Healing All Creation: Genesis, the Gospel of Mark, and the Story of the Universe

Taking a “cosmological” and inclusive view of Christian scripture, Connell, journalism and media ethics professor at Western Washington University, and Bartholomew, New Testament professor at Gonzaga University, offer an insightful reinterpretation of Genesis and the gospel of Mark, one that elevates the duty to preserve nature and promote nonviolence. The authors contend that Mark’s gospel makes repeated allusions (which his original audience would have recognized) to the Genesis account of Adam and Eve’s banishment from Eden to focus readers on the importance of free will. They then argue that Jesus in Mark should be viewed as a model for how to use God’s gift of free will to resist the temptation toward violent behavior and instead engage in compassionate, nonviolent acts. Incorporating insights from scientists including Edward Lorenz and Stephen Jay Gould—whose theories of “the butterfly effect” and “the great asymmetry” reinforce the authors’ points about the interconnected nature of all things—and theologians such as Dorothy Day, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Abraham Heschel, Bartholomew and Connell argue that each “personal decision to promote healing and reconciliation” can have significant positive impact for the universe. This powerful argument that scriptural stories and modern science can work together to redress the crises facing the planet will provide readers of any faith a radical vision of hope for the future. (June)