Book Reviews
“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed.” Francis Bacon (d. 1626)
Tending to Eden
Scott C. Sabin
Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2010, $18.
Reviewed by Darold Morgan
Richardson, TX
Whether or not we agree about the seriousness of the debate regarding environmental issues today (and indeed this is an area that is growing with increasing complexities), here is a powerful brief paperback that is well worth reading. One’s attention is guaranteed as the author shares initially through his experiences graphic insight into life in Haiti before the 2010 earthquake, life in a land of extreme poverty related to the sad abuse of the forests and land. This hopelessness connected with deforestation and an exhausted soil, now impacted by the massive earthquake, has glimpses of hope connected to the organization this author directs, “Plants with Purpose.”
This is a non-profit Christian environmental organization that works in seven countries, Haiti being one of the seven. Story after story follows in this book illustrating Christian compassion wisely at work combining theology with ecology. The author presents a balanced and vitally necessary case for Christian stewardship of the only world we have. And he does it in a way that makes for genuinely fascinating reading!
A key element in the book is one that should be beyond debate: “The Bible encourages us to be stewards of God’s creation.” By ministering to poverty’s environmental roots, a problem increasingly world-wide in scope, one can find in the Bible not only the guidance to the theological underpinnings but the divine strength and insights to help with practicality and effectiveness required by these growing demands.
