Hope for God’s Creation: Stewardship in an Age of Futility

HOPE FOR GOD'S CREATION: Stewardship in an Age of Futility by Andrew J. Spencer. B&H Academic, 2023. 240 pages including indices. Paperback; $24.99. ISBN: 9781087751474. *Andrew Spencer, who blogs at ethicsandculture.com, has a PhD in theological studies, serves as a supervisor of operations training at a nuclear power plant, and is a senior research fellow for the Institute of Faith, Work, and Economics. His 2023 book Hope for God's Creation takes on a difficult task: defining and expanding a Christian environmental ethic based on orthodox, theologically conservative doctrine. Creation should be stewarded with hope even though we are currently in an age when it is subject to futility (Rom. 8:19-21). Overall, Spencer offers a strong theological basis for creation care to an American evangelical readership. *The book considers four major doctrines: Revelation, Creation, Anthropology, and Eschatology. In "Part I: The Background of Creation Care," Spencer describes reasons for creation care, dangers of "environmental entanglement," and a history of humanity and the environment. Christians need to transpose doctrine to action, applying the theocentric approach of ancient Christianity to modern questions, because ethics should flow from theology rather than the other way around. Spencer repeatedly warns that it is dangerous to entangle Christian belief with environmentalism: the fusion could result in pantheism, contentious issues, and progressive causes such as the liberal social gospel becoming our focus instead. However, Spencer concedes that other ideas, such as libertarian economics, American representative democracy, and even opposition to climate change theories, can also become ultimate values in people's minds and distract from the gospel. *In a summary of the history of environmentalism, Spencer responds to Lynn White Jr.'s famous 1967 essay, "The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,"1 in which White claimed that ecological problems are rooted in European medieval Christianity because it was an extremely anthropogenic religion. Spencer disagrees, explaining that environmental degradation did not begin in the Middle Ages nor is it found only in Christianized parts of the world. Elsewhere, Spencer attributes environmental degradation to a variety of problems: universal human sin, devaluation of creation, modernity, and over-prioritization of economic concerns. *"Part 2: A Theology of Creation Care" relates some classic theological doctrines to creation care. The doctrine of Revelation says that God speaks truth through the special revelation of scripture and the general revelation of the whole of creation. Scripture is true, trustworthy, and authoritative. It tells us that the path to salvation is through Jesus Christ, but it is not comprehensive. The doctrine of Creation holds that the inherent value of all creation derives from its relationship with the creator. The natural world reflects God's glory, fulfilling the purpose for which he intended it, and science allows us to study it in detail. Biblical passages suggest that the curse on the ground after the Fall is both because of human sin and for the good of humans, to draw us to the truth of Christ (e.g., Rom. 8:18-25). *Unlike other creatures, we humans sin, reflect on our lives, have a God-given role as stewards, and bear the imago Dei. The doctrine of Anthropology says that we are God's stewards, part of God's great plan of restoration. The goal of humanity is to glorify God as we cultivate creation and work toward shalom. Eschatology, the doctrine of the end times, completes the arc of creation--from a garden with a tree of life and a river, through sin and the wilderness, to redemption with a heavenly city with wildlife, cultivation, technology, and humans. Some people read the Bible to say that the creation will be completely destroyed and a new one made, while others view the earth's end as a fiery purging of evil and the renewal of the current creation in a glorified form. Spencer argues for creation care regardless of your beliefs about God's plan for the end times. He suggests using Francis Schaeffer's term "substantial healing" to describe the Christian task of counteracting effects of the Fall such as injustice, pollution, disease, and poverty. *Spencer lays out ways to live out the mandate for creation care in "Part 3: The Practice of Creation Care." He describes the tension between American culture's individualism and collective action, saying that, just as the Israelites cared for the city of their exile (Jer. 29:7), so Christians should pursue justice and human flourishing for all. He refers to Schaeffer's concept of the church as a "pilot plant," a scaled-down version of the world in which broken relationships are healed. We become more Christlike by doing Christlike acts; as we bring new Christians into faithful acts, we disciple them in the faith as well. Spencer suggests that readers who still are unconvinced about the science of climate change could think of Pascal's wager; we should lower our carbon footprint regardless, since the costs of being wrong are high and many solutions to climate change result in other benefits. *Christians are called to hope in a world full of despair. Spencer advocates for a local focus in which we form a love of place and connection with our neighbors. Resisting the constant pressure to purchase more will leave us more content and less harried. We can make our churches and communities more efficient and intentional in several ways. Spencer himself planted part of his church property in wildflowers to promote pollinators, and he participates in neighborhood clean-ups, working with nonbelievers on projects where his values align with theirs. Spencer resists efforts by extremists to control people's behavior by proposed legislation such as the Green New Deal, advocating instead for balanced regulation that uses incentives to motivate and to drive innovation. *Throughout the book Spencer highlights several themes. One is how Christians have related to the environment. He claims variously that theological conservatives have had an interest in creation care like that of the culture at large, but most people are too involved in their own lives to lead any movement. He accedes that care for creation is not a feature of Western, modern cultural Christianity. *Another theme is concern over the danger of becoming too focused on ideas such as the social gospel of Protestant liberalism and losing focus on the gospel and our identity as Christians. Spencer argues that the abandonment of environmentalism by Christians occurred when strident environmentalists tied care of the environment to other causes. *The nature of science is another book-wide theme. Spencer cautions against scientism, a dangerous philosophy that holds that the only truth that can be discovered is found by study of the material universe. Instead, science is limited; it cannot tell us what to value or what is right or wrong. New scientific discoveries do not threaten our faith because our faith equips us to deal with any new topic, including environmental changes. However, Spencer sometimes describes science negatively--as robbing us of wonder at nature, allowing despoiling of nature, and contributing to the environmental crisis. *Hope for God's Creation makes a compelling argument for creation care that is consistent with theologically orthodox doctrines in a way that suggests kindness, love, and hope. Nonetheless, to people who do not need to be convinced, some of the book might seem repetitive and defensive. Spencer's repeated defense of Christianity against blame for environmental problems, his description of science, and his fear of the danger of liberal values may deter people concerned about the synergistic effects of environmental degradation, poverty, displacement, and other harms to human flourishing. *Spencer does not say much about the Christian mandate to care for the poor, typically a major part of any discussion about creation care theology. He also does not mention the differential effects of environmental degradation on poor or racial minorities. Neither does he talk about evangelical brothers and sisters around the world. There is no mention of the World Evangelical Alliance, Lausanne Movement, or the many Christian organizations working globally on creation care issues. *Spencer cites Francis Schaeffer to represent Christian environmental ethics, and Katherine Hayhoe, contemporary climate scientist and Christian, to represent current Christian environmental concepts. However, he does not cite many prominent theological writers or engage with some of the doctrines one might expect in this discussion, such as the Kingdom of God or the nature of the Church. Perhaps in a follow-up book, Spencer may address how orthodox doctrines transpose into action in a world in which the majority of Christians are not American. For his target audience, evangelical Christian Americans, though, this book is a valuable contribution. *Note *1Lynn White Jr., "The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis," Science 155, no. 3767 (1967): 1203-7, https://archive.org/details/HistoricalRootsOfEcologicalCrisisV. *Reviewed by Dorothy Boorse, professor of biology, Gordon College, Wenham, MA 01984.