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The Care of Creation - Focusing Concern and ActionThe care of creation: focusing concern and action To understand what this book is (and what it isn't) you need to know its background. In March 1990 a World Council of Churches meeting at Seoul made a declaration on environmental issues that denied that humanity was uniquely made in the image of God. This generated an evangelical response - the Evangelical Declaration on the Care of Creation (1994). This book is a compilation of reflections by 20 theologians and environmental practitioners from an evangelical background on this document. The strengths of this book come from the high quality of the contributors. It starts with a magisterial foreword by John Stott ends with a concluding hymn by Timothy Dudley-Smith and it is almost easier to say who isn't represented in between. The writers mainly concern themselves with the declaration itself; most view it very positively but there are some interesting qualifications. There is also much on both the opposition to evangelical environmentalism from within the church and the widespread allegation that the Bible is negative towards the environment. And the weaknesses? Simply, I think that anyone who opens the book thinking that this will be the definitive text on the environment from a Christian standpoint will be disappointed. Of course, it is not that sort of book and was never meant to be. Yet if not a complete and authoritative work this present compilation is a vital step forward. The evangelical stand on the environment has gone from being an embarrassed apology for abuses in the name of God to a positive and confident assertion that only Biblical Christianity provides a firm basis to tackle our planet's growing crisis. Chris WalleyChris Walley is involved in the work of A Rocha, a Christian organisation working in environmental conservation worldwide. © Evangelicals Now - November 2000 |