Economics, Ecology, and the Roots of Western Faith: Perspectives from the Garden

by Robert R. Gottfried

Overview

Environmentalists have turned to Eastern religion, Deep Ecology and Native American religion for alternatives to the Western view that humans should dominate nature. In Economics, Ecology, and the Roots of Western Faith, Robert R. Gottfried persuasively demonstrates that the ancient Hebrew worldview, found in the Torah and the New Testament, is remarkably 'green.' Drawing on these insights from ancient Western thought and economic understanding of ecosystems and natural processess, Gottfried analyzes the prerequisites for maintaining or improving human welfare and ecological vitality in terms of land economics and management.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742577718
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/06/1995
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	907 KB

About the Author

Robert R. Gottfried is associate professor of economics at The University of the South.

What People are Saying About This

Calvin B. Dewitt

This is a powerful and important book! Gottfried breaks free from the constraints of classical economic theory to tap the rich resources of ecological and biblical theology.

Editorial Reviews

The series is truly a major aid to this field of study.

Sojourners

...valuable work...

Choice Reviews

Gottfried is an economist who writes knowledgeably and wisely about both ecology and the Bible. He integrates these fields into an

Economics Of The Garden

Gottfried is remarkably up-to-date in ecology, economics, and theology. Taking instruction from fields ranging from landscape ecology to biblical theology, he envisions an economics that fully respects the ecological reality and integrity of the biosphere and gratefully employs the very substantial ethical contributions of Judeo-Christian thought.

Calvin B. Dewitt

This is a book that provides a solid and sensible theological framework for Christians... is to be commended for pointing the way in a poignant and powerful manner.

Christian Scholar's Review

I highly recommend this book for general reading by a wide audience (Christian or nonchristian). The prose is easy reading, well documented, well reasoned. ...would be very useful as a text or reader supplement in several courses at the college level. The book is refreshing in that it opens up new insights and ways of seeing modern life in light of scriptural revelation...

Delmar Vander Zee

Gottfried's book does indeed plow new ground. On fertile soil, perhaps this book might even plant seeds capable of sustaining (if not restoring) the Garden.

Encounter

A remarkable achievement because he is able to work between and across disciplines in an illuminating way.

Sewanee Theological Review

This well-done study is full of detail and can serve as a general introduction to environmental thought. It is readable by laypersons.

Theology Today

...valuable work...

Choice

I highly recommend this book for general reading by a wide audience (Christian or nonchristian). The prose is easy reading, well documented, well reasoned. ...would be very useful as a text or reader supplement in several courses at the college level. The book is refreshing in that it opens up new insights and ways of seeing modern life in light of scriptural revelation...--Delmar Vander Zee, Pro Rege

The series is truly a major aid to this field of study.--Sojourners

Gottfried is remarkably up-to-date in ecology, economics, and theology. Taking instruction from fields ranging from landscape ecology to biblical theology, he envisions an economics that fully respects the ecological reality and integrity of the biosphere and gratefully employs the very substantial ethical contributions of Judeo-Christian thought.--Calvin B. Dewitt

From the Publisher

...valuable work...

CHOICE

This is a book that provides a solid and sensible theological framework for Christians... is to be commended for pointing the way in a poignant and powerful manner.

Christians Scholar's Review