Into the Heart of Romans: A Deep Dive into Paul's Greatest Letter

by Tom Wright

We are more aware now than ever before of the crisis in ecology and climate change. That is of course controversial. Some of the rhetoric about it – on both sides of the debate! – is clearly driven by political and ideological agendas from which some of us would want to hold back. But, like the arguments a generation ago about the ill effects of smoking tobacco, the evidence is massive and mounting daily. From greenhouse gases to bad farming practices, not to mention nuclear accidents and ‘dirty bombs’, the post-Enlightenment world has twisted the vocation to be image-bearing stewards of creation into the chance to exploit creation to serve our pride, or greed, or both. This, alas, is scarcely new. Ancient empires, not least the Romans, routinely used a ‘scorched earth’ policy, literally or metaphorically, when it suited them. A rebel country or city might not only be defeated in battle. It might be rendered uninhabitable, with its wells poisoned and its fields sown with salt. That, we grant, wouldn’t have threatened the whole planet. But it was the smaller-scale equivalent of what we now face. If we, called to be wise stewards of creation in the twenty-first century, are to be true to that calling, this present passage will be one of our primary resources for a theological response to the crisis. Of course, the western church has regularly ignored this theme. This is partly because concern with creation has seemed ‘unspiritual’, being earthly minded rather than heavenly. ...

GO OFF, SIS!!!