An ecological reading of the Acts of the Apostles in the light of today's increasing environmental challenges.
The gospel of Luke presents an ecological symphony that reveals a Jesus connected to Earth. His ministry touches all aspects of creation, human and non-human, and invites disciples into an ecological asceticism. This same spirit continues in the Acts of the Apostles. In this Earth Bible Commentary on Acts, Michael Trainor allows our environmental concerns to shape his interpretative approach, and thus ecological nuances emerge.
Luke's household of disciples, imbued with the spirit of the risen Jesus, to embrace the world and bring to it a word of reconciliation, embark on this mission. This formally begins at Pentecost with their reception of God's creative and renewing Spirit that empowers them as Earth's children. From this moment an explosion of activity moves them over Earth's lands, beginning in Jerusalem, Earth's navel (Acts 1.1-8.1), into Samaria, the space in-between that navel and Galilee, the garden of God's earthly delights (Acts 8.2-11.17), to the ends of Earth, Rome (Acts 11.18-28.33). As we trace Luke's vast geographical journey around the Mediterranean, key moments highlight fresh environmental insights that offer new hope for contemporary disciples seeking ecological affirmation at this particular time in world history.
At a pivotal moment of environmental catastrophe, Michael Trainor listens for Earth's voice in the Book of Acts, offering biblical scholars and preachers a way to engage Acts to help us to respond faithfully to the most pressing challenge of our time. While his previous commentary on Luke focused on engagement with 'Earth's Child', Trainor now considers the disciples, 'Earth's Children', to reveal a way to biblically inform ecological scholarship. His ecological reading of Acts is a sophisticated complement to existing literary and historical exegetical treatments, that could not come at a more timely moment.
