Reforesting Faith

February 18, 2019
In this affecting work, physician and carpenter Sleeth (The Gospel According to the Earth) explains the importance of trees within the Bible and in life through scriptural passages and personal stories. The Bible urges Christians to pay close attention to trees, Sleeth observes, and in so doing to commit to safeguarding them and the natural world at large. Trees serve as protection, he writes, and provide beauty, food, and shade, but they also need human care in an increasingly industrialized world. In this way, trees live symbiotically with humans and should be recognized as having a high status in the kingdom of God. To back up his points, Sleeth details the prevalence and place of trees in scriptures— each major character is associated with a tree, Jesus calls himself “the true vine” (John 15:1), and the Bible itself is referred to as “a Tree of Life” (Proverbs 3:18). Personal anecdote and observation appear throughout (the author’s favorite tree, for instance, is a 500-year-old Cathedral Oak outside a church in Lafayette, La.) making this case for environmental sustainability resonate on a personal level, as well. Christians looking to reconnect to the natural world will relish Sleeth’s passionate call to Christian stewardship of the Earth.