Thanks to generosity of David Johnston I have a copy of chapter 16 of Ellen Davis’ book Getting Involved with God. Here’s my review:
Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament by Ellen Davis
- Chapter 16 – “Good-faith Springs Up from the Earth: Learning Ecology from the Bible”
Thesis – The Bible equips us theologically to think ecologically about the world.
Overview
The Old Testament, and the creation narratives in particular, have a prophetic call for the church around the ecological crisis of our day. Ecology is the “study of relationships” (185) and the OT is all about our relationships – human, divine, and creation. We learn that we are humans made of humus and as such have a unique responsibility with and for the soil. We are to “work” and “watch over” (192) the earth. This is a call to righteousness – or right-living and right relationship – for the sake of others, particularly those who are dependent upon us. Our right relationships then have direct implications for how we grow and eat food. There are, not surprisingly, props given to Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson.
Quotables
“The Bible can teach us or (better, perhaps) help us to understand all the fundamentals of ecology. The Bible can enable us to graps the depth dimensions of the ecological crisi because the ecological crisis is essentially not a technological crisis, but a theological one. It is a massive disordering in our relationshi with God, the Creator of heaven and earth.” (185)
“The religiously resonant language of this first job description from Eden suggests the remarkable teaching that in showing proper regard for the fertile earth, we meet the two great goals of all Torah observance: serving God and protecting the week. This indeed is Torah of the earth.” (195)
Notoable References
Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson, eds., Meeting the Expectations of the Land (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1984).
Implications
First, I need to say that reading this one chapter makes me really want to read the rest of the book. I have a growing respect for how God interacts with Israel and creation in the Hebrew Bible. My hunch is that this book would provide both a great overview of the OT and the implications for ecology theologically composed. I’ve also come to hold Ellen Davis in the same mental category as Walter Brueggemann and John Goldingay as preeminent and helpful scholars and guides for the OT.
Second, I this chapter is a great foundational piece for how to conceive of our relationship to God and creation – all within the framework of a careful reading of the Bible. One would be hard pressed to assume that this is simply a liberal, left-leaning diatribe about “saving the earth.” Our care and tending of creation – the soil, in particular – bespeaks of our core values and beliefs in much the same way as our checking account is a theological statement about what we really believe and value.
