From Nature to Creation (The Church and Postmodern Culture)

"Norman Wirzba writes with verve, alacrity, and theological sensitivity in laying out particular arguments for bringing back the importance of creation for a theological anthropology relevant to earth ethics. Wirzba is careful to trace the history of ideas and show us their philosophical underpinnings, while illuminating our current impoverished condition. He is persuasive in noting the cultural need for a movement away from the disorientation resulting from an 'eclipse of creation' toward an orientation that is rooted in a profound understanding of creatureliness. This book will be valuable not only for individuals but also in a variety of ecclesial as well as educational settings."

"With insightful analysis and lucid prose Norman Wirzba offers a winsome argument for reimagining the natural world as creation--lovingly made, sustained, and redeemed by the triune God. From Nature to Creation expertly traces how major trends in contemporary culture undermine the possibility of care for creation. Most importantly, this book not only persuasively shows how the felt absence of God and the pervasive degradation of the world are linked but also compellingly demonstrates how we may love God and embrace our creatureliness in ways that are faithful and life-giving for all of God's creatures. Few books I have read of late are as timely as this."

"In this, his most important book yet, Norman Wirzba asks the simple question: What difference would it make if we thought of the earth not as nature but as creation? His answer--that 'this is the world in which God delights . . . the world we are called to love'--challenges everyone. Certainly it challenges those who would reduce creation to 'natural resources.' But it also is a profound challenge to Christians who see our creaturely life as a preparation for heaven. Rather, as Wirzba concludes, creation is 'heaven's earthly life.' Drawing with magisterial and eloquent scholarship on a vast range of sources across both Christian and secular thought, Wirzba calls us to attentiveness, to rootedness--and above all, to gratitude. All we human creatures need to hear the message of this very fine book."

"The very moment we humans have become the single most decisive force of nature itself is the moment that creation beloved of God has been eclipsed as the heart of our relationship with all that exists. Yet as commercialized nature and utilitarian thinking poison the planet and change the climate, what could be more important than 'creation' as the gracious way we live? No one is better than Wirzba in describing modernity's idolatrous and disastrous course and offering a Christian understanding of creation as the antidote."

"This is not a book about polar bears, parakeets, or some new scheme for 'saving the earth.' It is a book about why Christians need to reclaim 'the human art of creaturely life.' Wirzba shows why creation, incarnation, and redemption are intricately bound up in bodies--our own, other creatures', and the earth's--and why if we're to care for those bodies we need to adopt an 'iconic vision of the world' that only Jesus makes possible. A deeply hopeful book written in prose both artful and lucid, this confirms Norman Wirzba's place as one of the finest theologians writing today."

"Today, humans stand amid dirty water, inhale toxic air, and watch majestic mountains crumble to feed our energy addictions. Is this what the psalmist envisioned when he wrote that creation declares God's glory? I think not. Thankfully, Christians have resources like Norman Wirzba's From Nature to Creation to help guide us through these turbulent times. In a moment when conversations about environmental stewardship have become divisive and polarizing, Wirzba offers a level-headed 'peace; be still.' He reminds Christians that our world was created and is sustained by an intentional Craftsman who has asked us to steward it well. Wirzba's words are fertile soil, fresh air, and a bountiful harvest that will stir your passion for creation and stoke your love for the Creator. From Nature to Creation is a soon-to-be-classic text on the theology of creation, and it has come to us not a moment too soon."

"In this wise, prophetic, and expansive book, Norman Wirzba offers us an extended meditation on creation with compelling eloquence. Here is a theology that is (literally) grounded in the gift of soil. A multidisciplinary treatise expertly engaging philosophy, theology, literature, and ecology, this book moves effortlessly from postmodern theory to agricultural policy, from biblical interpretation to gardening, from economics to a spirituality of gratitude. Wirzba invites us into a world of interdependent intimacy, sympathy, hospitality, delight, and love. This book is a generous gift that bears witness to a world characterized as gift."

"In this brief book, Norman Wirzba casts a profound vision of creaturely life, of what it means to live as creatures within an interconnected creation that embodies the love and goodness of the Creator. Standing in stark contrast to modern philosophical conceptions of nature, Wirzba's work is sure to inspire a wave of theological explorations in both the academy and the church."

Praise for the Series:

"[This] series is not just a good idea; it is actually essential. If mission, liturgy, and pastoral care are to be effective today, then churches need a better understanding of so-called postmodern culture as something to be reckoned with and sometimes resisted. Increasingly, there is an educated interest in religion, but there is also a need to be well-informed about postmodern thought and its very complex relation both to postmodern culture (to which it is often actually hostile) and to religion. Again the need is for a critical appreciation--not dismissal and not empty adulation. This series aims to provide this in an accessible manner. I am convinced that the main ideas of postmodernism are actually not as 'difficult' as people suppose and that a clear and simple presentation of them actually assists wider cultural discussion. An additional purpose of the series is to introduce to a wider audience theologies that are already trying critically to assimilate the postmodern turn. Since some of these are intensely focused on the importance of 'church,' it is crucial that this occur. Although it is already happening, it needs to crystallize. This series may be just the thing to bring it about."