Saving Creation: Nature and Faith in the Life of Holmes Rolston III

by Christopher J. Preston

Overview

Holmes Rolston III has long been recognized as the “father of environmental ethics.” Internationally renowned for the synthesis he has found in evolutionary biology and Christianity, Rolston has followed an immensely interesting life course. In this compelling biography, Rolston’s story is traced from childhood to the present, detailing the process by which he has come to hone his profound philosophies. Culled from countless interviews with Rolston himself, along with his family and colleagues, this biography is both an engaging life story and a compendium of Rolston’s thoughts on the value of nature, resource management, aesthetics, international development, and the relationship of culture to nature, wilderness, and natural theology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781595340986
Publisher:	Trinity University Press
Publication date:	04/15/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	421 KB

About the Author

Christopher J. Preston teaches philosophy at the University of Montana in Missoula. He is the author of Grounding Knowledge: Environmental Philosophy, Epistemology, and Place and the coeditor of, with Wayne Ouderkirk, Nature, Value, and Duty: Life on Earth with Holmes Rolston, III. He is a noted expert on environmental philosophy. He has won several grants and is often a guest speaker on environmental issues.

Editorial Reviews

Starred Review.

Environmental ethicist Holmes Rolston III, grandfather of the global environmental movement, has spent his life reconciling scientific study with Judeo-Christian religious teachings. Rolston's former student Preston (Grounding Knowledge) synthesizes Rolston's writing, extensive interviews, and a deep knowledge of the history and influence of Rolston's work for a satisfying biography. As a seminary student at Richmond, Virginia's Davidson College, and a doctoral candidate at the University of Edinburgh, Preston began developing a contrary view of Protestant Reformed theology, rejecting predestination and emphasizing the concept of God's grace. He was forced out of his first pastoral assignment over his "modern" views on natural history; settling in Bristol, Virginia, with a more educated congregation, he returned whenever possible to the nature studies of his school years, preaching against the industrialization of Appalachia and the "dominion interpretation" of scripture: "Nature's real value was as something living and dynamic... in its ongoing creativity." After leaving his pastorate to study the philosophy of science, he made his academic breakthrough with his first professional paper, 1975's "Is There an Ecological Ethic?" This lively intellectual biography fully examines the biblical and academic traditions from which Rolston's philosophy developed, and the world-wide movement which developed from it.
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Publishers Weekly

This lively intellectual biography fully examines the biblical and academic traditions from which Rolston’s philosophy developed, and the worldwide movement which developed from it.” — Publishers Weekly

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