Craig G. Bartholomew - Where Mortals Dwell: A Christian View of Place for Today

2011 by Craig G. Bartholomew

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakeracademic.com

Ebook edition created 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-3196-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotatons labeled ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007

Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

This is, I think, a unique book. It takes the deeply biblical identification with place and maps it onto our homogenized world to see what possibilities we have for new depth, new beauty, new meaning. I found it unrelentingly fascinating.

Bill McKibben , author, Eaarth: Making a Life
on a Tough New Planet

In this ambitious new book Craig Bartholomew has assembled a remarkable range of ideas and resources for the work of making our world a place that glorifies God. Drawing on scholarship in biblical studies, theology, philosophy, and cultural studies, Bartholomew advances distinctly Christian thinking about place in a significant way.

Norman Wirzba , Duke Divinity School

Craig Bartholomews Where Mortals Dwell: A Christian View of Place for Today is a stunning achievement. The book masterfully surveys the role of place in the Bible, helpfully looks at the role place has played in the Western philosophical tradition, and concludes with satisfying advice, both theoretical and practical, on how contemporary Christians should think about place as they engage in the crucial work of placemaking. It is rare to find an author with such command of biblical, theological, and philosophical issues, who provides original, powerful ideas delivered in clear, sparkling prose.

C. Stephen Evans , Baylor University

Ever since Walter Brueggemanns groundbreaking study The Land in 1977 we have been waiting for a comprehensive Christian theology of place. Where Mortals Dwell represents a significant step in that direction. In it, Bartholomew sets the agenda for Christians to think about both place and placemaking, shaping this long-overdue conversation for years to come.

Eric O. Jacobsen , senior pastor, First Presbyterian Church,
Tacoma, Washington; author, Sidewalks in the Kingdom

This is a major work of theological rediscovery in which Craig Bartholomew imaginatively reconstructs a Christian view of human implacement. Bringing biblical, philosophical, and theological perspectives to bear, he explores unexpected aspects of implacement with ventures into ornithology, building, gardening, and the home. Where Mortals Dwell is an erudite, readable, original, and fascinating invitation to a theology and spirituality of place.

Gordon McConville , University of Gloucestershire

This study in theology that builds from a biblical base and moves to discussions of urban planning, biotic community, and pilgrimageand even includes mapsmay well be unprecedented. The very fact that this assemblage of concerns comes as a surprise to the reader points to the need for this study of what it means to come before God in our places .

Ellen F. Davis , Duke Divinity School

Place affects us all, but reflections about its significance are scarceespecially thoroughly Christian reflections. This outstanding book therefore deserves your attention. The entire teaching of the Bible about place is represented here in one fascinating overview followed by an intriguing confrontation with Western philosophical thought on matters of place. Where Mortals Dwell is a brilliant survey of the liberating Christian concept of placemaking.

Bob Goudzwaard , Free University of Amsterdam

In this comprehensive and detailed overview of scriptural, philosophical, and theological traditions, Craig Bartholomew offers a superb exploration and affirmation of the centrality of place in Christian thought and life. This book will be an important interdisciplinary resource wherever academic consideration is given to the art of human dwelling or implacement. Where Mortals Dwell is set to become the standard work in this emerging field.

Peter Manley Scott , Lincoln Theological Institute,
University of Manchester

Dedicated to my sister Yvonne Laurel Bartholomew, who after the death of both of our parents in recent years has continued to maintain our family home in South Africa as a place to which it is wonderful to return

Illustrations

Preface

One of the glories of being human and creaturely is to be implaced. Sadly, this is threatened daily by the crisis of place in which we are immersed today. As I have discovered, the literature on place is vast, and there are many writers, teachers, and practitioners working to recover a human sense of place. Alas, with some notable exceptions the literature emerging from the Christian community in this respect is sparse, as though we are relatively unaware of the challenges facing us today. My hope is that this book will alert us to the importance of place, to the rich resources in the Bible for a Christian view of place today, and to the sheer joie de vivreoften amidst sufferingof placemaking, whether it be gardening, homemaking, urban development, or making place with and for the poor in our world.

By the concept of placemaking I aim to articulate a distinctively Christian view of place, but my hope is that it will be read well beyond the Christian community. We all participate in the contemporary crisis of place, and placemaking will require cooperation among diverse communities. My conviction is that it is only as we allow our different worldviews to come to fruition in a view of place that real dialogue and cooperation can begin, dialogue which does not seek a lowest common denominator, but rather enables cooperation which respects our differences and fundamental convictions.

I am grateful to my research assistants over the past three years, David Beldman, Sean Purcell, and James Sikkema, for their invaluable help in tracking down endless resources for this book. The support of Redeemer University College and The Paideia Center for Public Theology has been important in creating the space and providing a congenial place for this work. My colleagues Ryan ODowd, Calvin Seerveld, Edward Berkelaar, and an anonymous reviewer made helpful comments about the developing manuscript. My initial interest in place was sparked several years ago while I was assisting Canon Dr. Robert Llewellyn with his research on the anthropology of pilgrimage. That interest developed into a conference and consultation on pilgrimage, the results of which were eventually published by Ashgate as Towards a Christian Theology of Pilgrimage (C. G. Bartholomew and F. Hughes, eds.). Bob Walker repeatedly drew my attention to the importance of urban development in modernity and the possibility of geographical community, a long-standing interest of his. A special thanks goes to my good friend South African sculptor Gert Swart and his wife Istine, who have been unfailing in their support for this project from its inception. I have twice taught a course titled A Christian View of Place at Redeemer University College, and students have contributed to my thinking in all sorts of ways. I remain grateful to all those who have helped on my exhilarating journey in search of a theology and practice of place.