Podcasts religion Spark Cast Stewards of Eden: What the Bible Says About Creation Care w/Sandra Richter

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

Published: July 4, 2023, 1:30 a.m.

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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. For many Christians, at the core are the beliefs that humans are separate from nature, that we are to have \\u201cdominion\\u201d over the world, that we are to subdue nature to our will and control, that the elements of this planet are a commodity to be used for all that we think that it\\u2019s worth, and that the ultimate focus of spiritual faith is the afterlife, the destination of heaven, and the salvation of our souls.

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What is profoundly tragic is that this view of faith is antithetical to what is actually taught in the biblical texts. From Genesis through Revelation, the Bible asserts that the redemption of all of creation is central to its good news, and that teaching is woven through the narratives, the law codes, the prophecies, and the theologies that we find in its writings. And our commission as human beings is to responsible stewards, to advance caretaking, protection, and sustainability of the land as fundamental to our being made in the image and likeness of God, for our existence, and our thriving.

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Dr. Sandra Richter is 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 her most recent book Stewards of Eden: What Scripture Says About The Environment and Why It Matters where she illuminates for us all of these perspectives and more. Here is my conversation with Dr. Sandra Richter.

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Resources:

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Climate Stewards Carbon Calculator for churches: https://www.climatestewards.org/carbon-calculators/

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Kevin\\u2019s Review of Stewards of Eden: https://vialogue.wordpress.com/2020/06/22/stewards-of-eden-reflections-notes/

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Co-Sponsor Via Media: https://www.viamedia.center

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