Read this article and think…no skimming! LOL:

http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1998/PSCF3-98Ball.html

Excerpt:

This article explores how the concepts of ecology are presented and utilized in the evangelical Protestant response to the ecological crisis. It finds that there are seven basic themes in the literature: (1) etymological discussions; (2) the concepts of interdependence and balance; (3) cycles and energy flow; (4) food chain/food web/ecological pyramid; (5) carrying capacity; (6) the idea that humans are the disrupters of “nature’s” balance; and (7) the contrary idea that humans are a part of the ecosystem. In light of these themes, I make several observations. One is that the summarized findings of ecology becomes the latest version of natural theology: God’s will is for each ecosystem to be a climax ecosystem which never declines. If this is the case, then western agriculture, industry, and the use of much technology will have to be severely curtailed–a situation unacceptable to most evangelical Protestants.

Many scholars have argued that western culture, infused with a Christian understanding of the world, provided a nurturing environment for the development of science. The belief in a purposeful God, the argument goes, who gave order and coherence to the universe allowed scientists to assume that they could discover such order, such “laws.” God made a world which was consistent and real, and therefore predictable. The discipline of ecology has also benefited from Christian assumptions embedded in western culture. By the time ecology began to develop as a scientific discipline, however, these assumptions had become “secularized,” or stripped of their God-talk. In other words, early ecologists did not have to believe in a Christian God to assume that the world was orderly, consistent, real, and predictable. These beliefs had become cultural norms taken for granted by everyone in the West; they could be understood by an ecologist as simply similarities between Christianity and science, rather than shared beliefs which have their “genesis” in Christian doctrine.

Not surprisingly, it is these assumptions that evangelical Protestants emphasize when informing their audience about the concept of ecology.¹ Furthermore, probably in part because of these shared assumptions, the languages of ecology and theology are mixed together without any serious discussion about what the potential differences could be–not so much a synthesis as a bricolage. This article is an attempt to describe and analyze the concept of ecology contained in the evangelical Protestant response to the ecological crisis, and to raise questions about its use.
____________________________________________________________________________

I have a book entitled “Project Earth: Preserving the World God Created” ,

which is awesome on this topic. It’s by a bloke by the name of Willaim Badke which has also written other interesting books and has a blog here:

http://badkemeaningofeverything.blogspot.com/

another link on his work: http://www.meaningofeverything.com/

Here are some other references (skimming allowed):

http://www.earthcareonline.org/popularbooks.html

For more on these vital topics also visit these posts:

The Misuse of “Radah” (dominion)

A Biblical View of the Environment

A Christian View of the Environment

The Meaning of Genesis

Why Are We Here?

Quantum Freewill, the Breath and Spirit of God…

Doing Lunch With The Almighty

Poverty, Pollution and Environmental Racism

Eleven Inherent rules of Corporate Behavior

Is God Green?

Thank You For This Earth

Indigenous Mind

> From: S. Starr
> To: D.S. Martin
> Subject: Glory
> Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 21:28:23 -0500
>
> If creation is responsive to God, if it praises him, then it bears
> witness to some crucial realities. Creation, in fact, bears witness to at
> least four realities - That God is glorious, that God wants to nurture what
> he has made, that human beings carry a penalty for walking away from God and
> his plan for them, and that we live in a precarious universe. These might
> seem like contradictions, but they’re not.
>
> Let’s start with God’s glory. Ever wonder why so many people on the
> weekends leave the cities to find somewhere in unspoiled nature that they
> can call home for a few hours? What are they looking for? When we view it
> with eyes that see beyond the routine, creation speaks enormous volumes
> about the complexity, greatness, and wondrous power of the Creator. That’s
> why, standing in front of an unexpected waterfall or coming upon a deer in
> the woods, we get the urge to worship. Nature constantly points us beyond
> itself to the One who made it, saying, “See! See the One who’s responsible
> for all of this.”
>
> People who escape to the great outdoors may not tell you that they’re doing
> it to find God. But that is who they find.

From: D.S. Martin
Sent :	Thursday, April 27, 2006 1:01 PM
To :	“S. Starr”
Subject :	RE: Glory

I think that Mr. Eldridge (John Eldrige author of Wild At Heart and others) made use of this type of example.

It is the Creator, by His Holy Spirit, unexpectedly reaching into my soul and plucking the “Holy Chord” and as it resonates through my heart, mind and soul I will feel the urge to fall on my knees and just cry, but, not a sad cry.

This happens just as Eldridge describes it, unexpectedly; maybe a sunrise that seems to turn some surreal and unknown color that could not be duplicated on any artist’s palate no matter how many times that he tried , or sometimes when we sing a song in church that touches at the love of God and the harmony of the body all combine in a glorious crescendo.

This feeling is one of those things that I try to choke down and suffocate, if I am not alone. I sometimes think that I should just let go; that maybe I’m quenching the Holy Spirit.
DSM

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