Description

This volume comprises the proceedings of the Adventist Society for Religious Studies (ASRS) conference held November 18-20, 2021, in San Antonio, Texas. The title of the conference was “World Disrupted, World Revealed: Ecology and Theology in an Age of Pandemic.” Most of the contributors had responded to a call for papers from then society president, Erik C. Carter. In addition to the papers that were presented at the conference, we have included (in Section IV) three solicited chapters on the same topic by two physicians and a pastor, who provide illuminating perspectives on the effects of the pandemic in their particular lines of work. The editorial team is grateful to Sigve K. Tonstad for his energetic and visionary work to this end.

With few exceptions, the conference papers have been revised and edited for a broad audience though they retain their original content for the most part. Although the chapter authors are united in their concern about theological approaches to ecology and to the pandemic, the scope of viewpoints offered in this volume is wide and reveals a diversity of thought among Adventists on these topics. Therefore, we find it important to say that the views expressed in each chapter are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors.

Our hope in publishing this volume is that it will raise concern and promote conversation about our care of God’s world as well as how Adventists approach a world disrupted by pandemic. We have discovered that the connections between earth’s cry for help and worldwide human suffering caused by the pandemic are deeper than meets the eye. With that in mind, Adventism, with a health message and an ecology rooted in Creation, the Sabbath, and the eschaton, contains a God-given potential to offer hope and relief for suffering earth and humans once we awaken to our true calling. “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God” (Romans 8:19, NRSV).