SAVE THE CREATION! A Book Review of E.O. Wilson's The Creation

Exploring the relationship between science and religion is inevitable for the curious student evaluating their spiritual beliefs.  At least it always has been for me.  In college I minored in Medieval and Renaissance Studies.  Right from my first class on the subject, I was hooked.  It was amazing to hear about the ways in which institutions, ideas, and practices we have today were shaped by our ancestors.  One area that always got my attention was how people tried to answer questions like: Who am I? Where am I? Why do things happen the way they do? What is my purpose? How do we find the answers?

We've always been trying to resolve these questions, and our answers determine much about how we interact with nature.  Today, Christianity and science are two such authorities many rely on for answers. Most Christians are able to reconcile faith and science in their lives, but some find them incompatible.  These choices can lead to distrust of those who've taken the opposite view, or simply to a lack of communication.  This is problematic for environmental stewardship.  The problems facing life on Earth require unity and the combined strength of all our communities working together.

It is in recognizing Christianity's potential as an ally in conservation, E.O. Wilson published The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth.

E.O. Wilson

E.O. Wilson is one of the most influential biologists and science communicators alive today.  To learn more about him and his ideas, check out the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation (here), his wikepedia page (here), or PBS's interactive webpage that reviews twelve of his books (here).  Wilson was a pioneer in chemical ecology and sociobiology.  He was a founder of the Encyclopedia of Life (www.eol.org) and coined the term biophilia, which I'll simplify as the idea that humans are hardwired to love other living things.  (Music fans should check out Bjork's Biophilia project here.)

The Book

E.O. Wilson's The Creation

The Creation is a non-fiction popular science book of about 200 pages, written as a series of letters addressed to a Southern Baptist pastor.  It is a plea to evangelical Christians to find common ground with secular humanists to work toward the conservation of the Earth's biodiversity.  This is a short book, but is packed with information.  I recommend taking notes or reading it twice.  For those worried you won't be able to follow a science themed book, or that ecology is boring, you are in for a pleasant surprise.  Wilson is a fantastic writer and storyteller.  A tour with him through the science of ecology and a look at humanity's relationship with the biosphere is a real pleasure.  This is not a simple read, but Wilson has done a great job of making complex concepts understandable.

I really enjoyed Wilson's The Creation.  It taught me new things about nature and made me think about the big questions.  Even so, I want to point out that there is a problem with the book related to its premise. Wilson is trying to engage with evangelical Christians, but he doesn't seem to have involved any while composing the book, and he seems unaware of the green movement within Christianity.  For example, the Evangelical Environmental Network (www.creationcare.org), which began in 1993, sees Creation Care as the responsibility of its members.   Wilson doesn't mention this, or the work of many churches in helping the poor throughout the world, which is directly related to environmental justice.  His "letters" feel one-sided.  This is a problem for a book that is trying to inspire collaboration.  Some religious readers have felt left out, or that Wilson's reflections on science and religion are off base (here and here).  The book has also gotten positive attention.  Amazon.com calls it "The book that launched a movement," and Wilson has said he has gotten a positive response from the religious community.  I do give him credit for sticking with the subjects he is an expert in, and not pretending to be a theologian, but my opinion is that the book would have been stronger if he had taken out the attempts at religious dialogue.

As an Environmental Educator, this book didn't give me any direction into how to build relationships with faith communities. If you are looking for a place to start when considering connections between environmental education and faith, here are three resources I recently discovered:

1. Gregory E. Hitzhusen's paper Religion and Environmental Education: Building on Common Ground (here).

2. A Guide to Greening Presbyterian Churches (here)

3. Jessica Crowe's paper: Transforming Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours through Eco-spirituality and Religion (here)

Noteworthy Ideas and Quotes in Wilson's The Creation

Wilson has earned his reputation  The Creation is full of important ideas and great quotes.  Here are a few.

The main factors contributing to loss of biodiversity: 
HIPPO
H= habitat loss
I= invasive species
P= pollution
P= overpopulation
O=overharvesting


Earth and the Biosphere
"Here is my point: Earth provides a self-regulating bubble that sustains us indefinitely without any thought or contrivance on our own.  This protective shield is the biosphere, the totality of all life, creator of all air, cleanser of all water, manager of all soil, but itself a fragile membrane that barely clings to the face of the planet.  Upon its delicate health we depend for every moment of our lives.  Humanity, as Darwin observed at the close of The Descent of Man, bears the indelible stamp of our lowly origin from preexisting life forms.  But even if you cannot agree with that statement for reasons of faith, surely you must grant that we belong in the biosphere, we were born here as a species, we are closely suited to its exacting conditions-and not all conditions, either, but just those in a few of the climatic regimes that exist upon some of the land."

Nature, Complexity, and Humans
"Living nature is nothing more than the commonality of organisms in the wild state and the physical and chemical equilibrium their species generate through interaction with one another.  But it is also nothing less than that commonality and equilibrium.  The power of living Nature lies in sustainability through complexity.  Destabilize it by degrading it to a simpler state, as we seem bent on doing, and the result could be catastrophic.  The organisms most affected are likely to be the largest and most complex, including human beings."

The Highest Goal
"Save the Creation, save all of it!  No lesser goal is defensible.  However biodiversity arose, it was not put on this planet to be erased by any one species.  This is not the time, nor will there ever be a time, when circumstance justifies destroying Earth’s natural heritage."