Dave is Director of Theology for A Rocha International, where he works to embed creation care into international Christian organizations, theological institutions, and mission movements. His past roles with A Rocha include being an International Trustee and the co-founder of A Rocha UK (with his wife Anne). He has a PhD from Cambridge University on biblical theology and biodiversity conservation, and has contributed to many books and articles, including Planetwise, available in six languages. Born and raised in India, Dave has a love for Indian food, Indian culture and Indian Christianity. Dave is also a qualified bird-ringer and loves birding, islands, running and mountains.
Through 2013, we’ve been celebrating A Rocha’s 30th birthday. But, in a world of disappearing habitats and species, just how long-lasting is our conservation work? If we believe God’s New Creation to be a renewal rather than a replacement of this world, will the best of our work remain into eternity?
Conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts often appear anti-urban. ‘Natural living’ seems to mean escaping from buildings, traffic and crowds. Those forced to find work in cities dream of escaping to a rural idyll… a little piece of heaven on earth. Isn’t in strange, then, that the bible moves from a garden to a city?
It seems a simple question, childlike even, but actually it leads into all sorts of minefields. Will God’s new creation include other animals, and if so… will my rabbit / cat / dog / snake be there? Will I know it personally? Will we be able to communicate? How will there be enough space? And should we keep pets anyway?
Where do you feel most at home? Is it a place filled with childhood memories, or is it where you live now? Is it in a beautiful landscape, or amongst people you love and trust? Is it safely locked behind the door of your house? Or are you longing for eternity – to be ‘at home’ with Christ?
I’ve grown up with the future according to Hollywood: visions of a scary, dystopian future with a world devastated and destroyed. It’s not surprising that popular Christian literature has followed suit. For years I assumed the central assumption was true: that this world would be destroyed completely when Christ returned in judgment. But as I started reading the Bible myself, my questions grew.
