What does the Bible say about the natural world and its place within God's purpose?
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible reveals a God whose creative power and loving care embrace all that exists, from earth and sky and sea to every creature. Yet the significance of the Bible's extensive teaching about the natural world is easily overlooked by Christians accustomed to focusing only on what the Bible says about God's interaction with human beings.
In Creation Care, father and son team Douglas and Jonathan Moo invite readers to open their Bibles afresh to explore a comprehensive biblical theology of creation care as well as a careful analysis of the most up-to-date scientific data about the state of our world. Following the contours of the biblical storyline, they uncover answers to questions such as:
- What is the purpose of the non-human creation?
- Can a world with things like predators, parasites, and natural disasters still be the 'good' world described in Genesis 1?
- What difference does the narrative of the 'Fall' make for humankind’s responsibility to rule over other creatures?
- What difference does Jesus make for our understanding of the natural world?
- How does our call to care for creation fit within the hope for a new heaven and a new earth?
- What is unique about Christian creation care compared with other approaches to 'environmental' issues?
- How does creation care fit within the charge to proclaim the gospel and care for the poor?
Rather than merely offering a response to environmental concerns, Creation Care invites readers into a joyful vision of the world as God's creation in which they can rediscover who they truly are as creatures called to love and serve the Creator and to delight in all he has made.
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Part of the Biblical Theology for Life series, this practical and robust book will help you develop an effective and faithful Christian response to the scriptural teaching about the created world.
Douglas J. Moo (PhD, St. Andrews) is professor of New Testament emeritus at Wheaton College.
Jonathan A. Moo (PhD, University of Cambridge) is associate professor of New Testament and environmental studies at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. In addition to his work in biblical studies, he earned a graduate degree in wildlife ecology from Utah State University and has written a number articles and books on the understanding of nature in early Judaism and Christianity. He has worked extensively with the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion in Cambridge (UK) and was a key contributor to the Lausanne Movement’s Global Consultation on Creation Care and the Gospel.
Jonathan Lunde (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Talbot School of Theology of Biola University. He is coeditor (with Kenneth Berding) of Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament and has contributed articles to The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels and the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Jon and his wife, Pamela, have three children and reside in Brea, California.
