From Nature to Creation - (Church and Postmodern Culture) by Norman Wirzba (Paperback)

About the Book

A renowned theologian critiques the modern concept of nature, showing how understanding the world as creation can help heal our lands and communities.

Book Synopsis

How does Christianity change the way we view the natural world? In this addition to a critically acclaimed series, renowned theologian Norman Wirzba engages philosophers, environmentalists, and cultural critics to show how the modern concept of nature has been deeply problematic. He explains that understanding the world as creation rather than as nature or the environment makes possible an imagination shaped by practices of responsibility and gratitude, which can help bring healing to our lands and communities. By learning to give thanks for creation as God's gift of life, Christians bear witness to the divine love that is reconciling all things to God.

Named a "Best Theology Book of 2015," Englewood Review of Books

"Best Example of Theology in Conversation with Urgent Contemporary Concerns" for 2015, Hearts & Minds Bookstore

From the Back Cover

"A winsome argument for reimagining the natural world as creation"

"Norman Wirzba writes with verve, alacrity, and theological sensitivity in laying out particular arguments for bringing back the importance of creation for a theological anthropology relevant to earth ethics. Wirzba is careful to trace the history of ideas and show us their philosophical underpinnings, while illuminating our current impoverished condition. He is persuasive in noting the cultural need for a movement away from the disorientation resulting from an 'eclipse of creation' toward an orientation that is rooted in a profound understanding of creatureliness. This book will be valuable not only for individuals but also in a variety of ecclesial as well as educational settings."
--Celia E. Deane-Drummond, University of Notre Dame

"With insightful analysis and lucid prose Norman Wirzba offers a winsome argument for reimagining the natural world as creation--lovingly made, sustained, and redeemed by the triune God. From Nature to Creation expertly traces how major trends in contemporary culture undermine the possibility of care for creation. Most importantly, this book compellingly demonstrates how we may love God and embrace our creatureliness in ways that are faithful and life-giving for all of God's creatures."
--Steven Bouma-Prediger, Hope College; author of For the Beauty of the Earth

"In this, his most important book yet, Norman Wirzba asks the simple question: What difference would it make if we thought of the earth not as nature but as creation? His answer--that 'this is the world in which God delights . . . the world we are called to love'--challenges everyone. Drawing with magisterial and eloquent scholarship on a vast range of sources across both Christian and secular thought, Wirzba calls us to attentiveness, to rootedness--and above all, to gratitude."
--Loren Wilkinson, Regent College, Vancouver

"As commercialized nature and utilitarian thinking poison the planet and change the climate, what could be more important than 'creation' as the gracious way we live? No one is better than Wirzba in describing modernity's idolatrous and disastrous course and offering a Christian understanding of creation as the antidote."
--Larry Rasmussen, Union Theological Seminary, New York City

About the Author

Norman Wirzba (PhD, Loyola University, Chicago) is Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Theology at Duke University Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including Making Peace with the Land, Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating, and Living the Sabbath.