Question/insight #53: I am a Christian school teacher in search of a reference of scripture verses that relate to the environment. This is for a school wide project. Can you direct me?

Response #53:

Currently I'm in a hotel room 1500 miles from home right now, so I don't have my library available to help me better research an answer to your question. Certainly Genesis chapter 1 is appropriate place to start on environmental issues. There is also wonderful environmental imagery in the Psalms, in Isaiah, and in chapter 21 of Revelation.

On my last visit to the Princeton Theological Seminary Book Store, I saw quite a few books in the Ethics section on the Environment. I just now did a search of "Bible environment" at http://www.borders.com, and some of the many books it located are the following:

Cherish the Earth: The Environment & Scripture, Trade Paperback, 184 Pages, Herald Press, August 1993, ISBN: 0836136357, Author: Kirk, Janice E. / Kirk, Donald R.

Christian Faith & the Environment: Making Vital Connections, Trade Paperback, 250 Pages, Orbis Books, September 1998. ISBN: 1570752109, Author: Hill, Brennan

Environment & Christian Ethics, Paperback, 395 Pages, Cambridge University Press, September 1996, ISBN: 0521576318. Author: Northcott, Michael S.

Greening of Faith: God, the Environment, & the Good Life, Trade Paperback, 238 Pages, University Press of New England, January 1997, ISBN: 087451777X, Editor: Westfall, Mary / Carroll, John E. / Brockelman, Paul.

Spirit & Nature: Why the Environment Is a Religious Issue - an Interfaith Dialogue, Trade Paperback, 240 Pages, Beacon Press, June 1992, ISBN: 0807077097, Editor: Rockefeller, Steven C. / Elder, John C.

I'm almost certain that there are sections in some of the books in the BibleTexts.com library that address the issue of the environment - dictionaries, commentaries, histories, and books on ethics. You can browse a partial listing of about 500 of the BibleTexts.com bibliography at:

http://www.bibletexts.com/bibliogr.htm