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The author of the book of Revelation struggled, as we do today, to live out a Christian faith in the context of an empire that trampled and destroyed the earth and its creatures. In this book, Micah D. Kiel will look at how and why Revelation was written, along with how it has been interpreted across the centuries, to come to an understanding of its potential contribution to a modern environmental ethic. While the book of Revelation is replete with images of destruction of the earth, Kiel shows readers, through Revelation's ancient context, a message of hope that calls for the care of and respect for the environment.
Micah D. Kiel, PhD, is professor of theology at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. He has a BA in music performance from Saint John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota, and an MDiv and PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has published many articles and essays and is a frequent speaker in churches. He lives in Davenport with his wife and two children, with whom he enjoys travel, hiking, bike riding, baseball, and reading. He is a contributor to Give Us This Day, published by Liturgical Press.
eISBN: 9780814687833, E8783
"In his innovative study of Revelation, Micah D. Kiel employs different strategies to show what Revelation's `apocalyptic ecology' can offer the environmental crisis. His most challenging question concerns the book's depiction of earth's destruction. How can a book where the sea is annihilated contribute positively to ecological consciousness? In the refusal of John of Patmos to diminish his critique of the Roman Empire, and it's devastating effect on the earth, lies Revelation's theocentric vision of nothing less than a new earth.
"Revelation is not an anthropocentric book. The earth protects the woman from the dragon, and birds refuse to let evil have the last word. But humankind is not passive in the drama of John's eschatology. In his engaging eco-critical journey through the historical contexts that have formed John's theology to the illuminated manuscripts that depict Revelation's legacy, Kiel shows that Revelation's apocalyptic eschatology provi des a robust call to ecological action. Biblical students and scholars alike will find in Apocalyptic Ecology much inspiration for ecological hope."
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