Ultra-brief Reviews [Vol. 2, #33]
Ultra-brief Reviews
By Chris Smith
The Green Psalter: Resources for an Ecological Spirituality.
Arthur Walker-Jones.
Paperback: Fortress Press, 2009.
Buy now: [ Amazon ]
Small Footprint, Big Handprint:
How to Live Simply and Love Extravagantly.
Tri Robinson.
Paperback: Ampelon Publishing, 2008.
Buy now: [ ChristianBook.com ]
The Green Psalter by Arthur Walker-Jones is a new book from Fortress Press that probes the Psalms for a deep wealth of “resources for an ecological spirituality.” The Psalms have long served as the backbone of Judaic and Christian worship, thus it is quite fitting as we worship a God who is reconciling all creation to have our attention turned to the broader ecological themes that have been latent in the Psalms since they were originally conceived in the ancient Israelite people. There are strong themes of peace, justice and liberation here; perhaps the most striking chapter was the final one on ecojustice in hymn psalms. Of these psalms, Walker writes: “From an ecological perspective, these psalms are significant because they identify God with creation, and creation is alive, active, interrelated, and has an intrinsic worth and a voice” (134). If you long to more holistic forms of worship in the church, then you will want to be sure to find a copy of this book and study it well!
Despite its hokey title, Tri Robinson’s little book Small Footprint, Big Handprint: How Live Simply and Love Extravagantly is an excellent book with which to initiate conversation about a more holistic faith in Christ – it even has discussion questions at the end of each chapter! While the sections on lessening our footprint were very good, especially the ones on reducing the complexity of our lives, the one on the “big handprint” (i.e., “making a lasting positive impact”) seemed to be very individualistically focused and raised a whole bunch of tricky theological and ethical questions about service and impact. This would be an excellent book for striking up a conversation among those who haven’t though too much about the significance of HOW we live as Christians, especially in a Sunday school class or bible study group.
