I’m working my way through Asian Christian Theology: Evangelical Perspectives, which is a very rewarding process, although it’s a little hard work at times.
One of the chapters which has impressed me the most was the one on a theology of creation. Here is a selection of quotes which will give you a taste of what I’m reading at the moment.
As a theologian, I see the urgent need for us to search for a biblical theology of creation that will relevantly address this situation, as well as clearly remind us of our responsibility.
God’s creative activity has a purpose behind it, a redemptive mission which is unfolded through his covenant.
However, despite creation’s fallenness, God’s continued dealings with humankind are clearly depicted in the Old Testament. He is still Lord of creation. If the earth and all that is in it belongs to God, there ought to be some way in which we who are God’s people must be responsible for this earth. What should be our attitude?
The endless plundering of the earth to reap maximum benefits is wrong. Even the earth has been shown to need its rest. We have no problems accepting that the Sabbath was a divine institution for human beings, but, interestingly, the Year of Jubilee extends the privilege of the Sabbath rest even to the land: “The land is to have a year of rest” (Lev 25:5).
Idolatry is disobedience. Today’s ecological devastation is a consequence of human disobedience, the unwillingness of human beings to give heed to the Creator God and his commands.
Any theology that abandons God’s desires for the present creation will diminish the significance of God’s activity in the present,
Any theology that abandons God’s desires for the present creation will diminish the significance of God’s activity in the present, Click To TweetAll that we set within the goodness of creation and its longings for perfection is an anticipation of all it will experience in the eschaton. This means that it is not possible to speak of creation except in the eschatological sense of where it is headed.