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In paleontology there are certain encounters considered breakthroughs. Occasionally a unique event is discovered that permanently impacts our interpretation of an entire species.The Waco Mammoth Site...

The ancient Roman orator Cicero famously believed, "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." Contemporary philosopher Scott H. Moore agrees and puts this celebrated aphorism to the test.In  How to Burn a Goat: Farming with the Philosophers, Moore speculates on the practice of farming through the lens of philosophy and literature. He weaves together a tapestry of philosophical reflections on work and leisure, the nature of the virtues, and the role and limitations of technology and higher education with personal reflections on the joys and trials of farm life on his Crawford, Texas farm.Full of self-deprecating humor, Moore relates his own experience of a philosopher turned farmer. His efforts at scholar-farmer are haunted by questions from the world's great minds--"Does Plato's 'city of sows' ring true?," "Can Ockham help break a recalcitrant heifer?," "How can Heidegger help with raising swine?," "What insights does Iris Murdoch offer for pest control?" Combining insight with down-to-earth vignettes, Moore joins Wendell Berry, E. B. White,...

Christians share a common concern for the earth. Evangelicals emphasize creation care; mainline Protestants embrace the green movement; the Catholic Church lists "10 deadly environmental sins;" and...

Although evangelicals and environmentalists at large still find themselves on opposing sides of an increasingly contentious issue, there is a counternarrative that has received less attention. Since...

Like other creatures, human beings are inhabitants of their ecosystems. Faced daily by evidence of ecological death and decay, Ayres determines that this important work of inhabitance is constantly threatened by ecological despair. Ecological despair stems from alienation from the natural world, acute and generational grief resulting from loss of home places, and, for many, an overwhelming guilt at having been complicit in the planet’s suffering. In  Inhabitance: Ecological Religious Education, Ayres proposes a solution to this increasing alienation: the way of inhabitance. Just as other animals live and thrive within their ecosystems, so do humans live in a habitat created, sustained, and loved by God. This God perpetually invites us to become better inhabitants. Inhabitance demands a willingness to love other beings and a willingness to courageously encounter the human and ecological suffering of the world and be fully present to that suffering. And even as humans live more lovingly,...

The power and history of "man’s best friend"

From saving Spot to blessing Barbaro, why Christians must awaken to the plight of our furry and feathered friends