Apocalyptic Ecology

Micah D. Kiel, PhD, is professor of theology at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. He has a BA in music performance from Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, and an MDiv and PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has published many articles and essays and is a frequent speaker in churches. He lives in Davenport with his wife and two children, with whom he enjoys travel, hiking, bike riding, baseball, and reading. He is a contributor to Give Us This Day, published by Liturgical Press.

"In his innovative study of Revelation, Micah D. Kiel employs different strategies to show what Revelation's `apocalyptic ecology' can offer the environmental crisis. His most challenging question concerns the book's depiction of earth's destruction. How can a book where the sea is annihilated contribute positively to ecological consciousness? In the refusal of John of Patmos to diminish his critique of the Roman Empire, and it's devastating effect on the earth, lies Revelation's theocentric vision of nothing less than a new earth."Revelation is not an anthropocentric book. The earth protects the woman from the dragon, and birds refuse to let evil have the last word. But humankind is not passive in the drama of John's eschatology. In his engaging eco-critical journey through the historical contexts that have formed John's theology to the illuminated manuscripts that depict Revelation's legacy, Kiel shows that Revelation's apocalyptic eschatology provides a robust call to ecological action. Biblical students and scholars alike will find in Apocalyptic Ecology much inspiration for ecological hope."Marie Turner, Flinders University of South Australia

• Contents Foreword - Barbara R. Rossing  ixPreface  xiAcknowledgments   xvIntroduction   Burnmarks and Biography: Guiding Metaphors   xviiChapter OneRevelation’s Personality: The Earth and the Future in an Apocalyptic Ecology   1Chapter TwoRevelation’s Ancestors: An Ecological Alternative in the Context of Hellenistic War   29Chapter ThreeRevelation’s Upbringing: Critique of Empire and Its Ecological Components   57Chapter FourRevelation’s Career: Environmental Entanglement in Illuminated Manuscripts   89Chapter FiveRevelation’s Legacy: Endings and Beginnings   111Bibliography   133Subject and Author Index   149Scripture Index   157