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The Green Bible

The Green Bible. Some basic principles. God is creator, we are creatures The earth belongs to God (Ps 24.1, Lev 25.23) God is the first gardener (Gen 2.8) In Christ the creation is renewed (Romans 8 vs Genesis 2) The promised land is the vision. Therefore the land mourns…. Common language

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The Green Bible

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  1. The Green Bible LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  2. Some basic principles • God is creator, we are creatures • The earth belongs to God (Ps 24.1, Lev 25.23) • God is the first gardener (Gen 2.8) • In Christ the creation is renewed (Romans 8 vs Genesis 2) • The promised land is the vision LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  3. Therefore the land mourns… • Common language • Examples: Hosea 4, Jeremiah 4 • Link with sin • (cursed is the ground because of you) • No separation between creature and creation • (that’s gnosticism) LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  4. Three tools: • Idolatry • Wrath • Eschatology LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  5. This is how you should farm: • Do not reap to the edge of your field (Lev 19.9) • Do not harvest fruit for four years (Lev 19.23) • The Jubilee – do not farm! • Radical trust in God’s provision • But.. But.. But… LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  6. What are our motivations? • Hunger? • Fear? • Greed? • Let us consider Baal LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  7. Baalism • Canaanite fertility God • Entry of Israel is clash of YHWH with Baal • Cultic prostitution • Control of fertility • Driven by…? LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  8. Contemporary Baalism • A form of idolatry • The world belongs to us • We have the power to remake it • Control of fertility by own efforts • Systematic exploitation • Rooted in lack of trust • Hunger? Fear? Greed? LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  9. Examples • Monoculture • Factory farming • Fossil fuelled fertiliser • “Agribusiness” • ie motivated by corporate priorities not organic priorities • ‘strip-mining the soil’ LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  10. Wrathful consequences • Disease • CJD? Salmonella? Avian flu? • Loss of topsoil • 30-40t/ha average in 3rd world • 17t/ha in US (source:Pimentel) • 4.3m km² lost over 40yrs (=30%) LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  11. nothing beside remains… LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  12. Wrathful consequences • Disease • CJD? Salmonella? Avian flu? • Loss of topsoil • 30-40t/ha average in 3rd world • 17t/ha in US (source:Pimentel) • Dependence upon fossil fuels • GM contamination? LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  13. If you defile the land, it will vomit you out (Lev 18.28) LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  14. Wider issues • How to live within the world • World – and creatures – as inherently worthy of respect (Job 40/41) • Environmental crisis as symptom of spiritual crisis LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  15. Environmental crisis • Creation has integrity • Scientific revolution undermines this • The idol called techne • Sapientia not scientia • We are radically anti-phronetic • Consequences are all around us LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  16. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth. Revelation 11.18 LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  17. Eschatology • Putting on the armour of light • Shifting to Kingdom patterns of life • Being at peace in creation • Dominion (stewardship, creation-care) • Not domination • The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  18. Specifically • Learning how to garden • Applying those principles more widely • Eg organic, but local more important • Consume less • Walk lightly on the earth LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  19. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chron 7.13-14) LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

  20. Wendell Berry Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts. LUBH 7 – The Green Bible

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