Steven Bouma-Prediger - For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care

Engaging Culture

W ILLIAM A. D YRNESS AND R OBERT K. J OHNSTON , SERIES EDITORS

The Engaging Culture series is designed to help Christians respond with theological discernment to our contemporary culture. Each volume explores particular cultural expressions, seeking to discover Gods presence in the world and to involve readers in sympathetic dialogue and active discipleship. These books encourage neither an uninformed rejection nor an uncritical embrace of culture, but active engagement informed by theological reflection.

2001, 2010 by Steven Bouma-Prediger

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 2013

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 978-1-58558-314-0

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

Unless otherwise indicated, all 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 quotations labeled GNT are from the Good News TranslationSecond Edition. Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations labeled Phillips are from The New Testament in Modern English, revised editionJ. B. Phillips, translator. J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.

Scripture quotations labeled RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] 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.

Chapter 3 is adapted from Steven Bouma-Prediger, Is Christianity Responsible for the Ecological Crisis? Christian Scholars Review 25, no. 2 (1995). Copyright 1995 by Christian Scholars Review . Reprinted by permission.

Chapter 6 is adapted from Steven Bouma-Prediger, Creation Care and Character: The Nature and Necessity of the Ecological Virtues, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 50, no. 1 (March 1998): 621. Used by permission.

Chapter 7 is adapted from Steven Bouma-Prediger, Why Care for Creation: From Prudence to Piety, Christian Scholars Review 27, no. 3 (1998). Copyright 1998 by Christian Scholars Review . Reprinted by permission.

The lines of poetry on page 154 are from Whatever Is Foreseen in Joy, from Sabbaths by Wendell Berry. Reprinted by permission of North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.

To my students
in Belize, Chicago, Holland, Los Angeles, New Zealand, and Toronto
for you have been my teachers

For the Beauty of the Earth

For the beauty of the earth,

For the beauty of the skies,

For the love which from our birth,

Over and around us lies,

Lord of all, to thee we raise,

This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour,

Of the day and of the night,

Hill and vale and tree and flower,

Sun and moon and stars of light,

Lord of all, to thee we raise,

This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,

For the hearts and minds delight,

For the mystic harmony,

Linking sense to sound and sight,

Lord of all, to thee we raise,

This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,

Brother, sister, parent, child,

Friends on earth and friends above,

For all gentle thoughts and mild,

Lord of all, to thee we raise,

This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For thy Church that evermore,

Lifteth holy hands above,

Offring up on evry shore,

Her pure sacrifice of love,

Lord of all, to thee we raise,

This, our hymn of grateful praise.

Folliott S. Pierpoint

I would like to gratefully acknowledge a number of people who assisted me with this book. Their comments, questions, and suggestions improved both the substance and the style of the text. First, my colleagues in the religion department at Hope College read and discussed various chapters of this new edition and the previous edition. So a heartfelt thanks to Barry Bandstra, Wayne Brouwer, Jenny Everts, Steve Hoogerwerf, Mark Husbands, Lynn Japinga, Phil Muoa, Lyra Pitstick, Jeff Tyler, and Boyd Wilson. It is a privilege to work with such a talented group.

Many thanks also to Dean Bill Reynolds, Provost James Boelkins, and President James Bultman. Through their steady encouragement and timely financial support over the years, they have cultivated an ethos at Hope College in which excellence in teaching and in scholarship has flourished. I am one grateful beneficiary of their tireless efforts.

A number of friends and colleagues elsewhere read and commented on either this edition or the earlier one. Thanks to Ryan Atwell, Peter Bakken, Tom Boogaart, Kent Busman, and Brian Walsh. Some former Hope students have done research that contributed to this new edition, so a word of thanks to Justine Post, David Rye, and Allison Schneider. I also wish to thank Bill Dyrness and Rob Johnston, who as coeditors of the Engaging Culture series originally invited me to write this volume. It is a pleasure to be a part of this set of books.

At Baker Academic, Bob Hosack has been, as always, encouraging of this project, and Brian Bolger and his crew helped to polish my prose and make the text more readable. Thanks for your careful attention to detail.

As with previous writing projects, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my wife and childrenCelaine, Anna, Chara, and Sophia. A simple thank you is a woefully inadequate expression of appreciation for your patience and forbearance, care and concern.

As the dedication indicates, the book could not have been written (or rewritten) without my students, for this text has been forged and tested in the classroom. To all whom I have had the privilege of teaching, a hearty thank you. I have learned much from you. May we together continue to learn how best to care for each other and our home planetto Gods glory and for the beauty of the earth.