Creaturely Life
Abigail Reed
2/12/19
While reading through the first chapter of From Nature to Creation I gathered a lot of information about the perceptions of Christianity as well as different views or motivations of Christians throughout history. I did not grow up in a religious household so I felt somewhat unprepared while reading this book but after the first chapter I somewhat have an understanding. My specific reading for class was pages 25 to 30 and this chapter was about the creaturely life most Christians live.
Wirzba uses European Christian colonization as an example of the different ways Christians went about life. The first is to live a creaturely life, which is when one treats everyone like they are creatures of God and God is the Creator. This lifestyle often leads to Christians treating everyone equal and with the same respect. The second way Christians have gone about certain things is finding the worth of something and using it as a resource. European colonizers often thought this way about Native Americans and African slaves. Wirzba states " It is a contradiction to profess belief in God the Creator and then live in ways that degrade and destroy Gods's creation". He is referencing to the pain and suffering the natives and African Americans endured at the hand of Christian colonizers. Another quote from this section is, " It did not dawn on the Christian missionaries that the land and its people might have integrity that deserved respect...". This quote suggests that the Europeans did not know that treating these people poorly was a bad thing.
The main point during my reading somewhat confused me but after I brought it up during discussion in class I had a better understanding of the two different 'lifestyles' that were people suggested. One of Christians living a creaturely life and the other is Christians treating people and things as a resource to be used for their benefit.
2/12/19
While reading through the first chapter of From Nature to Creation I gathered a lot of information about the perceptions of Christianity as well as different views or motivations of Christians throughout history. I did not grow up in a religious household so I felt somewhat unprepared while reading this book but after the first chapter I somewhat have an understanding. My specific reading for class was pages 25 to 30 and this chapter was about the creaturely life most Christians live.
Wirzba uses European Christian colonization as an example of the different ways Christians went about life. The first is to live a creaturely life, which is when one treats everyone like they are creatures of God and God is the Creator. This lifestyle often leads to Christians treating everyone equal and with the same respect. The second way Christians have gone about certain things is finding the worth of something and using it as a resource. European colonizers often thought this way about Native Americans and African slaves. Wirzba states " It is a contradiction to profess belief in God the Creator and then live in ways that degrade and destroy Gods's creation". He is referencing to the pain and suffering the natives and African Americans endured at the hand of Christian colonizers. Another quote from this section is, " It did not dawn on the Christian missionaries that the land and its people might have integrity that deserved respect...". This quote suggests that the Europeans did not know that treating these people poorly was a bad thing.
The main point during my reading somewhat confused me but after I brought it up during discussion in class I had a better understanding of the two different 'lifestyles' that were people suggested. One of Christians living a creaturely life and the other is Christians treating people and things as a resource to be used for their benefit.
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