True North: Christ, the Gospel, and Creation Care

Mark Liederbach and Seth Bible. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2012. 173 pp. (Paperback).

According to the authors of “True North,” attitudes and actions regarding the environment have too often been formed, even among Christians, according to personal beliefs and preferences. Instead, the authors argue, any discussion of ethics, in this case environmental ethics, should be fixed according to an unchanging point outside oneself; the focus must be on “the supremacy of Jesus Christ over the entire created order, the corporate body of Christ and lives of every individual Christian.”

Heavily footnoted, replete with scriptural references, “True North” provides guidance to the Christian who may be unsure of the position he should adopt on caring for God’s creation. The book carefully steers clear of political agendas and specific policies, leaving the reader with a framework for engaging environmental questions “from a distinctively Christian point of view.” 

Mark Liederbach is professor of Christian Ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., and Seth Bible is director of Student Life at Southeastern Seminary.