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I even agree with you that there is something puzzling about Christian leaders who "[hesitate] to make protection of the Creation an important part of their magisterium." (I note in passing that, in winning the attention and respect of a Southern Baptist pastor, "magisterium," a Catholic locution that refers not to the content of the Church's teaching but the authority of those who teach it, may not be the ideal choice of words.) The truth is that Christian faith has profound resources for affirming the importance of protecting Creation, especially in the context of "preparation for the afterlife" or the expectation of Christ's imminent return, since the Bible tells us that at that very apocalypse God will "destroy those who destroy the earth" (Rev. 11:18). There is no good reason for Christians to neglect the themes of humility and stewardship that are woven through the whole of Scripture.

But there is still something fundamental that divides us—something that could make it very difficult for us to work in any sustained way even on matters of such grave importance. It is painful to bring this up, since it has been my great privilege to meet, study under, and learn from many scientists, in settings both formal and informal, since that freshman biology class many years ago. (As a matter of fact, a physicist trained at your own institution happens to be my wife and lifelong partner in following Jesus Christ.) I have seriously devoted myself, in the amateur fashion of which I am capable, to acquiring and appreciating the vocabulary, methods, and discoveries of modern science. As a Christian, I see no contradiction in wanting to benefit from the collective human effort to understand a universe I believe to be uniquely suited for human life, designed to reward rational inquiry, and crafted to provoke wonder, reverence, and awe from its smallest scale to its grandest.

But this is, precisely, what divides us, and what makes it, alas, unlikely that your appeal to the unknown pastor to whom your letter is addressed will ever be read with the seriousness it deserves:

I have sought out the company, instruction, and friendship of scientists, while you, I must reluctantly conclude, have never managed to do the same with Southern Baptists.

Warmly and respectfully,

Andy Crouch

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Wilson's The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth is available from ChristianBook.com and other book retailers.

Audubon recently published a correspondence between E.O. Wilson, Stuart Pimm, and Richard Cizik.

Crouch, a former Christianity Todaycolumnist, earlier wrote "Environmental Wager | Why evangelicals are—but shouldn't be—cool toward global warming."

Larry Arnhart reviewed Wilson's Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge in 1999 for Books & Culture.

Books & Culture offers many, many more articles on science in its Science Pages.

Books & Culture Corner and Books & Culture's Book of the Week, from Christianity Today sister publication Books & Culture: A Christian Review (want a free trial issue?), appears regularly on Tuesdays at Christianity Today. Earlier editions include:

It Wasn't Really About Whiskey | A compelling and entertaining but also deeply flawed account of an episode in early American history. Al Zambone reviews The Whiskey Rebellion by William Hogeland (Sept. 5, 2006)

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September (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50