In their recent work, Introducing Evangelical Ecotheology, the
three authors Daniel L. Brunner, Jennifer L. Butler, and A.J.
Swoboda broach the topic of ecological theology from within
evan-gelicalism, emphasizing throughout the book that theology and
practice must go hand in hand. Although this work is academic in
nature, non-academic readers will be able to appreciate and enjoy
the authors work due to the books overall readability. The books
content is structured as four main sections containing a total of
ten chapters: part IWhy Ecotheology?; part IIExploring Ecotheology;
part IIIDoing Ecotheology; and part IVLast Things. It is apparent
that the three authors were intentional about not only
the-ologizing, but also moving from the theoretical to the concrete
by emphasizing the need for praxis. Rather than summarizing each of
the ten chap-ters, I will look at the key strengths and weak-nesses
of the work as a whole while summarizing the four main
sections.
Part I (chaps. 1-3) lays a foundation for the whole of the book
by giving the justification for the project, while also discussing
the complex problems the three authors faced in writing this
project together. The last half of Part I speaks to the authors
hermeneutical underpinnings and convictions for caring for the
earth by giving a vision for the future. Although this section
helps
William Carey International Development Journal Vol 4, Issue 1:
Spring 2015
Brunner, Butler, and Swoboda: Introducing Evangelical
Ecotheology: Foundations in Scripture, Theology, History, and
PraxisAndrew Ray Williams
Andrew Ray Williams is the Associate Pastor at Foursquare Church
on the Hill in Fishersville, Virginia and a graduate student at
Regent Universitys School of Divinity. He is a contributor to
Thinktheology.org.
lay a rationale for the development and structure of the work, I
found this particular section as a whole tiresome through its
inclusion of an exces-sive number of anecdotes. In my estimation,
the authors could have compressed the Introduction (Chapter 1) to
contain the general overview of the books structure and the main
points of Chapter 2, including the core methodological and
her-meneutical reasons for caring for the earth. With that said,
Chapter 3 was helpful by providing a comprehensive overview of
Creations groaning, and some of the current indications of
ecological degradation.
The second section, part II (chaps. 4-6), investigates a range
of historical and theological reflections for constructing an
evangelical eco-theology. This section begins with history quickly
moving to theology, and suggesting ways that various understandings
of Christian theology such as the Trinity, Christology and
pneuma-tology and doctrines of creation, sin, salvation, redemption
and eschatology influence how evan-gelicals construct an
ecotheology and care for the earth based on that understanding.
This sec-tion in particular lays important groundwork to provide a
historical and theological framework to work within for further
development of ecothe-ology. I found this section particularly
insightful. The authors construct robust theologies compat-
William Carey International Development JournalVol 4, Issue 1:
Spring 2015
www.wciujournal.org
Winter: When Both Business and Mission Fall Short 58
ible with current ecological considerations and also re-imagine
various doctrines by approaching them with a green hermeneutic.
In part III (chaps. 7-9), the authors move to discussing how
theology can translate to praxis for individual Christians and
churches in the twenty-first century. This section discusses how
ecologi-cal practice comes through an ecological mindset. Further,
this section moves onto giving suggested practical steps to
individuals and churches on how to green the body of Christ as a
whole. This section is helpful in that it gives a practical vision
for how the Church at large can make a differ-ence today through
eco-friendly practices. What I particularly appreciated about this
section was how it shows that good theology always translates into
good praxis. It was also refreshing to see theolo-gians avoid
theologizing for its own sake by pro-viding helpful practices that
all Christians can take up for the good of all of Creation.
The last section, part IV, contains the final chapter (chap. 10)
and serves as a final reflection for the authors to discuss how to
live in the hope of Christ as Christians serve as His stewards of
the earth. This section concludes on an important con-sideration:
the authors discuss how often feelings of defeat and hopelessness
can come as a result of the projected ecological ruin, yet they
also move onto encouraging the people of God to set their minds and
hearts on the hope that Christians have in the transformative power
of Christ.
In sum, the authors goal, to broach the topic of ecological
theology from within evangelical-ism, was accomplished well
overall. In my estima-tion, the authors contribute a concise yet
carefully thorough introduction to evangelical ecotheology.
Considering that evangelicalism is a broad, ecu-menical movement,
the three authors represent the movement well by finding what is
common among all streams, yet underlining the various tension
points that come as a result of being a part of a large and diverse
movement. I highly recommend this book for all peoplewhether in
undergradu-ate, seminary, or church settingsfor it breaks new
ground in the development of a distinctly evangeli-cal ecotheology,
which is vital in the movement for
today and in the years to come. ReferenceBrunner, Daniel L.,
Jennifer L. Butler, and A J. Swo-
boda, Introducing Evangelical Ecotheology: Foun-dations in
Scripture, Theology, History, and Praxis. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Academic, 2014
