Couillard Lecturer considers Apocalypse and Ecology

Apocalypse, or the threat of it, is in the air, from popular films to the dire economic and environmental forecasts to the prophecies of doom uttered and written by pre-, post-, and a-millennialist Christian authors like Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins in their hugely popular Left Behind series. Against this background, Dr. Barbara Rossing, Professor of New Testament at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Chicago, presented the 2008 Couillard Memorial Lectures, “Apocalypse and Ecology: Is This the End of the World?” on November 7. Noting that her environmentalist friends sometimes criticize her for dwelling on such “fatalistic” and “escapist” texts as the Book of Revelation and certain parts of the pastoral epistles when the times call for decisive action on ecological matters, she conceded that some scriptural texts do, indeed, counsel despair concerning this world, but she countered that “the heart of apocalyptic is not violent and is not escapist, but does offer a message of hope.”

The basic meaning of “apocalypse,” after all, is “an unveiling,” and moments of crisis (she mentioned Hurricane Katrina and the melting of the global icecaps as such particularly “revelatory” events in our own time) serve to unveil both the corruption of the present order and the possibility of, and need for, God’s redemptive action in the world. The Book of Revelation, even as it utters “Woe!” to the present order of things, also presents the vision of the New Jerusalem descending to earth to bring healing and wholeness to God’s creation, and invites followers of Jesus to engage in acts of resistance and hope as they anticipate his return in glory. Throughout, the Book of Revelation emphasizes the fundamental goodness of creation; it is “the destroyers of the earth” who come in for condemnation, not the earth itself.

By the same token, it is “the Lamb who was slain,” and who offers a model of sacrificial service on behalf of the world, who is deemed worthy to receive power and blessing at the close of the age. In conclusion, Dr. Rossing, noting that the Moravian seal embodies the essence of her message, issued a call for “Lamb Power!” to her listeners, encouraging them to do what they can to promote what Jewish tradition calls tikkun olam, the repair of the world, as the truly biblical and faithful response to the challenges before us.

— Steve Simmons, Continuing Education