Green Bible Battle Growing

In October of 2008, Harper published 37,000 copies of The Green Bible which sold quickly. This environmentally friendly new edition is causing some controversy among Bible-based believers because of it's earth-centered focus. The Green Bible has highlighted over 1,000 earth citations in green. The cover is made of a linen-cotton material and the pages are made up of soy-based ink and recycled material. The book's controversy arises over whether this edition focuses more on God's creation rather than the Creator God thereby losing along the way a theological focus pointing toward God. Nothing could be further from the truth.

NICHE BIBLES

Many publishers have created what they call "niche bibles" down through the years which center on a particular audience. There was even a non-gender specific bible published a few years back during the height of the women's movement. Theological colleges made it mandatory that students could not write papers which would be exclusionary or discriminatory. Trying to reach a wider audience to read the words of the Bible so long as the original text and meaning are not lost should be encouraged. This is not the first Green Bible to come along and there are many theological books centered on environmental themes such as Calvin Dewitt's "Earth Wise" and J. Matthew Sleeth's "Serve God, Save the Planet."

SINGULAR FOCUS

Just because the originators of the Green Bible have chosen to focus their attention on the environment does not take away from the Bible's central premise of God's divine purpose and meaning for life. Quite the contrary, it encourages us to be good stewards to the glory of God and helps believers feel the need to be pro-active in caring for God's creation and the creatures that inhabit the earth thereby answering to a higher power beyond their own humanistic desires. One could argue that because there is a King James version, that there is too much focus on King James.

AUTHORS

The Green Bible has a forward by Desmond Tutu, the cleric from Cape Town, South Africa that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his work on the Truth and Reconcilation Committee after apartheid ended. He has also won the Albert Schweitzer for Humanitarianism award and the Ghandi Peace Prize in 2005. Such a notable Christian figure certainly adds support to the legitimacy of the Green Bible's purpose and meaning.

An essay written by Barbara Brown Taylor is also included entitled, "The Dominion of Love." Ms. Taylor was an Episcopal preacher and teacher at Piedmont College in Georgia who appears knowledgeable and authentic. She has written several books including "Leaving Church," "An Altar in the World" and "The Luminous Web." The latter book centers on the "fundamental unity of reality" taken from an understanding of quantum physics and modern-day science rather than Eastern religion.

The Green Bible is endorsed by the Sierra Club and Humane Society of the United States, both champions of caring for the world and creatures in it. The Bible has always taken a pro-active stance, "be doers of the word and not just hearers," and "Faith without works is dead." Just because environmentally friendly folks have decided to create a Bible which highlights and focuses on God's creation is not cause for boycotting the book. After all, compassion and empathy and responsibility to a greater good outside oneself would please God.