God Goes Green with New Bible

Cashing in on the trendy, eco-friendly "Green" movement, publisher HarperOne has released a new Bible to prove being "Green" is God-ordained by placing an ecological spin on what was the core of Protestant and Catholic Christianity. The NRSV (New Revised Standard Version) Green Bible is the first FSC-certified Bible ever to be published by being printed with soy-based ink and a water-based coating on recycled paper with a cotton/linen cover. (The Forward Stewardship Council is a non-profit organization made of loggers, foresters, environmentalists and sociologists seeking to improve sustainable forestry worldwide.) Other eco-giants in conjunction with the Green Bible are the Humane Society of the United States, the Sierra Club and the Eco-Justice Program.

The Green Bible is geared entirely toward environmental activism by using (and spinning ) the text to support a particular social movement. The Green Bible follows the trend of the red-letter edition Bibles (which highlight Jesus' words in red text) with its "green-letter" edition. Any verses the editors viewed as direct responses to environmentalism and a charge for taking care of creation are highlighted with green text. Over 1000 Bible verse are highlighted dealing with mankind's environmental responsibility, including a large portion of the book of Genesis. The Preface says the verses highlighted are "the rich and varied ways the books of the Bible speak directly to how we should think and act as we confront the environmental crisis facing our planet."

A Green Subject Index includes cross-referencing for specifically "green" issues such as: water, caring for your neighbor, animals and land. This is similar to the spiritual index usually included in Bibles. There is also a Green Bible Trail Guide which includes a series of Bibles studies on the main themes of creation care and God's role in creation.

The Green Bible also includes inspirational essays by scholars and leaders including a forward by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and contributions from Cal DeWitt, Pope John Paul II, Matthew Sleeth and N. T. Wright. There are also inspirational quotes from Christian teachings throughout history. Before the introductions, a readers are met first with "The Canticle of the Creatures" by Saint Francis of Assisi, a monk who was best known for his passion for creation, and "The Clearing Rests in Song and Shade", a hymn by Wendell Berry.

According to the Preface, the point of the "green" tools in this eco-friendly Bible is to get people to read the Bible through a "green-lens."

Critics argue that with the millions of Bibles printed annually (as the Bible is still the highest printed book in the world) the "greenest" thing to do would be make use of all the copies lining shelves in bookstores, thrift stores and back rooms. Other critics claim that Bibles have always been "green" by being printed on a linen based paper, like money and cigarette papers, utilizing hemp instead of trees. The hemp plant is a fast growing, easily renewable resource and a better option than paying to recycle arbor paper.

Finally, Christians are torn between the tradition of Lifeway Christian Bookstores and cashing in on any product that can be "Christianized" and the idea that the Green Bible veers away from the original message of the Bible (salvation) by concentrating on a sub-message of the text. The Green Bible website (greenletterbible.com) actually says: "With over 1,000 references to the earth in the Bible, compared to 490 references to heaven and 530 references to love, the Bible carries a powerful message for the earth." That's an ironic comparison next to verses calling Christians to "store up treasures in Heaven" instead of earth and Solomon's many admonitions that the earth is but a vapor. The editors may be well-meaning, but their end result is a publication which undermines the original message of the Bible. However, like any passion which makes its way into the pulpit, environmentalist preachers with a conservationist agenda (a la Saint Gore) will probably eat the Green Bible up and encourage their sheep-like congregations to do the same - which may be the "green" the publishers are really hoping to further. As "Richard" commented on the Stand to Reason Blog:

"So this new gospel seems to be

1. God created all things
2. He created man to take care of stuff
3. We have a large carbon footprint
4. Jesus came to reduce our carbon footprint."