A "green" development strategies expert, Abbate invites you to consider a new spiritual perspective of practical environmentalism. You'll learn how to preserve the fundamental connection between your soul and the planet; and discover creation care as an act of worship and a call to deeper harmony with God, your fellow gardeners, and the living Earth. 288 pages, softcover from Waterbrook.
All of creation comes from our Lord’s hand. Yet we Christians often treat this teeming, glorious creation as if it is our personal play toy to be handled in any way that suits our momentary whim. In Gardening Eden, acclaimed environmental speaker and founder of GreenWorks, a distinguished landscape architecture design firm, Mike Abbate decisively grips the readers’ attention as he discusses the scripturally-based arguments for the grand and joyous responsibility Christian’s have to obey God’s injunction to take care of our planet.
He delineates this responsibility in five themes: What God made is good; God loves the world He created; What God made is God’s, not ours; Everything was created to glorify God; and, God appointed us stewards. Along the way Abbate shares his insights into many facets of environmental care with special emphasis on how it is not a liberal agenda to be ignored by Christian conservatives. Following this deep, involved, intriguing discussion, Abbate considers spiritual and active ways we can care for our Lord’s creation. He lists both commonly heard ideas, such as your carbon footprint, and many new ones based on Christian thinking, such as compassion for our neighbors.
Author Mike Abbate exemplifies Psalms 111:2, “Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.” His enthusiasm for this heart-felt subject and his love for his Lord beams from the pages of Gardening Eden. As I read this book I found myself stopping often to ponder the ideas. Gardening Eden has encouraged me to look for more information, which the closing list of resources handsomely abet. – Donna Eggett, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com
Average Rating: 5 out of 5 stars(5 out of 5 stars)
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5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Christy Lockstein (Oconto Falls, WIsconsin), April 21, 2009
Gardening Eden by Michael Abbate is a thoughtful response to global warming and Christianity. Global warming has been a hot topic on the news for the last several years, and the Church's response has varied from disdainful denial to eager embrace of the news. Abbate takes the stance that whether you believe that the world is suffering from major climate change or not, God gave dominion of the earth to mankind during Creation, and that requires us to be good stewards of the earth's resources. He gives weight to the various arguments against environmentalism, and takes a common sense approach to how Christians should act. The world is a beautiful creation on which every single thing belongs to God, and it's our responsibility to take good care of it, and that means making changes in our everyday lives. Abbate includes big and small ways to be more green, including some easy changes. I try to bring reusable bags every time I go grocery shopping, and I've become a lot more careful about how much driving I do in my gas-guzzling van. Abbate offers solutions even for those who may not have a lot of cash to start buying organic food or completely remodel their home. I appreciated Abbate's reasoned response to the issues. Without taking sides in the political debate or making the reader feel guilty, he encourages responsible living as a requirement of faith.
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