This month’s Library Notes was written by Charles Scouten. Thank you Charles!

This Sacred Earth - Scientific and Religious Perspectives on Nature and Humanity's Place Within It
Edited by Dr. Paul J. Kirbas

By the time you read this, the book should be in the Church Library; the Kindle version is available now. Yes, it is unusual to write about a book before its hard copy is actually in our Church Library - but this is not the usual book. Our own Pastor Paul Kirbas is the editor, and contributed one of the chapters. Arrival of the book will come just in time for its use in Pastor Paul's Sermon series beginning January 8. But, about the book...

This book grew out of a fall 2010 international conference sponsored by The Kirbas Institute (www.kirbasinstitute.org) to explore the basic and important question of whether nature is sacred in and of its own right, and if so, what is a proper understanding of our human place within it. The book offers insightful perspectives from an interdisciplinary panel including leading scientists, theologians, and philosophers. The authors represent diverse religious perspectives, including Evangelical Christian, Roman Catholic, Jewish and Muslim. Beginning with a brief tour of the universe led by NASA astronomer Jennifer Wiseman, the book proceeds to lay important foundations of building bridges between science and religion. Once this bridge is provided, theologians step in to reflect on the meaning of the sanctity of nature, and of what it means to be human. The current model of seeing humans as the stewards of nature, with all its good intentions, is seriously questioned. New models are proposed, leading readers to fresh considerations of our use of, and care for nature. Is it possible to envision nature as valuable in and of itself? Can we claim nature as sacred?

What's heartening - some might say amazing - about this work is that people coming from different highly technical disciplines and different faith traditions were able to find common ground in this question about nature and humanity's place within it. Another key takeaway was awareness that in exploring the sanctity of nature, science needs religion, and religion needs science. Theology can lead us to understanding the meaning of sacredness, while science can lead us to a better understanding of the scope and origins of nature. Philosophy, psychology and - yes - rhetoric all contribute their parts. Bringing together all these diverse points of view, this book is an important step in our undertaking to reflect on the Sanctity of Nature.

Available on its own, or with a special DVD containing professionally filmed interviews with the contributing authors, This Sacred Earth promises to spark strong thoughts and conversations about nature and our human place within it.