The Seven Bowls of Wrath

An Ecological Parable

Abstract

When preparing an address a decade ago for a conference on the future of the church in America, I chanced upon an unexpected resonance between the harrowing predictions of a panel of distinguished international scientists concerning the devastating consequences of global environmental deterioration and accounts in the book of Revelation of the eschatological plagues inflicted on the earth because of human greed, oppression and idolatry. Over the years, I found myself guided by the surprising congruence into a deeper study of Revelation, which in turn increased my interest in the theological and spiritual implications of ecological destruction. In the end, I came to see the accounts of global catastrophe in Revelation as an ecological parable for our times, one that strikes true both in terms of our particular situation today and also in terms of the essential message of Revelation.