Stewards of Eden: What the Bible Says About Creation Care w/Sandy Richter

Our worsening ecological crisis is wreaking havoc all over the world and is increasingly threatening the viability of life on this planet. But while this continued degradation of pollution and extraction is advanced through political policies and social practices, the root problem is truly a philosophical and spiritual deficiency. At the core are the beliefs that humans are separate from nature, that we are to have “dominion” over the world, that all of nature is a commodity to be used, and that the world is not as important as the afterlife, the metaphysical destination of “heaven.” What is most astonishingly tragic is that this view of faith is antithetical to what is actually taught in the biblical texts. In this conversation, we will exhort all of us to think better about our understandings, interpretations, and behaviors that stem from the Bible, a text and tradition that advanced stewardship and care of the land as fundamental to our existence and thriving.
Dr. Sandra Richter (www.westmont.e...) has an M.Div from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in Hebrew Bible from the Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations Department. Sandy is currently the Robert H. Gundry Chair of Biblical Studies at Westmont College and the author The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament, and Stewards of Eden: What Scripture Says About The Environment and Why It Matters.
Co-sponsor: Via Media (www.viamedia.c...)