Evangelical Scholarship on Care for God’s Creation

In the face of environmental problems and perplexities, evangelicals turn to the Bible as God’s Word to humankind. Since the Bible communicates the deepest truth about God, humanity, and nature, then careful study of its teachings is needed to illuminate our situation and guide our policies.

Evangelicals also turn to creation, the work of God’s hands. Not by any means as a substitute for Scripture, but as a witness to the goodness, wisdom, and majesty of God, and as the sphere in which believers are to live as Christ’s disciples. Only by knowing how the world works can Christians know what actions truly show respect for God’s handiwork, or how best to meet the neighbor’s earthly needs.

Thus, both biblical theology and ecological science have been integral to evangelical environmental scholarship that has appeared in conferences, books and other publications.

In 1980, the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship at Calvin College published Earthkeeping: Christian Stewardship of Natural Resources (Grand Rapids, MI., Eerdmans; rev. ed., 1991), a collaborative effort by scholars in the fields of ecology, physics, economics, philosophy, history, and literature.

Beginning in 1980, the Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies held a series of annual Fora for scholars and practitioners in the natural sciences, theology, and ethics. Topics have included: a Christian land ethic; ecological economics; missionary earthkeeping; the New Testament and the environment; and global climate change. Papers from several Forums have been published in book form.

• Environmental topics have been a recurring theme of meetings of The American Scientific Affiliation and of articles in its journal, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith.
• Christianity Today has sponsored institutes on Environment and Christian Witness (October 1993) and Population and Global Stewardship (April 1994).
• The Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities (now the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities) sponsored a conference in October 1996 on “Global Stewardship: From the Academy to the Public Square,” at Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts.
• The Evangelical Environmental Network has produced Scholars’ Circle monographs on the questions whether Christianity is responsible for the environmental crisis, and how evangelical eschatology relates to environmental concerns. The Crossroads Program of Evangelicals for Social Action produced a series of monographs on public policy topics, including several on environmental issues such as urban planning, climate change, and endangered species.
• Christian Scholars Review published a special issue on “The Fate of the Earth” in its Summer 2003 issue.

Inspired by studying creation care abroad, a student launched a campus-wide recycling program.