Environmental Stewardship

Description

The stimulus for the book came from a conference organized by the John Ray Initiative (JRI) to explore 'the Christian approach to the environment'. A clear conclusion was the need to explore and characterize 'stewardship'. This is a concept widely used by environmentalists and one which has clear biblical roots, but it is repeatedly criticized (even condemned) by those who regard any management of nature as either impious or impractical, and by others who believe it is inadequate or misleading. Five key contributions form the core of this book: a context-establishing introduction by R.J. Berry, and papers by Robin Attfield (philosopher), Murray Rae (theologian), Calvin DeWitt (biologist), and Jim Lovelock ('biogeochemist'). They are supported by other relevant material - either classic texts or contributions written or revised especially for this volume.

RJ (Sam) Berry is Professor Emeritus of Genetics at University College, London. He is both a distinguished scientist and committed Christian: he has served as President of the British Ecological Society, the European Ecological Federation and of Christians in Science.

'This book will be essential reading for any student interested in exploring environmental stewardship from a Christian perspective.' 'The galaxy of well established authors R.J. Berry has gathered for this collection will not dissapoint' 'Environmental Stewardship is a particularly valuable collection of essays, especially for students considering the benefits or otherwise of stewardship models.' 'We can thank the editor for being open enough to include a spectrum of views so that the reader can make up their own mind as to how they perceive stewardship. We could ask for no less in an edited collection.' - Celia Deane-Drummond, International Journal of Systematic Theology (IJST) -- Celia Deane-Drummond "Many of the articles are nuanced, carefully crafted, and clearly advance specific arguments in the field of environmental ethics...The text will appeal to undergraduate students in ecology and religion classes or to seminarians searching for general synopsis of this conversation."- Daniel McFee, Religious Studies Review, Vol. 33, No. 3, July 2007 -- Daniel McFee