I've just finished reading Tony Campolo's "How to Rescue the Earth without Worshiping Nature". While I don't agree with all of his theology, the book is still a great work that adds real insight into the Christian's responsibility in ecology. The following are quotes that I really liked (I left out the ones I didn't!).

If you want to get a copy of the book, I highly recommend it.
Published by Thomas Nelson, (c) 1992.


"...we are to take what God has provided, nurture it, care for it, and enable it to produce more than might be otherwise expected. Irrational abuse of nature is not permitted. Ignoring our responsibility to protect nature and failing to nurture nature to abundance are clearly sins. According to the Scriptures, as interpreted by the followers of Calvin, we are not only to preserve nature, but we are to make it even more beautiful and fruitful than it was when we received it from God.

It is that kind of joyful, satisfying, caring relationship that God wills for each of us to have with His creation. God, according to Calvin's thinking, wants us to become partners with Him in making His creation increasingly beautiful and fruitful. He expects us to guard it and deliver it up to Him in glorious, renewed form at the end of history." (pp. 24,25)



"...Christians worship a Jesus who could talk to the wind and the waves (Matthew 8:23-27), who considered lilies to be more filled with 'glory' than anything we humans might create (Matthew 6:28-29), and who is a spiritual presence through whom everything in the universe is held together (Colossians 1:16-17)." (p. 27)



"A world without God is not viewed with a sense of awe. A universe in which His presence is not felt is doomed to abuse. Such a world is primarily the creation of science. The theologians did not produce the chemicals that we have pumped into the air. Priests and rabbis did not create the plastics that clog our rivers and choke the dolphins. It was science -- or more specifically, a particular kind of science." (p. 31)



"I [Tony Campolo] am suggesting that, just as the first Adam's sin permeated nature and fostered violence and death, so the righteous 'shalom' of the second Adam, as expressed through those who are willing to be channels of it, can permeate nature, bring healing to it, and restore something of its former glory." (p. 81)



"The Covenant --
- I commit myself to a life of personal purity and spirituality.

- I commit myself to being a co-laborer together with Christ in rescuing all of creation from injustices, pollution, and other works of the Evil One.

- I believe in the truths of the Apostles' Creed. Therefore, I believe that God created both the heavens and the earth and all the creatures therein. I will not kill animals needlessly nor for entertainment. Instead, I will care for animals and assure food and shelter for all creatures for which I have accepted responsibility.

- I promise to be loyal to the church and to encourage the local congregation to which I belong to be faithful in declaring God's salvation both for persons and for the structures of society.

- To achieve the aims of this covenant, I commit myself to regular prayer and to a support group that will keep me faithful to its principles."
(pp. 105,106)



"If we in the church do not act, other religious groups, such as the New Age movement, will step in and usurp a cause to which God has called us. We know that the New Agers have already become identified with the call to ecological salvation. Their talk of "Mother Earth" and their theology of 'Gaia' have become part of the dialogue on environmental concerns. We cannot let those who embrace a pagan religion take charge of a movement that will be a major conern of most enlightened people for the next couple of decades.

Christians must set the agenda. We are the people who must declare the salvation of God for the cosmos. The church must lead the way for ecological renewal. God has commissioned His people to be the agents through whom He rescues this world from its polluted condition (Romans 8:19-23). Let us be faithful." (p. 153)



"Saving planet earth is God's work. He is the author and finisher of our salvation and the salvation of our planet (Hebrews 12:2). Any theology or philosophy that suggests that we alone determine the fate of the planet plays to our arrogant tendencies and leads us into sin." (p. 185)




"I [Tony Campolo] believe that a repentant people who have yielded their lives to Christ will find the strength to exercise the kind of self-control that the world needs. In Him, we will be able to escape the bondage to the culturally prescribed consumeristic life-style that has brought us to the brink of environmental disaster. I believe that in Him, we will be able to reject the comforts which we wrongly believe are both necessary and desirable. I believe that in His power, we will be able to opt for a thoughtful, careful way of living which will make concern for others and a sensitivity to God's creation the basic motivations for all that we will and do.

Those who would save the environment must themselves be saved. Those who would see a new heaven and a new earth that is full of His beauty and glory must, themselves, be filled with His beauty and glory.

The environment has an awesome resilience if we just give it a chance." (p. 199)