Last year, around the time of Earth Day (April 22), I posted an essay from Concordia Seminary theologian Chuck Arand on the connections between Christian theology and the environment.

Now he’s started his own blog on the subject: Together with All Creatures.

The title quotes from Martin Luther’s Small Catechism: “I believe that God has made me together with all creatures…” As Dr. Arand sees it, this means that we share a common beginning, a common life, and a common future with all of creation.

Just passing it along for those of you who, like me, care about this stuff, i.e. the “stuff” of this earth.

In his occasional New York Times blog, Stanley Fish makes the brilliant analogy between Roland Burris’ appointment to the Senate and Saint Augustine’s role in the Donatist controversy. Fish’s central question is critical, not only for the case of Roland Burris but for the many acts that constitute our public life: Does “the lawfulness of an official action…depend on the purity of the person who performs it”?

On first thought, it might be very tempting to answer “yes.” But as Fish (and St. Augustine before him) quickly point out, that would undermine nearly every facet of public life and action. Just one example: “Is your marriage invalidated because the clerk or cleric who performed it cheated on his wife or stole from the poor box?”

Which takes us back to St. Augustine. In Fish’s words:

This last question is not new. It was debated in the 4th and 5th centuries in the context of what…

Next Tuesday, April 22, is Earth Day.

Whether or not you celebrate Earth Day, and share its concern for the environment, typically falls out along stereotypically liberal vs. conservative lines. Ain’t much room for middle ground. And religion often gets caught up in the mix, it too falling along stereotypical liberal vs. conservative lines.

Except for this… Charles Arand, a theologian here at Concordia Seminary, makes a convincing case from a theologically conservative position for why religious people, and Christians in particular, should celebrate Earth Day. His thoughts center on the first article of the Christian creed: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”

Simply stated, Arand demonstrates that a belief in God as creator—a belief that transcends not only denominational lines but many interreligious boundaries too—should engage the believer, a fellow creature of God’s creation, in deep care and concern for the earth and for all life…