Earthkeeping and Character

Steven Bouma-Prediger

Description

Addressing a topic of growing and vital concern, this book asks us to reconsider how we think about the natural world and our place in it. Steven Bouma-Prediger brings ecotheology into conversation with the emerging field of environmental virtue ethics, exploring the character traits and virtues required for Christians to be responsible keepers of the earth and to flourish in the challenging decades to come. He shows how virtue ethics can enrich Christian environmentalism, helping readers think and act in ways that rightly value creation.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 19 novembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781493410743
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2020 by Steven Bouma-Prediger
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-1074-3
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled Message are from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Scripture quotations labeled RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Chapter 1 quotes from the poems “Whatever Is Foreseen in Joy” and “The Clearing Rests in Song and Shade,” copyright © 2013 by Wendell Berry, from This Day: Collected & New Sabbath Poems . Reprinted by permission of Counterpoint Press.
Material from pages 15–18, 31–35, 43–46, and 100–101 also appears in Steven Bouma-Prediger, “The Character of Earthkeeping: A Christian Ecological Virtue Ethic,” in For the Love of the World: Dialog in Ecotheology , ed. Alan Padgett and Kiara Jorgenson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2019). Used with permission.
Dedication
To my mother, Jean Prediger, and in memory of my father, Curtis Prediger, with gratitude for lives well lived
Contents
Cover i
Title Page ii
Copyright Page iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgments vii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction: Ecological Ethics Reframed 1
1. Mapping the Territory: On Virtue and Vice 7
2. Living with Amazement and Modesty: Wonder and Humility 29
3. Living with Strength of Mind and Discernment: Self-Control and Wisdom 51
4. Living with Respect and Care: Justice and Love 75
5. Living with Fortitude and Expectation: Courage and Hope 103
6. Digging In: Becoming a Person of Character 127
Appendix: A Brief Survey of Christian Environmental Virtue Ethics 145
Notes 153
Bibliography 177
Scripture Index 194
Subject and Name Index 196
Back Cover 199
Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge with gratitude a number of people who helped me with this book. Their comments, questions, and suggestions improved both its substance and its style. First, my fellow members of the Religion Department at Hope College, in our departmental colloquia, read and discussed various chapters of this book and offered much sound advice. Many thanks to Barry Bandstra, Wayne Brouwer, Angela Carpenter, Jenny Everts, Steve Hoogerwerf, Lynn Japinga, Phil Munoa, Jared Ortiz, Rakesh Peter Dass, Jeff Tyler, and Boyd Wilson. It is a privilege to work with such talented scholars, committed teachers, and supportive colleagues.
And a hearty thank you to all at Hope College whose vision and diligence have made it such a wonderful place to write a book such as this—past presidents Jim Bultman and Dennis Voskuil, former provost Rich Ray and current department chairperson Jeff Tyler, longtime office manager Pamela Valkema and die-hard third shift Lubbers Hall janitor Scott Plaster, to name just a few.
I have had the opportunity to try out various parts of this book at venues all over North America. Thank you to the following for their invitations: Ted Koontz and Janeen Bertsche Johnson at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Markku and Leah Kostamo at A Rocha Canada, Fred Van Dyke and Jon Terry at the Au Sable Institute for Environmental Studies, Darin Davis at Baylor University, Roland Hoksbergen and Matt Heun and Dave Koetje and David Smith and Dave Warners for various events at Calvin College, Matt Bonzo at Cornerstone University, Richard Middleton at Northeastern Seminary, Sid Ypma and Paul Heintzman at the University of Ottawa, Loren Wilkinson at Regent College in Vancouver, BC, Derek McNeil at the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, Mark Liederbach and Seth Bible at Southeastern Baptist Theology Seminary, Richard Kyte at Viterbo University, and Jonathan Moo at Whitworth University. Many people—too numerous to mention here—have offered their comments at conferences and gatherings at which I was speaking about some part of this book. Thank you one and all for your kind invitations and the many insights that came from being with you.
A number of brave souls (bless them, good scholar-friends) read the entire manuscript and offered their comments. Special thanks to Steve Hoogerwerf, David Stubbs, and Brian Walsh. This book is much better because of your insightful comments and perceptive questions.
A big thank you to former Hope student Lauren Madison, who served as my research assistant for two summers and whose very fine work has been incorporated into this book, especially in chapter five. My gratitude, also, to many other students whom I have had the privilege to teach—at Hope and on other college and university campuses here in North America and in Belize and New Zealand. Your questions and comments on the ideas I develop in this book have, among other things, reminded me of the timeliness of this topic.
The good folks at Baker Academic have once again been a joy to work with. Melisa Blok, Erika Genz, Bob Hosack, Regula Noetzli, and Mason Slater have, each in their own way, helped make the publication of this book possible. And I am sure there are others there whose labors on my behalf I do not know. To all of you at Baker Academic, thank you very much.
As with all my previous books, I owe a debt of gratitude to my wife, Celaine, and my daughters Anna, Chara, and Sophia. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
This book is dedicated, with much gratitude, to my mother and in memory of my father—exemplars of many of the virtues central to the Christian faith. May each of us be inspired by someone we know whose life embodies the dispositions we need in order to be caretakers of God’s good earth.
Abbreviations
General alt. altered chap(s). chapter(s) ed(s). edition(s) e.g. for example esp. especially et al. and others i.e. that is p(p). page(s) rev. revised trans. translation v(v). verse(s) vol(s). volume(s)
Old Testament Gen. Genesis Exod. Exodus Lev. Leviticus Num. Numbers Deut. Deuteronomy Josh. Joshua Judg. Judges Ruth Ruth 1–2 Sam. 1–2 Samuel 1–2 Kings 1–2 Kings 1–2 Chron. 1–2 Chronicles Ezra Ezra Neh. Nehemiah Esther Esther Job Job Ps./Pss. Psalm/Psalms Prov. Proverbs Eccles. Ecclesiastes Song Song of Songs Isa. Isaiah Jer. Jeremiah Lam. Lamentations Ezek. Ezekiel Dan. Daniel Hosea Hosea Joel Joel Amos Amos Obad. Obadiah Jon. Jonah Mic. Micah Nah. Nahum Hab. Habakkuk Zeph. Zephaniah Hag. Haggai Zech. Zechariah Mal. Malachi
New Testament Matt. Matthew Mark Mark Luke Luke John John Acts Acts Rom. Romans 1–2 Cor. 1–2 Corinthians Gal. Galatians Eph. Ephesians Phil. Philippians Col. Colossians 1–2 Thess. 1–2 Thessalonians 1–2 Tim. 1–2 Timothy Titus Titus Philem. Philemon Heb. Hebrews James James 1–2 Pet. 1–2 Peter 1–3 John 1–3 John Jude Jude Rev. Revelation
Introduction
Ecological Ethics Reframed
What sort of person would do a thing like that?
Thomas Hill Jr. 1
But lacking the qualities of virtue, can we do the difficult things that will be necessary to live within the boundaries of the earth?
David Orr 2
What Sort of Person?
The day was picture perfect. A brilliant sun was shimmying up a clear blue sky, birds were singing to their hearts’ content, and the temperature was in the low fifties. My group of hikers—five Hope College students and one other instructor on a ten-day canoeing and backpacking expedition in the Adirondacks of upstate New York, as part of a May-term course called Ecological Theology and Ethics—broke camp and hit the trail toward our evening’s destination. As we rounded the bend in the rocky trail, we could not believe what met our eyes. The campsite by the trail was trashed. Litter was everywhere. Half-burned wood from the fire ring was strewn hither and yon. Large pieces of metal, hard to identify, were leaning up against an old log lean-to that was thoroughly inscribed with knife carvings. Birch trees were stripped of their bark all the way around. After a long astonished silence, one of my students uttered the words in my mind: “What sort of person would do a thing like that?” What kind of person would trash such a beautiful place? With this heartfelt cry, my student gave voice to an ancient but until recently neglected approach to ethics: virtue ethics. Ecological virtue ethics to be precise.
Thomas Hill had a similar experience. That is, he found himself uttering the same probing question: What sort of person would do a thing like that? In 1983 Hill, a philosopher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, authored an essay now recognized as pivotal in the development of contemporary environmental virtue ethics. Hill writes:
A wealthy eccentric bought a house in a neighborhood I know. The house was surrounded by a beautiful display of grass, plants, and flowers, and it was shaded by a huge old avocado tree. But the grass required cutting, the flowers needed tending, and the man wanted more sun. So he cut the whole lot down and covered the yard with asphalt. . . .
It was a small operation, but it reminded me of the strip mining of large sections of the Appalachians. In both cases, of course, there were reasons for the destructio