This Earthly Life Matters

“First it was Kuyper, then Bavinck followed—and now it is time for a third Dutch theologian to be rediscovered and appropriated by the American audience: Arnold van Ruler. This selection of his theological essays, sketching the contours of an ecologically sensitive Christian doctrine of creation, could not be timelier. Indeed, as editor Ernst Conradie rightly points out, Van Ruler’s theology displays ‘the most radical and consistent affirmation of creatureliness imaginable.’”


—Gijsbert van den Brink, professor of theology and science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam





“Welcome to a promising series! A wise choice as first volume. More of this intriguing thinker still so silent in English. This volume includes helpful introductions, well-chosen essays, instructive annotations, inspired translation (from wordplays to hymns), fascinating thoughts on joy and play and chaos and life (indeed, to proto-ecotheology), and talk about ‘the marvel of existence,’ ‘matter is holy,’ ‘sin’s sunny side,’ ‘this earthly life matters,’ and yes, ‘reality as God’s joke—and a good one.’ Creative, challenging, and more than welcome!”


—Dirk Smit, professor of reformed theology and public life, Princeton Theological Seminary





“With this excellent collection of essays, expertly translated by Douglas G. Lawrie, leading eco-theologian Ernst Conradie offers a much-needed and long-awaited retrieval of ecotheological themes in the work of the Dutch reformed theologian Arnold van Ruler (1908–70). What emerges is a theology that puts humanity’s need for divine grace at work towards the affirmation of the integrity of earthly life, precisely in its creatureliness. This book is an indispensable resource for Protestant ecotheology!”


—Hilda P. Koster, associate professor in ecological theology, Regis St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto