The Bible and ecology

the long version

Richard Bauckham embarks on a biblical investigation into the relationship between human beings and the rest of creation. Bauckham argues that there is much more to the Bible's understanding of this relationship than the mandate of human dominion given in Genesis 1--which, he writes, has too often been used as a justification for domination and exploitation of the earth's resources. Instead, Bauckham considers the ecological perspectives found in the book of Job, the Psalms, and the Gospels, all of which, he determines, require a re-evaluation of the biblical tradition of "dominion." Bauckham discovers a tradition of a "community of creation" in which human beings are fellow members with God's other creatures and true reconciliation to God involves the entire creation. --From publisher's description.