This course studies the biblical theology of creation, particularly as it relates to the mission of God and thus the role of the church. We focus on the place of the created order in God’s redemptive plan, on earth stewardship, and on the meaning of “the restoration of all things” in the New Creation by the Spirit through the saving and healing work of Jesus Christ. The course draws on biblical, historical, and systematic theology, cross-referencing to contemporary missiological, ecological, and environmental issues.
OBJECTIVE: The primary objective is to understand, biblically and operationally, the close biblical relationship between creation and mission.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate an informed understanding of a biblical theology of creation.
- Demonstrate understanding of biblical teachings about the land/earth.
- Articulate a theology of mission that coherently incorporates a theology of creation.
- Article a sound biblical theological basis for creation care in relation to other priorities.
TEXTS:
Bouma-Prediger, Steven. For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care, Second Edition. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010.
Brown, Edward R. Our Father’s World: Mobilizing the Church to Care for Creation. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2008.
Louv, Richard. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books, 2008.
Rice, Delbert. Basic Upland Ecology. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 2007. 166 pp.
Snyder, Howard A., with Joel Scandrett. Salvation Means Creation Healed: The Ecology of Sin and Grace. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2011.
ALTERNATE TEXT:
Note: The following text was not available in time to be included in the original textbook selection, but is now available. Students may substitute this text for either the Bouma-Prediger book or the Brown book, if they wish:
Middleton, J. Richard. A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2014.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:
Note: The following resources are useful, but not required (or not currently available) for purchase. Some are now available online.
Farley, Joshua, and Herman E. Daly. Ecological Economics: Principles and Applications. Island Press, 2003. 488 pp.
Van Dyke, Fred, David C. Mahan, Joseph K. Sheldon, and Raymond H. Brand. Redeeming Creation: The Biblical Basis for Environmental Stewardship. InterVarsity, 1996. 214 pp.
Swartley, Willard M. Health, Healing and the Church’s Mission: Biblical Perspective and Moral Priorities.
InterVarsity, 2012. 268 pp.
Bauckham, Richard. Living with Other Creatures: Green Exegesis and Theology. Baylor University Press, 2011. 256 pp.
Wright, N. T. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.
HarperOne, 2008. 352 pp.
SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNED READING
Classes will be a combination of lecture and discussion.
Week 1- INTRODUCTION: CREATION, TRINITY, & MISSION
- Genesis 1-2; Job 38:1 – 42:6; Revelation 21:1 – 22:5
- Snyder & Scandrett, Intro. & Chaps. 1-2
- Bouma-Prediger, Intro. & Chap. 1
- Recommended: Zahniser, “Trinity”; Farley & Daly, Chaps. 1-3
Week 2– AN ECOLOGICAL / MISSIONAL WORLDVIEW
- Genesis 3-9; Romans 1:18 – 2:16
- Snyder & Scandrett, Chaps. 3-4
- Bouma-Prediger, Chap. 2
- Louv, Intro. & Chap. 1
- Recommended: Farley & Daly, Chaps. 5, 6, 10-12
Week 3– CREATION, FALL, & GOD’S EARTH COVENANT
- Gen. 13:14-18, 28:10-22; Lev. 25-26; Deut. 8; Isa. 61:1-11; Luke 4:14-29 Snyder & Scandrett, Chaps. 5-6
- Bouma-Prediger, Chap. 3 Louv, Chaps. 2-3
- Recommended: Farley & Daly, Chaps. 15-16
Week 4– THE KEY ROLE OF ESCHATOLOGY
- Isaiah 11, 42-43, 66
- Snyder & Scandrett, Chap. 7
- Bouma-Prediger, Chap. 4
- Louv, Chaps. 4-6
- Recommended: Van Dyke et al.
Week 5– THE PROMISE OF NEW COVENANT / NEW CREATION
- Jeremiah 31; Isaiah 53; Luke 22:7-45; Hebrews 8
- Snyder & Scandrett, Chap. 8
- Brown, Chaps. 1-2
- Bouma-Prediger, Chap. 5
- Louv, Chaps. 7-8
- Recommended: Swartley
Week 6– THE “ECONOMY” AND “ECOLOGY” OF GOD
- Ephesians 1-3; Philippians 2:1-18
- Rice, Foreword, Preface, & Chaps. 1-4
- Snyder & Scandrett, Chaps. 9-10
- Brown, Chaps. 3-5
- Bouma-Prediger, Chap. 6
- Louv, Chaps. 9-12
Week 7– 8:30-11:30 AM – THE CENTRAL ROLE OF JESUS CHRIST
- Lev. 16; Matt. 20:20-28; Luke 24; John 1, 3-4, 17, 20; Heb. 10; Rev. 1
- Snyder & Scandrett, Chap. 11
- Rice, Chaps. 5-12
- Bouma-Prediger, Chap. 7
- Brown, Chaps. 6-8
- Louv, Chaps. 13-15
- Recommended: Bauckham
Week 8– BODY OF CHRIST, NEW CREATION, & THE HOLY SPIRIT Acts 1-2; Rom. 8 and 12; 1 Cor. 12 and 15; Eph. 4-6; Phil. 3-4; Heb. 12-13 Snyder & Scandrett, Chap. 12
- Rice, Chaps. 5-12
- Bouma-Prediger, Chap. 8
- Brown, Chap. 9-13
- Louv, Chaps. 16-19
Week 9– CREATION, NEW CREATION, & THE KINGDOM OF GOD 2 Peter 3, Revelation 4-5, 11, 20, 22
- Snyder & Scandrett, Chap. 13
- Rice, Chaps. 21-32
- Louv, Chaps. 20-23 Recommended: Wright
BIBLIOGRAPHY – Christian Mission and Theology of Creation
Note: Sections on creation and new creation in standard works of biblical, historical, and systematic theology should also be consulted, as appropriate. For additional resources, see also this bibliography: http://seminaryalliance.org/creation-care-bibliography/
Ball, James Gregory. “Evangelical Protestants, the Ecological Crisis and Public Theology.” Ph.D. Diss., Drew University, 1997.
Ball, Jim [James Gregory]. Global Warming and the Risen Lord: Christian Discipleship and Climate Change. Washington, DC: Evangelical Environmental Network, 2010.
Basney, Lionel. An Earth-Careful Way of Life: Christian Stewardship and the Environmental Crisis. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1994.
Bauckham, Richard. Living with Other Creatures: Green Exegesis and Theology. Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2011.
Bauckham, Richard. The Bible and Ecology: Rediscovering the Community of Creation. Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2010.
Bergman, Sigurd. Creation Set Free: The Spirit as Liberator of Nature. Trans. Douglas Scott. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005.
Berry, Wendell. The Gift of Good Land. New York: North Point Press, 1981.
Boff, Leonardo. Ecology and Liberation: A New Paradigm. Trans. John Cumming. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1995.
Boff, Leonardo. Trinity and Society. Trans. Paul Burns. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1988.
Bookless, Dave. Planetwise: Dare to Care for God’s World. Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity, 2008.
Brown, Edward R. Our Father’s World: Mobilizing the Church to Care for Creation. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2008.
Brueggemann, Walter. The Land. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977.
Coleson, Joseph, ed. Care of Creation: Christian Voices on God, Humanity, and the Environment. Indianapolis, Ind.: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2010.
Daly, Herman E., ed. Economics, Ecology, Ethics. San Francisco: Freeman, 1980.
DeWitt, Calvin B. “Ecology and Ethics: Relation of Religious Belief to Ecological Practice in the Biblical Tradition.” Biodiversity and Conservation 1995 4:838-48.
DeWitt, Calvin B., and Ghillean T. Prance, eds. Missionary Earthkeeping. Mercer University Press, 1993.
Edwards, Denis, ed. Earth Revealing—Earth Healing: Ecology and Christian Theology. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2001.
Edwards, Denis. Ecology at the Heart of Faith: The Change of Heart that Leads to a New Way of Living on Earth. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 2006, 2011.
Farley, Joshua, and Herman E. Daly. Ecological Economics: Principles and Applications. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2003.
Gener, Timoteo D. and Adonis Abelard Gorospe, eds. The Earth is the Lord’s: Reflections on Stewardship in the Asian Context. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature and Asian Theological Seminary, 2011.
Gnanakan, Ken. God’s World, A Theology of the Environment. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1988.
Gunton, Colin E. Christ and Creation: The Didsbury Lectures, 1990. Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, 2005.
Gunton, Colin E. The Promise of Trinitarian Theology, 2nd ed. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1997.
Gunton, Colin E. The Triune Creator: A Historical and Systematic Study. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998.
Hayhoe, Katharine, and Andrew Farley. A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions. New York: Faith Words, 2009.
Houghton, John. Global Warming: The Complete Briefing. Oxford, UK: Lion Publishing, 1994.
Howard, Albert. An Agricultural Testament. New York: Oxford University Press, 1943.
Jegen, Mary Evelyn, and Bruno V. Manno. The Earth is the Lord’s: Essays on Stewardship. New York: Paulist Press, 1978.
John, V. J. The Ecological Vision of Jesus: Nature in the Parables of Mark. Bangalore, India: Christava Sahitya Samithy, 2002.
Jones, James. Jesus and the Earth. London: SPCK, 2003.
Joranson, Philip N., and Ken Butigan, eds. Cry of the Environment: Rebuilding the Christian Creation Tradition. Santa Fe, NM: Bear and Company, 1984.
Juzek, Charles, and Susan Mehrtens, eds. Earthkeeping: Readings in Human Ecology. Pacific Grove, Calif.: Boxwood Press, 1974.
Kirk, Janice E., and Donald R. Kirk. Cherish the Earth: The Environment and Scripture. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 2993.
Klein, Naomi. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014.
Lappé, Frances Moore. EcoMind: Changing the Way We Think, to Create the World We Want. New York: Nation Books, 2011.
Le Fanu, James. Why Us? How Science Rediscovered the Mystery of Ourselves. New York: Vintage Books, 2009.
Louv, Richard. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2006.
Maathai,Wangari. The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience. New Expanded Ed. New York: Lantern Books, 2004.
Macchia, Frank D. “Justification Through New Creation: The Holy Spirit and the Doctrine by which the Church Stands or Falls.” Theology Today 58 (July 2001):202–17.
McGrath, Alister. The Re-enchantment of Nature: Science, Religion and the Human Sense of Wonder. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2002.
McKibben, Bill. Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. New York: Henry Holt, 2010.
Merritt, Jonathan. Green Like God: Unlocking the Diving Plan for Our Planet. New York: Faith Words, 2010. Includes resources (websites, bibliography, creation care organizations.)
Middleton, J. Richard. A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2014.
Mustol, John. Dusty Earthlings: Living as Eco-Physical Beings in God’s Eco-Physical World. Eugene, Ore.: Cascade, 2012.
Moltmann, Jürgen. Sun of Righteousness, Arise! God’s Future for Humanity and the Earth. Trans. Margaret Kohl. London, England: SCM Press, 2011.
Northcott, Michael S. A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 2007.
Nürnberger, Klaus. Prosperity, Poverty and Pollution: Managing the Approaching Crisis. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: Cluster Publications, 1999.
Prestige, G. L. God in Patristic Thought. London, UK: SPCK, 1952.
Reumann, John. Stewardship and the Economy of God. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992.
Rice, Delbert. Basic Upland Ecology. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 2007.
Richter, Sandra. “Stewardship of the Environment: A Christian Value,” unpublished paper, 2004. Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, KY.
Robinson, Tri. Saving God’s Green Earth. Norcross, Ga.: Ampelon Publishing, 2006.
Rodin, Scott. Stewards in the Kingdom. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2000.
Schaeffer, Francis A. Pollution and the Death of Man: The Christian View of Ecology. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1970.
Schumacher, E. F. Small is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered. New York: Harper, 1973.
Scott, Lindy, eds. Christians, the Care of Creation, and Global Climate Change. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2008.
Sleeth, J. Matthew, MD. Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action. White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2006.
Sleeth, Nancy. Go Green, Save Green: A Simple Guide to Saving Time, Money, and God’s Green Earth. Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale House, 2009.
Snyder, Howard A. Coherence in Christ: The Larger Meaning of Ecology. Mission Evangelism Series, No. 4. General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church, 1989.
Snyder, Howard A. “Creation Care and the Mission of God.” Creation Care 26 (Fall 2004), 6–7, 18.
Snyder, Howard A. EarthCurrents: The Struggle for the World’s Soul. Nashville: Abingdon, 1995.
Snyder, Howard A. Jesus and Pocahontas: Gospel, Mission, and National Myth. Eugene, Ore.: Cascade, 2015. [Available mid-2015.]
Snyder, Howard A. Kingdom, Church, and World: Biblical Themes for Today. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2002. (Originally published as A Kingdom Manifesto.)
Snyder, Howard A. Liberating the Church: The Ecology of Church and Kingdom. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1983. Reprint, Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 1996. (especially chapters 2 and 3.)
Snyder, Howard A. Models of the Kingdom. Nashville: Abingdon, 1991.
Snyder, Howard A. Radical Renewal: The Problem of Wineskins Today. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2005. Rev. ed. (1996) of The Problem of Wineskins (1975).
Snyder, Howard A., with Daniel V. Runyon. Decoding the Church: Mapping the DNA of Christ’s Body. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002.
Squiers, Edwin R., ed. The Best Sermons on Earth. Evangelical Environmental Network/Judson Press1996.
Squiers, Edwin R., ed. The Environmental Crisis: The Ethical Dilemma. Mancelona, Mich.: AuSable Institute of Environmental Studies, 1982.
Stassen, Glen H., and David P. Gushee. Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2003.
Stott, John. The Birds Our Teachers: Essays in Orni-Theology. Carlisle, Cumbria, UK: Candle Books, 1999.
Swartley, Willard M. Health, Healing and the Church’s Mission: Biblical Perspective and Moral Priorities. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2012.
Van Dyke, Fred, David C. Mahan, Joseph K. Sheldon, and Raymond H. Brand. Redeeming Creation: The Biblical Basis for Environmental Stewardship. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1996.
Weisman, Alan. The World Without Us. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2007.
Wilkinson, Loren, ed. Earth Keeping: Christian Stewardship of Natural Resources. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans1980.
Wilson, Edward O. The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth. W. W. Norton, 2007.
Woodley, Randy S. Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012.
Wright, N. T. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. HarperOne, 2008.
Zahniser, A. H. Mathias. “The Trinity: Paradigm of Mission in the Spirit.” Missiology 17:1 (Jan. 1989), 69–82.
Zahniser, A. H. Mathias. “We Have Found Water: Patriarchal Paradigms for Cross-Cultural Mission.” The Asbury Theological Journal 42:2 (Fall, 1987), 21–43.