green
  Foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
• Essays by Brian McLaren, Cal DeWitt, Barbara Brown Taylor, Pope John Paul II, Ellen Davis, N. T. Wright, Ellen Bernstein, Matthew Sleeth, James Jones, and Gordon Aeschliman
• Inspirational quotes from Christian teachings throughout the ages
• A green Bible topical index
• A personal green Bible trail study guide
• An appendix with information on further reading, how to get involved, and practical steps to take
• Recycled paper, using soy-based ink with a cotton/linen cover

From a Time Magazine article, "The Bible Goes Green for the Prius Age":

Green runs through the Bible like a vine. There are the Garden and Noah's olive branch. The oaks under which Abraham met with angels. The "tree standing by the waterside" in Psalms. And there is Jesus, the self-proclaimed "true vine," who describes the Kingdom of Heaven as a mustard seed that grows into a tree "where birds can nest." He dies on a cross of wood, and when he rises Mary Magdalene mistakes him for a gardener.

Now there is a Bible trying to make gardeners of us all.... The new version's message, states an introduction by Evangelical eco-activist J. Matthew Sleeth, is that "creation care"--the Christian catchphrase for nature conservancy--"is at the very core of our Christian walk."

Using recycled paper with soy-based ink, The Green Bible includes supplementary writings by, among others, St. Francis of Assisi, Pope John Paul II, Desmond Tutu and Anglican bishop N.T. Wright. Several of these essays cite the Genesis verse in which God gives humanity "dominion" over the earth, a charge most religious greens read to mean "stewardship." Others assert that eco-neglect violates Jesus' call to care for the least among us: it is the poor who inhabit the floodplains.

The Guardian (UK), highlights some of the eco-friendly passages:

Ezekiel 34:18: "Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet?"

Psalm 104:5, 24: "You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken ... O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures."

Genesis 1:31: "God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good."

Creation -- Biblical Interpretation and Application

Brian McLaren's own website describes him as "an author, speaker, pastor, and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists."  I know of him from his books such as The Church on the Other Side, his work with postmodern and emerging churches, and by the company he keeps, such as Leonard Sweet and Tony Campolo.  In short, he does a lot of work on the "evangelical" side of things, but there are those in the evangelical camp who would consider his viewpoints too liberal...or worse.   I like his stuff.  It resonates with a lot of what I think and see and feel and, I believe, discern.

Brian is currently in Kenya with a group of emerging leaders, discussing the relationship between the Christian faith and the environment.  I confess that this is one area of ministry that I feel woefully inadequate to address.  It's not just because of my lack of understanding but what I perceive as a lack of time and the multitude of other priorities.  But, as oil continues to spill in the Gulf of Mexico...as the garbage of our Alaskan winter peeks out from the receding snow...as I stare at the collection of soda cans around my desk...the need for this discussion is clear.

As the attendees were discussing the issues of being stewards of creation, someone broached the issue of creationism versus evolution.  And Brian noted that in Africa, as is often the case in the US as well, many persons see only two sides:  Young-Earth Creationism ("God made it all fewer than 10,000 years ago") and Evolutionary Atheism ("God had nothing to do with it.  We descended from apes over millions of years").

I have always found those two options exceptionally limiting for how I've understood Scripture and interpretation.  I believe the Bible but I confess to being a Biology minor in college and I find the arguments for evolution persuasive and the arguments against a young-earth creationism equally persuasive.  However, I believe, wholeheartedly in the God of the Old and New Testaments and claim that God as my Creator and his Son as my Savior.  Evolutionary atheism does not fit in my theological understanding.

So, the following is what Brian McLaren says on his blog for the interpretation of Genesis 1-2 in his present context:

I presented 5 ways of interpreting Genesis 1-2:

1. Literal theory - this is classic "young-earth creationism"
2. Gap theory - this is a modification of #1, saying that there's a gap that occurred "when the world was without form and void"
3. Day-age theory - that the "days" of Genesis 1 could have been a million or billion years
4. Contextual theory - that in their historical context, the creation narratives were never intended to provide a scientific account, so should be interpreted for meaning - literarily, not literally. In this view, there's no conflict between sound evolutionary theory and wise biblical interpretation.
5. Superstition theory - the Biblical accounts are just superstition of no value beyond showing the ignorance of ancient people.

I urged those present to recognize that Christians have 4 good options (1-4), and I urged them to do what I do: have your own position (mine being #4), but respect those who hold other positions.
Today we're being exposed to the environmental situation in Africa:

• 45% of Africa is experiencing deforestation
• Nearly everyone sees examples of climate change
• In Kenya, forest cover is 1.5%, down from 12%
• In Ethiopia, forest cover is 3%, down from 40%
• In Kenya, Lake Nawasha has become a lake of raw sewage
• 90% of the big fish in oceans are gone ...
• Kenya lost 11 species of birds in the past 50 years

On the drive to our conference center from the airport, i looked over a bridge and saw a "stream" full of an unidentifiable liquid that was blue-black-oily-greenish-gray ... unearthly, disgusting. It ran through a neighborhood ... And meanwhile, I'm thinking about the oil spill back in the Gulf ...

I wish we could stop arguing about the origin of the earth in the past and start focusing on the survival of the earth's sacred ecosystems in the future!

Because of our theological understandings of "creation" and "stewardship" and "justice," we in the church have a wonderful foundation to talk about environmental issues.  We actually have Biblical texts that we consider the Word of God.  We know our God as the great creator.  I do not want to diminish the Word of God.  I believe it is vital to faith and life.  A good summary of the United Methodist understanding can be found HERE.  I believe it.  But United Methodists seem to have a penchant for "practical divinity."  And I don't think that arguing across the divide between Creationism and Evolutionary Atheism is practical for the work of God in the world.

So, then I need to ask myself what it is that little Girdwood Chapel could be doing?  Our community garden is a start.   Our support of Girdwood Sustainable Resources is a start.  The little recycling container is a start.  But what other steps would honor God, our Creator?

Posted via email from The Prodigal Blog