not only the parables that accent the relationship between Christian faith and the natural world. Particularly important from an eco-theological perspective, Jesus urges the disciples to “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). From these words, we are reminded that the early followers of Jesus understood that the promise of redemption and new life in the gospel message was not only about human renewal, but also about the flourishing and re-creation of all that God creates. In our time, we should also hear this as the promise of the Good News is for all creation, not just humans.
Exploring further in the New Testament, Romans 8:22–23 is often read from an eco-theological perspective:
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
In this short passage, eco-theologians suggest that “creation groaning in labor pains” can be seen as the widespread pollution of the earth. We are invited to reflect that all of creation awaited Jesus for the fulfillment of the promise of redemption.
In a remarkable bookend to the opening of the goodness of all created things in Genesis, the Bible concludes with the Revelation to John which reveals God’s hope for all creation. John the Divine is given the vision from God of a new Jerusalem where the two rivers join for a world that lives in harmony, where all the world is healed and renewed, with bright flowing clear water, and trees that support and sustain all creation.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves are for the healing of the nations.
—Revelation 22:1–2
In this closing chapter of the Bible we are reminded that through the power and majesty of God, the promise of healing and harmony for all creation awaits the entire world. God sits at the throne as abundance shines forth for all the nations.
From this very brief overview of biblical passages, we can begin to appreciate that people in biblical times didn’t need an explicit theology of the care of creation. They were deeply connected to the natural world around them, depended on the land and water to survive, and strived to live in harmony with all that God had created. From the powerful creation in Genesis, to the hope of new life for all creation, to the promise of healing in the book of Revelation, creation can thrive and flourish as God intended when harmony is achieved. In our time, for the sake of all God’s creation, we are called to retrieve and remember those shared memories from long-ago generations of connection to the world around us.
For Further Reflection:
• Read both accounts of creation: Genesis 1:1–2:3 and Genesis 2:4–24, plus Psalm 104. What are the similarities and differences in the three accounts of creation?
• How do you imagine “creation groaning in labor pains” (Romans 8:22) at the beginning of time as well as today?
2 
How did we get so far away from the centuries-old scriptural tradition steeped in nature-based biblical stories? Did we forget that humanity, for most of our existence, relied on and feared nature? Did we somehow forget that message that the Good News of Jesus was about all creation? Did we forget that humans have always counted on one another, and the earth, for survival? In this short chapter, we will briefly explore these questions on our journey to restore and reclaim a right relationship with all God’s creation.
Human Separation from God’s Creation
Theologians and historians suggest that with the Age of Enlightenment there began a separation between God and creation. In an age when reason was seen as a high value, the stories of creation having human characteristics or humans as an equal partner with all creation were dismissed. As seekers in the Enlightenment, it was believed that the essence of humankind was superior and all knowing. Humans ruled and controlled nature for their own advancement. Thomas Jefferson went so far as to rewrite his Bible to take out all the Jesus miracle stories as they couldn’t be proved or based on anything that could be reasoned.
Growing scientific knowledge created a false dichotomy between science and religion, suggesting that science could undermine scriptural and church authority. Ultimately this sensibility pitted religion and science as two different forms of understanding the world, creating uneasy relationships between the church and scientific inquiry. As science began to unearth a deeper understanding of how things were created, the Bible could no longer offer a literal narration of creation.
With the release of Charles Darwin’s On the Origins of Species in the mid-nineteenth century, an even deeper divide between faith and reason developed. Darwin’s book was a treatise on the evolution and development of species with scientific research. The book and other contemporary work undermined the concept of creationism. If science could be used to fully describe how creatures and plants were created and related to each other, what need was there to believe in a God that created and sought harmony? It is this perceived threat to the literal interpretation of the Bible that still divides American Christians, some who do not believe in the scientifically proven theory of evolution.
The Industrial Revolution seemed to exacerbate the growing separation between God and creation. With the movement in the United States toward urban areas, mass migration resulted in people moving away from agrarian lifestyles. No longer did people remember the cycles of the seasons and their dependence on good seeds, abundant rain, and fertile land for harvest. With rapid technological advances, the idea of subduing and imposing dominion over nature seemed all the more possible. Factories spewing forth air, land, and water pollution began to create a consumer-driven society.
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