In a publishing first this fall, HarperOne will release The Green Bible (NRSV), a Green-Letter Edition that is the definitive Bible for the growing creation care movement (HarperOne, $29.95, October 2008). It shows just how green God is, with green ink highlighting the more than 1,000 passages that speak to God’s love for creation and the scriptural mandate for humans to care for, protect, and heal the earth.

Produced in an eco-friendly printing process with soy-based inks, recycled paper, and a 100% cotton/linen cover, The Green Bible is packed with special features tracing environmental themes woven through Scripture. Essays by a range of voices offer an ecumenical perspective on eco-justice and the Bible’s message for the earth, including a foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu; author Brian McLaren on the theological shift toward creation care; preacher Barbara Brown Taylor on our responsibility to care for what God loves; the late pope John Paul II on the ecological crisis as a moral problem; Jewish environmentalist Ellen Bernstein on ten principles of creation theology; and Anglican Bishop of Durham, England N.T. Wright on how we must be God’s agents in bringing forth environ-mental renewal today.

“That the Bible has a profound message of sustainability—some might argue, the original message—is not all that surprising. What is surprising is that it is not one of the first things that comes to mind when most folks think about the Bible and its message,” says Mark Tauber, senior vice president and publisher of HarperOne. “This Bible seeks to change that fact. We believe that the unique and specially added features by some of today’s most important thinkers, writers and leaders,across the ecumenical spectrum make it a must-have for those who already find motivation, comfort and inspiration in it and for the many more who might see it freshly as a critical resource in their journey to sustain our planet.”

Get more info at the official website for the book [www.greenletterbible.com].

The Bible “is an ecological handbook on how to live rightly on earth,” says conservationist Cal DeWitt, one of the contributors.

A poem by renowned poet and conservationist Wendell Berry serves as the epigraph. Matthew Sleeth, M.D., Executive Director of Blessed Earth and author of Serve God, Save the Planet wrote the introduction. Sleeth notes that the Bible begins and ends with a tree: “The tree of life forms the bookends of the scriptures; together with branches, vines, leaves and bushes, they punctuate a thousand passages.”

Check out the Green Bible Video on Youtube [www.youtube.com]

About HarperOne
HarperOne, a division of HarperCollinsPublishers, strives to be the preeminent publisher of the most important books and authors across the full spectrum of religion, spirituality, and personal growth literature, adding to the wealth of the world’s wisdom by stirring the waters of reflection on the primary questions of life, while respecting all traditions.