Category: Blog Posts
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Four Reasons to Interpret Romans Politically
Four reasons why I read Romans and the Pauline Epistles in their first-century political context
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Food Audit Checklist
Created by Dr. Presian Burroughs We connect with God, people, other creatures, plants, and non-living things through our eating and drinking. Our food choices, in turn, affect the wellbeing of ecosystems, people, animals, and plants. In light of God’s purpose to liberate creation from its slavery to destruction (Rom 8:21), Christians may reasonably conclude that…
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Fasting from Destruction: Reflections on Genesis 3-6 and Romans 5:12-21
During the first Sunday of Lent, the Revised Common Lectionary directs Christians to read Genesis 3 and Romans 5. These texts can expose the ways in which we are all complicit in acts of destruction, in the undoing of creation.
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Alleviating the Problems of Plowing, Solution 2: Perennial Agriculture
What if farmers didn’t have to plow up the ground every year? And what if they didn’t even have to re-seed their crops every year? Wouldn’t that be amazing and revolutionary? Grain from the perennial plant, Kernza®. Image of Kernza® perennial grain, developed by plant breeders at The Land Institute. (https://landinstitute.org/our-work/perennial-crops/kernza/). ©️ The Land Institute. It would…
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Alleviating the Problems of Plowing, Solution 1: No-Till Agriculture
Plowing causes serious problems in our ecosystems. Erosion (loss of soil itself) and soil degradation (loss of nutrients and soil compaction) are two significant problems that affect localized fields and areas downstream. But plowing also releases large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere; this is a global challenge. Now more than ever before, people…
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Created to Till?: Genesis 2:15 and Adam’s Work in the Garden
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it” (Gen 2:15, NRSV; emphasis added). God put Adam in the garden to till it. And to till soil, means to plow it up. Right? The Smithsonian Magazine article entitled, “Did John Deere’s Best Invention Spark a Revolution…
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The Problems of Plowing, Part 2: Erosion
You’ve probably seen pictures of what can happen after fields are plowed: soil erodes. Winds blow across plowed fields, stirring up and carrying away topsoil. Waters rush across naked soil, sweeping it into streams, roads, and other unintended destinations. Photo by Fred Farrell on June 3, 2005 in San Luis Valley, Colorado (https://infosys.ars.usda.gov/winderosion/multimedia/2005storms/big/SLVSandStorm6.jpg) Sometimes erosion…
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The Problems of Plowing, Part 1: Greenhouse Gases
We all know tractors burn fuel and release CO2 into the atmosphere. It is rather obvious, then, that plowing with tractors increases the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. But did you also know that simply opening the soil to air during plowing also releases greenhouse gases? When the organic matter in soil (such…
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A Call to Share Plants & Soil: Genesis 1:29-30
Genesis 1 presents us with a portrait of creation buzzing with life. There’s a diversity of plants, all with the ability to reproduce themselves and sustain the lives of others. Aquatic, avian, and terrestrial animals fill the waters, skies, and lands, finding plentiful nourishment from plants. And human beings carry the blessing and image of…
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Jesus’ Earthen Cradle
On Christmas morning, the calcium carbonate bones of the earth cradled Jesus’ newborn body.