John Calvin and Nature

Ever wonder how John Calvin approached eco-stewardship? Check out Alister McGrath's paragraph below:

"The first edition of the 1559 edition of Calvin's Institutes opens with discussion of one of the fundamental problems of Christian theology: how do we know anything about God? Even before turning to discuss this question, however, Calvin stresses that 'knowledge of God and of ourselves are connected' (I.i.I). Without a knowledge of God, we cannot truly know ourselves; without knowing ourselves, we cannot know God. The two forms of knowledge are 'joined together by many bonds'; although they are distinct, they cannot be separated. It is impossible to have either in isolation. This principle is of fundamental importance to an understanding of Calvin's strongly world-affirming theology: knowledge of God cannot be detached from, nor allowed to merge with, knowledge of human nature or of the world. A dialectic is constructed, resting upon a delicately balanced interplay between God and the world, the creator and his creation."

Alister E. McGrath, A Scientific Theology: Volume I Nature, Eerdmans Publishing Co., p. 273, 2001.