The Bible Goes Green
A few months ago, a review copy of a new book landed on my desk—The Green Bible. New books cross my desk every day, but this is by far the most interesting one yet. Here’s what I love about The Green Bible: Now is the time for Christians to reclaim environmentalism. It’s such a touchy subject, but no matter how “green” you are or refuse to be, caring for our world is a Christian stewardship issue that has drifted far from the church. In addition to being printed with eco-friendly material, The Green Bible includes an introduction about the prevalence of passages in the Bible that speak to caring for creation, and several short essays by some of the leading voices in Christianity today. But the biggest feature of The Green Bible is the green lettering. Every time the Bible speaks about caring for the earth, the words are in green. I can’t help but wonder what people think about this. Have you seen this yet? I’d love to hear thoughts, especially if you’ve looked through/are using a copy.
About the Author
Laura Coggin is a production editor for Threads. She lives in and loves Nashville, Tennessee.
There have been 2 replies so far
I like that it’s getting Christians to think about helping the environment, but I don’t think this is the best way to do it. In calling attention to the obvious verses, I would think it ignores verses that support the cause less directly—how do you know what to turn green when the Bible is peppered with appreciation for what God has created and how he cares for it, not to mention the exhortations to love? And to highlight one mandate over all the others is, I think, more than God wanted to do, so I wouldn’t want to endorse it myself. (I’ll hold out for the colour-coded Bible: green for the environment, blue for the poor, purple for humility, orange for joyful trust in God, pink for breast cancer…) I would, however, be all for a separate book on environmental stewardship that extensively cited the Bible.
1 | Lauryl
Thursday, March 19, 2009, at 2:12pm
Lauryl,
Speaking of separate books on environmental stewardship, there are a couple listed in the Responsibility section of our influential reads list. Saving God’s Green Earth by Tri Robinson may be of particular interest.
2 | Jacob Fentress
Friday, March 20, 2009, at 9:16am
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