An Introduction to Christian Environmentalism

Christians share a common concern for the earth. Evangelicals emphasize creation care; mainline Protestants embrace the green movement; the Catholic Church lists "10 deadly environmental sins;" and the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch has declared climate change an urgent issue of social and economic justice.

This textbook examines seven contemporary environmental challenges through the lens of classical Christian virtues. Authors Kathryn Blanchard and Kevin O'Brien use these classical Christian virtues to seek a "golden mean" between extreme positions by pairing each virtue with a pernicious environmental problem.

Students are thus led past political pitfalls and encouraged to care for other creatures "prudently," to develop new energy sources "courageously," to choose our food "temperately," to manage toxic pollution "justly," to respond to climate change "faithfully," to consider humanity's future "hopefully," and to engage "lovingly" in advocacy for God's earth. Readers will emerge from this text with a deeper understanding of contemporary environmental problems and the fundamentals of Christian virtue ethics.