Concerns about the Green-Letter Bible

There's been some buzz recently about the newly published "Green Bible". Published by Harper Collins in the New Revised Standard Version, this Bible prints all verses that are somehow related to creation care, or the environment in green. The website "Green Letter Bible" says:

The Green Bible will equip and encourage people to see God's vision for creation and help them engage in the work of healing and sustaining it. With over 1,000 references to the earth in the Bible, compared to 490 references to heaven and 530 references to love, the Bible carries a powerful message for the earth.

To further bolster their "environmental" credentials, the Bible is printed on recycled paper and its cover is made out of sustainable cotton/linen cover. So on its face, it looks great. It has also been endorsed by the Sierra Club and the Human Society. But to me, this publication poses several problems to the Christian church and to faithful disciples. Let me highlight some of the things that I think are potential issues:


Erroneous (possibly heretical) Theological Focus

While the Environment is a worthy concern and our duty to be stewards of it is described in the scriptures, this is far from the true theological focus of the Holy Scriptures. It is false and heretical to assert that the prime focus of the scriptures is the environment. Paul warns us against falling prey to false gospels:

" I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:6-8, ESV)

I am not necessarily accusing the contributors or editors of the Green Bible of attempting to teach a false gospel. However, the way the book is laid out seems to imply that the most important part of the scriptural text consists of the verses related to environmentalism. Its preface and front-matter all talk about the environment and how one can face environmental issues. While there are essays from figures I respect (i.e. Archbishop Tutu, Pope John Paul II, and N.T. Wright), I wonder if in any part of this Bible there is any teaching or commentary regarding the sacrifice of the Cross and its consequences. I wonder if there is any talk of the atonement and its import to our concerns about the environment. So far, from what I have seen of the Bible there is none.

This Bible also presents difficulties for Non-Christian audiences. What is the unbeliever to think of this Bible? Is it only to serve as a neat quote-book for environmentalists looking for something they can stump their Christian friends with? Is it just to get a religious perspective on environmentalism to serve the cause of environmentalism? That also becomes a question regarding this Bible. Is it designed to glorify Christ and His present and coming Kingdom or is it meant to serve the human environmentalist cause?

I would urge Christians who are looking at purchasing this Bible to carefully consider what their purpose is in buying this. If it is as a reference to enrich your life of discipleship in companion with another respectable, theological study Bible (such as the New Oxford Annotated or the ESV Study Bible), then it shouldn't be an issue. But I would strongly caution against using this Bible as your primary reference or study tool.


Fostering Literalism, or Not?

Another concern regarding the Green Bible is the fact that its main claim to fame, or indeed its most touted feature is that all the environmental verses are in green print. This presents an issue of utmost concern to Christians who espouse a reasonable reading of the Scriptures that is based in part on literary and historical criticism. The fact that all the verses related to a particular topic are highlighted reeks of fundamentalist literalism. There are Bibles such as the Standard Full Color Bible that highlight all the messianic prophecies in a certain color, and then all verses concerning prosperity in another resulting in a mishmash rainbow highlighted Bible. What is the difference between the two? I really couldn't say.

Many of the Christians that use this Bible would probably tell me that they don't read the Bible literally. They would tell me that they would need to consider the historical context, and so on and so forth. So what are they doing with this highlighted Bible? This Bible could potentially foster a liberal-fundamentalist reading of the Bible, which basically is no different than the fundamentalist readings we see in our society now. In the "Green Bible" there is no instruction on how a neophyte to the world of Biblical Studies might read this book, which lends further credence that the Bible is the grand cherry tree from which we can pick any verse to prove our point. The National and World Councils of Churches have in recent years launched campaigns to combat literalism in the reading of the Bible. Judging by the publication of this Bible, I think they are losing this war.


Final Thoughts

While I believe that respect and care for God's creation is indeed a part of good discipleship, I think that this Bible was the wrong response. If the intent was to create a manual for environmentalists, from which they could cherry-pick Bible verses to support their cause, I guess the book is successful. If the goal was to teach people how to read the scriptures, or to teach the Gospel, this book is a failure. As I said previously, this might be useful as an occasional reference. But I would caution anyone against using this Bible as their primary text / study source.