God's Bounty?: The Churches and the Natural World (Studies in Church History)

The tension between faith and reason has marked Christian approaches to nature, and theologians since Augustine have sought to resolve this. In the wake of the Scientific Revolution the challenges to religious explanations of the world increased dramatically, notably with the emergence of Darwin's theory of evolution. Science has often put Christianity on the defensive but also provoked theological reflection, especially on human stewardship of nature as man's impact on the environment has become more apparent. Christianity has long sought to learn from nature as a 'book', full of examples to illustrate religious teaching and signs of divine and saintly interventions in human history. Some Christians have even tried to live in harmony with nature in utopian communities. This volume bears witness to lively scholarly debate on these and other aspects of its theme, and covers a wide chronological, geographical and thematic range stretching from missionary encounters with the New Worlds of Australia and Latin America to popular and learned responses towards nature in early modern Italy and Hungary.