The Care of Creation - by R J Berry (Paperback)

About the Book

This collection of essays edited by R. J. Berry is a stimulating and provocative international commentary by leading theologians and environmental practitioners on the Christian responsibility to care for the environment.

Book Synopsis

• A 2003 Templeton Foundation Book of Distinction

"God intends . . . our care of the creation to reflect our love for the Creator," writes John Stott in the foreword to this book.

For the theologians and scientists who have contributed to this book, the care of creation is both crucial to human survival and a supreme test of the reality of Christian faith. Their concern reflects not just the selfish interest of the developed North. Nor is it merely a minority enthusiasm, peculiar to bird-watchers and tree-huggers. Rather, it stems from God's creation commands, from Christ's reconciling work, and from what should be a communion of worship between the human and natural worlds. There is now a belated and increasingly evident humility abroad, which recognizes that scientific and political solutions alone are inadequate.

The Care of Creation starts from the Evangelical Declaration on the Care of Creation of 1994, which has been endorsed by several hundred church leaders throughout the world. This book is a stimulating and provocative international commentary by leading theologians and environmental practitioners.

Contributors include: Richard Bauckham, R. J. Berry, Calvin B. DeWitt, Susan Drake, Timothy Dudley-Smith, Ron Elsdon, John Guillebaud, Peter Harris, John T. Houghton, Alister E. McGrath, I. Howard Marshall, Jürgen Moltmann, Michael S. Northcott, Oliver M. T. O'Donovan, Ghillean T. Prance, Stephen Rand, Ronald J. Sider, Howard J. Van Till, Lynn White, Loren Wilkinson and Richard T. Wright.

Review Quotes

"Human beings have become the predominant destructive force on earth. With power of hands and minds amplified by machines, our impact exceeds that of great floods, hurricanes and earthquakes. The time has come when we can envisage the end of nature; the time has come to realize that we are able to destroy the earth."

--Calvin B. DeWitt

"The book is a commentary on the Evangelical Declaration on the Care of Creation [and] does a good task of unpacking the various aspects of the Declaration. I found the book very easy to read and interesting to read as the various authors write from different perspectives."

--Mutsugoro blog, February 9, 2008

About the Author

Berry is professor of genetics at University College London and a past president of the British Ecological Society, the Linnean Society, and Christians in Science. He is author of God and the Biologist and coauthor of Science, Life and Christian Belief (both IVP/United Kingdom). He also wrote a popular account of the environment of the Orkney Islands, Orkney Nature, and several other books are articles.