Christian Attitudes Toward Nature

In this essay the author George Huntston Williams explores the views of nature which have been held throughout the history of the Christian church. George Huntston Williams (1914-2000) was Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard University. Among his works were The Radical Reformation St. Anselm Norman Anonymous and The Role of the Laity. He was an editor of Harvard Theological Review and of Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies and a contributor to the Library of Christian Classics. Wilderness and Paradise in Christian Thought is an expansion of Dr. Williams presidential address to the American Society of Church History. It was delivered on the fiftieth anniversary of Frederick Jackson Turners famous paper presented to the American Historical Society on the influence of the frontier on American history. Rev. James D. Smith III (ThD Harvard) is professor of church history at Bethel Seminary San Diego and associate pastor of La Jolla Christian Fellowship.