An Environmental Ethic for the End of the World

Book excerpt: Is there a place for religious texts in today?ÇÖs global environmental conversation? Some have claimed over the centuries that the Bible has given humans license to devastate the world of nature. Can those same texts be a source of ecological healing? This book investigates Romans 8:19-22, Paul?ÇÖs enigmatic passage about ?ǣcreation groaning out in travail?ǥ, which comes at the conclusion of his long Christological discourse. His inclusion of nature in the Christ event is both unprecedented and has baffled scholars for centuries. Could Genesis provide the explanation? Four relationships shape the creation stories. Prior to the fall of Adam and Eve, human beings are said to live in harmony with God, with themselves, with one another, and with the world of nature. As humans disobey God, each of these relationships unravels, climaxing with the cursing of nature itself. Is this paradigm in the background of Paul?ÇÖs Christology? Read this way, Paul?ÇÖs midrash on the story of creation in light of the Christ event provides deep insight into the biblical role of humans and their instrumentality in bringing both harm and healing to the world of nature.