Ask the Beasts

Darwin and the God of Love

By: Elizabeth A. Johnson

Narrated by: Donna Postel

For millennia plant and animal species have received little sustained attention as subjects of Christian theology and ethics in their own right. Focused on the human dilemma of sin and redemptive grace, theology has considered the doctrine of creation to be mainly an overture to the main drama of human being`s relationship to God. What value does the natural world have within the framework of religious belief? The crisis of biodiversity in our day, when species are going extinct at more than 1,000 times the natural rate, renders this question acutely important. Standard perspectives need to be realigned; theology needs to look out of the window, so to speak as well as in the mirror. Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love leads to the conclusion that love of the natural world is an intrinsic element of faith in God and that far from being an add-on, ecological care is at the centre of moral life.

©2014 Elizabeth A. Johnson (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Possibly the most important book I have read since I first fell in love with Jesus

This is a book for our time. If the perspectives here, the beautiful understanding of God’s love enfolding our beautiful, painful world and all its creatures, this book with its strong scriptural basis... if all that was was more commonplace, I think the exodus of scientifically-minded young adults would be largely staunched. I wish I had come across this book ten years ago in my crisis of faith of young adulthood. My upbringing and church alike both insisted there was no room for a loving, caring God and an evolutionary and deep time perspective on the world. But the evidence all around me, the rocks and creatures seemed to cry out that their stories were not written a mere six thousand years ago. My agony was thinking that if I accepted evolution I had to give up my reality of relationship with a personal God. Years later I still pray daily and yet accept the evidence out there, but the journey was hard, painful, intensely lonely and so shaking to my faith. This book does so much of what I consider very difficult work if you’re starting from scratch like I was. I was the kid asking the pastor if animals go to heaven, and if so, just pets or also the poor roadkilled opossum outside. The views here are just as scripturally sound as other interpretations, and of great importance, they are actually compatible with a healthy concern for our environment and an understanding of the evidence out there regarding life’s long and entangled journey to this present time. There is no worship of nature as deity here nor shoehorning of spiritual ideas into scientific territory. In some sections, multiple schools of thought and their benefits and drawbacks are discussed. You won’t see God reduced to an impersonal clockmaker who lets the universe run. The Incarnation of Jesus is not denied; indeed it is absolutely central. I had tears of joy running down my face multiple times as I listened to this book and the deep spiritual longings and worries in my heart were finally given harmonious possible paradigms in a way that both made sense and in no way contradicted my understanding of science nor my love for Jesus Himself.
At first I wondered if the reading performance was a computer; she was so consistent and crisp in her diction, but she was real I realized by the end, as I caught lilts of expression in her voice.

Interested

I think I am going back and try to find the Origin by Darwin. This book made want to read it. Never thought about read it before......

excellent synthesis

This book was an excellent synthesis of both the scientific and theological justifications for ecological preservation. At times it was very dense, and I could only listen in small doses. But it was very thought-provoking and I highly recommend it. It may be of particular interest to Christians who believe in the "seamless garment" approach to the preserving dignity of life, but the information is useful to anyone.

Enlightened!

Love is the only word that works...
theologic wisdom, well communicated and inspiring. Thank you. thank you.