How does religion relate to our global environment? Religion and the Environment provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to this controversial question by covering the following important themes: the religion-environment interface pre- and post-industrial religious practices related to resource extraction and the rise of the Anthropocene an analysis of religious response to the impacts of contemporary industrialization, globalization, and urbanization religious thought, leadership, policy formation, and grassroots activism relative to the environment. Religion and the Environment will offer students and general readers a sophisticated yet accessible exploration of the relationship between religion and the environment, through case studies ranging from climate change to the impacts of warfare. This engaging book will be an excellent addition to introductory courses and those approaching the topic for the first time.

How does religion relate to our global environment? Religion and the Environment provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to this controversial question by covering the following important themes: the religion-environment interface pre- and post-industrial religious practices related to resource extraction and the rise of the Anthropocene an analysis of religious response to the impacts of contemporary industrialization, globalization, and urbanization religious thought, leadership, policy formation, and grassroots activism relative to the environment. Religion and the Environment will offer students and general readers a sophisticated yet accessible exploration of the relationship between religion and the environment, through case studies ranging from climate change to the impacts of warfare. This engaging book will be an excellent addition to introductory courses and those approaching the topic for the first time.

Buildings and landscapesare as much a part of the Christian church as its creedsareflecting the faith and proclaiming God. The architecture of the church'sstructures and the curating of its groundsare unique windows into the church's history and the shape of its theological commitments. Birthed in the iconoclastic spirit of the Reformation, the scapes of Protestant churcheshave experienced massive shifts in design and scope. From humble beginningsasmall buildings and cemeteriesachurches today can occupy thousands of square feet across hundreds of acres. The modern megachurch, with itsextensivecampuses,parking lots, and sprawling lawns,has changedhow we think about the church and its spaces. Form follows function, and theology is in both. The shifts inscale,style, and symbolwithin the church's common spacesreflect changes in ecclesial priorities, even as theyformthe theological imagination in new ways. In ChurchScape , Susan Bratton chronicles the story of the Protestant church's transformation of landscape and building. Citing the influence of college campuses on megachurch architecture, Bratton examines the features that are a part of many megachurch complexes, including waterscapes, iconography, and outdoor art. Taking readers on a cross-country journey to over two hundred churches, Brattontracesthe movement from the small parish building of the nineteenthcentury to the extensive complexes that form today's churchscapes. As she moves from church to church, Bratton describes howallthe church's spacesabuildings,greens, gardens, and gatewaysatogethershape its practices, name its beliefs, and form its life together. Bratton's work offers the first historical and theological analysis for the megachurch and itsphysical planners and planters. She demands that all of us look with new eyes at the ways the church may be an innovator without being disruptive, a place of communitywithoutbecomingexclusive, and a site of abundancewithoutdecadence. The church-in-place mustconsider how its scapes and spaces reflectits sacred life.

Susan Power Bratton draws on information from demographers, economists, ecologists, and sociologists to argue that individuals should use Christian values when dealing with the regulation of human population. In this easy-to-read analysis, the author reviews a number of issues and provides case studies and discussion questions at the end of each chapter.

Discusses the expression of environmental values in Christian art as it displaced pagan aesthetics from the third century to the Reformation.