2019 NAUTILUS GOLD WINNER In a time of rapid climate change and
species extinction, what role have the world's religions played in
ameliorating-or causing-the crisis we now face? Religion in
general, and Christianity in particular, appears to bear a
disproportionate burden for creating humankind's exploitative
attitudes toward nature through unearthly theologies that divorce
human beings and their spiritual yearnings from their natural
origins. In this regard, Christianity has become an otherworldly
religion that views the natural world as "fallen," as empty of
signs of God's presence. And yet, buried deep within the Christian
tradition are startling portrayals of God as the beaked and
feathered Holy Spirit - the "animal God," as it were, of historic
Christian witness. Through biblical readings, historical theology,
continental philosophy, and personal stories of sacred nature, this
book recovers the model of God in Christianity as a creaturely,
avian being who signals the presence of spirit in everything, human
and more-than-human alike. Mark Wallace's recovery of the bird-God
of the Bible signals a deep grounding of faith in the natural
world. The moral implications of nature-based Christianity are
profound. All life is deserving of humans' care and protection
insofar as the world is envisioned as alive with sacred animals,
plants, and landscapes. From the perspective of Christian animism,
the Earth is the holy place that God made and that humankind is
enjoined to watch over and cherish in like manner. Saving the
environment, then, is not a political issue on the left or the
right of the ideological spectrum, but, rather, an innermost
passion shared by all people of faith and good will in a world
damaged by anthropogenic warming, massive species extinction, and
the loss of arable land, potable water, and breathable air. To
Wallace, this passion is inviolable and flows directly from the
heart of Christian teaching that God is a carnal, fleshy reality
who is promiscuously incarnated within all things, making the whole
world a sacred embodiment of God's presence, and worthy of our
affectionate concern. This beautifully and accessibly written book
shows that "Christian animism" is not a strange oxymoron, but
Christianity's natural habitat. Challenging traditional
Christianity's self-definition as an other-worldly religion,
Wallace paves the way for a new Earth-loving spirituality grounded
in the ancient image of an animal God.
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