Today---Tuesday, June 2---we canceled the "From the Stacks" livestream I normally do every Tuesday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Cornwall Alliance's Facebook page. Why? Well, the official explanation went like this: "Dr. E. Calvin Beisner had an unfortunate battle with poison ivy during which the poison ivy won." Various folks posted condolences and wished me well. I'm thankful for their condolences, but, really, the poison ivy didn't win. True, I'm a "wounded warrior"---you should see all the … [Read more...]
The Beautiful Bible Chapter where Gospel and Creation Care Come Together
Isaiah 55 has for over forty years been one of my favorite passages of the Bible. Its literary beauty is one reason. The promise at its conclusion that through the Messiah's redeeming work the effects of the curse will be reversed and ultimately removed is another: For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; … [Read more...]
What Does Christmas Have to Do with Ecology?
Nearly fifty years ago, historian Lynn White, Jr., published in Science magazine an article that soon became famous, was reproduced hundreds of times in anthologies and course readings, and is still in use in college courses on environmental ethics, religion, and policy. In “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis,” White claimed, “By destroying pagan animism, Christianity made it possible to exploit nature in a mood of indifference to the feelings of natural objects” and that the Bible … [Read more...]
