This article surveys and classifies the kinds of appeal to the Bible made in recent theological discussions of ecology and environmental ethics. These are, first, readings of 'recovery', followed by two types of readings of 'resistance'. The first of these modes of resistance entails the exercise of suspicion against the text, a willingness to resist it given a commitment to a particular (ethical) reading perspective. The second, by contrast, entails a resistance to the contemporary ethical agenda, given a perceived commitment to the Bible. This initial typology, and the various reading strategies surveyed, are then subjected to criticism, as part of an attempt to begin to develop an ecological hermeneutic, a hermeneutic which operates between recovery and resistance with an approach that may be labelled 'revision', 'reformation', or 'reconfiguration'.
Over recent decades there have been voices calling for a greater focus on communicating the Bible’s ‘big story’, metanarrative, or ‘drama’ to ordinary Christians. It has been suggested that this will enable deeper engagement with the biblical texts, better interpretation and more adequate application including effective mission. To this end, a number of resources have been devised as vehicles by which the biblical story may be told. This paper examines responses to two of these resources, as they were used in small groups across a number of denominations and presents some suggestions for how to shape and deliver any such programme within churches.
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