nature

Dr. Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at the University of California, Berkeley released a book earlier this year with a bombshell piece of advice: Go outside!

Recently, Dr. Keltner spoke to The New York Times about the book, entitled Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it can Transform Your Life. He recommended “awe walks,” intentional time spent outside and focused on nature. This, Keltner says, can inspire awe, “that complex emotion we experience when encountering something so vast that our sense of self recedes.” Awe has measurable psychological and even physical benefits, including reducing anxiety, depression, and even inflammation.

So, go outside and think of something other than yourself. Not exactly rocket science, or anything new for that matter, but great advice, nonetheless.

On one hand, documentaries like Planet Earth can motivate us to protect our planet’s beauty. That kind of majesty in detail often prompts a kind of worship, though it is often directed away from the One to whom it is due. Christians who believe that there was an Eden, a world in which nature, humanity, and God were at perfect peace, are given a picture of restoration when the curse is lifted and the ill effects of our fallen humanity are made right on earth as it is in heaven.

On the other hand, the desire to protect a “pristine” natural world often becomes a kind of conduit for assumptions of naturalism. If humans are only another part of nature, their violation of nature makes them a kind of cancer on the planet; at best, a problem to be solved and, at worst, a plague to be eradicated. Yet such a view cannot adequately sustain the work of conservation.

Our universe, even as Our Universe portrays it, compels worship, leaving us with the sense that we need to, as singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson put it, “thank someone.” Yet, in this series, created glory is acknowledged and celebrated with gorgeous animation, wildlife cinematography, and musical score, all without giving glory to the Creator behind it.

Gaia theory is growing among young Americans. Gaia ecosystem all have something in common: They’re user-generated. Unlike organized religion, Gaianism (the name for the spiritual version of Gaia Theory) can essentially conform to any number of beliefs dependings on the person holding them. It’s not subject to any kind of empirical test or divine revelation. It doesn’t require specificity as to what beliving it would precisely entail.

Filmmaker Nathan Wilson has a plan to revolutionize the nature documentary genre to highlight God's hand in creation. Partnering with Angel Studios, Wilson is creating the crowdfunded nature series The Riot and the Dance, which will promote and affirm a biblical worldview while showcasing jaw-dropping footage and sounds from around the world.

It is a particular discipline to not approach God with what Jesus called "many words," and instead to "be still and know" that He is God.

One of the defining features of God’s Word is how often it points us to God’s world. Much of Scripture, in fact, assumes a certain level of understanding about nature. So, it would seem, if we fail to go outdoors, if we fail to experience and engage in God’s creation, our faith could suffer.

A recent article in the national magazine of the Sierra Club asked the question, “Does a Bear Think in the Woods?” Beyond the clever play on the old rhetorical question, the article made the remarkable claim that the intelligence of bears, chimpanzees, and other great apes shares “many properties with our own.”

One of the defining features of God’s Word is how often it points us to God’s world. Much of Scripture, in fact, assumes a level of understanding about nature. So, it would seem, if we fail to go outdoors, if we fail to experience and engage in God’s creation, our faith could suffer.

What on earth is a Philippine snout weevil, and what does it have to do with Christian worldview?