The Wisdom of Creation

There has been a growing awareness of the plight of the earth at the hands of human beings over the past several decades. An important theological contribution to this discussion over the past two decades has been the work of Dianne Bergant, C.S.A. She brings first of all a deep concern for the earth and its creatures. As a professor of Hebrew Bible, she also brings the contribution of the Wisdom literature of the Jewish tradition. It is at the intersection of these two resources—concern for the earth and the Wisdom literature—that much of her work has been done. The Wisdom of Creation, written to honor her, takes up the themes of creation and Wisdom from a variety of perspectives, both biblical and theological, to think along with Bergant about the challenges of caring for the earth and for those who dwell upon it.

The work of a theology that will contribute to the care of and the future of the earth is still in many ways in its early stages. Dianne Bergant’s own work on themes of wisdom, creation, prayer, and preaching has made a significant contribution to that theology. It is hoped that these essays will continue that important task of making a better world in which the next generation will grow and mature.

Essays and contributors are "The Creatures Know!" by Walter Brueggemann; "Redeeming ‘Gospel Feminism’ From Anti-Judaism," by Mary C. Boys, S.N.J.M.; "The Divine ‘I Am’: Wisdom Motifs in the Gospel of John," by Barbara E. Bowe; "Creation as a Divine-Human Collaboration," by Herman E. Schaalman; "Creation, Revelation and Redemption: Recovering the Biblical Tradition as a Conversation Partner to Ecology," by Carol J. Dempsey, O.P.; "Three Who Loved Wisdom," by Agnes Cunningham, S.S.C.M.; "’Charged with the Grandeur of God’: The Created World as a Path to Prayer," by Anthony J. Gittins, C.S.Sp.; "The ‘Myth of the Garden’ and Spiritual Ministry in Postmodern America," by Mary Frohlich, R.S.C.J.; "Nature’s Parables and the Preaching of the Gospel," by Mary Catherine Hilkert, O.P.; and "Preaching Morality without Moralizing," by Andrew L. Nelson.