University of Kentucky UKnowledge Religious Thought, Theology, and Philosophy of Religion Religion 11-10-2009 Wendell Berry and Religion: Heaven's Earthly Life Joel James Shuman King’s College L. Roger Owens Duke Memorial United Methodist Church Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Shuman, Joel James and Owens, L. Roger, "Wendell Berry and Religion: Heaven's Earthly Life" (2009). Religious Thought, Theology, and Philosophy of Religion. 2. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_theology/2 Wendell Berry and Religion_Wendell Berry and Religion 8/27/09 2:22 PM Page 1 Continued from front flap NATURE / RELIGION SHUMAN & OWENS Divided into the sections “Good Work,” w we dell “Holy Living,” “Imagination,” and “Moving we dell n Forward,” the collection intimately connects berr yand the works of Wendell Berry to the reverence e n found in Christian worship. Through his n religio n depictions of an agrarian society, Berry Heaven’s Earthly Life illustrates the values of simple pleasures and d and “Wendell Berry is our most important writer at work in this berry hard work and asserts that the earth is God’s Edited by Joel James Shuman country. Wendell Berry and Religion will help people see gift to mankind. Wendell Berry and Religion e & L. Roger Owens covers relevant topics such as ministry, birth the roots of his work, beyond the idea that he is ‘writing l control, and the roles of universities and about farming.’” An internationally renowned author and also examines the challenge of practicing l environmentalist, Wendell Berry has won —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature religio Christian values in a materialistic culture. wide acclaim for novels, poems, and essays b n that advocate healthy ecological practices. Wendell Berry is one of the most important Berry was born in rural Henry County, “It may surprise some of Wendell Berry’s many followers that e heaven ’s ear thly life Kentucky, to fifth-generation farmers, who critical essayists currently writing, and his his views have been greatly influenced by his Christian faith, religious and moral beliefs are evident r instilled in their son a love of the land that throughout his body of work. Showcasing and it may surprise some Christians that their communities continues to this day. Berry’s humble provocative essays from a diverse group of and their theology very much need to be influenced by r beginnings are evident in his writings, which writers, Wendell Berry and Religion examines Berry’s kind of Christianity. These are the insights we owe to y emphasize the idea that individuals should the thought-provoking conversations that be considerate and appreciative of the land the contributors of this important book.” and their communities. take place in Berry’s writings and reveals the a theological underpinnings of his work. —Albert Borgmann, author of Real American Ethics n Though Berry is not considered a religious Joel James Shuman , associate professor d writer, his work often reflects the Christian and chair of the department of theology ideals of stewardship, reverence, and at King’s College, is the author of several r fellowship. In Wendell Berry and books, including To Live Is to Worship: Religion: Heaven’s Earthly Life , editors Joel Bioethics and the Body of Christ, Reclaiming e James Shuman and L. Roger Owens the Body: Christians and the Faithful Use examine the theological themes in Berry’s of Modern Medicine, and Heal Thyself: l work, rethinking his fiction, essays, and Spirituality, Medicine, and the Distortion i poetry in relation to Christian traditions of Christianity. g and life in a modern and changing world. Covering a wide range of topics, from L. Roger Owens earned his PhD in i modern medicine to the practice of law, theology and ethics from Duke University o the essays analyze how Berry’s writings and is copastor at Duke United draw on Christian values and principles Methodist Church. n while simultaneously critiquing them. Culture of the Land: A Series in the New Agrarianism 90000 Series Editor: Norman Wirzba Cover image: Photograph by Guy Mendes, courtesy of Ann Tower Gallery Continued on back flap Jacket design by Richard Rossiter EDITED BY JOEL JAMES SHUMAN & L. ROGER OWENS The University Press of Kentucky 9780813 125558 KENTUCKY Wendell Berry and Religion Culture of the Land: A Series in the New Agrarianism This series is devoted to the exploration and articulation of a new agrarianism that considers the health of habitats and human communities together. It demonstrates how agrarian insights and responsibilities can be worked out in diverse fields of learning and living: history, science, art, politics, economics, literature, philosophy, religion, urban planning, education, and public policy. Agrarianism is a comprehensive worldview that appreciates the intimate and practical connections that exist between humans and the earth. It stands as our most promising alternative to the unsustainable and destructive ways of current global, industrial, and consumer culture. Series Editor Norman Wirzba, Duke University, North Carolina Advisory Board Wendell Berry, Port Royal, Kentucky Ellen Davis, Duke University, North Carolina Patrick Holden, Soil Association, United Kingdom Wes Jackson, Land Institute, Kansas. Gene Logsdon, Upper Sandusky, Ohio Bill McKibben, Middlebury College, Vermont David Orr, Oberlin College, Ohio Michael Pollan, University of California at Berkeley, California Jennifer Sahn, Orion Magazine, Massachusetts Vandana Shiva, Research Foundation for Science, Technology & Ecology, India Bill Vitek, Clarkson University, New York Wendell Berry and Religion A Heaven’s Earthly Life Edited by Joel James Shuman and L. Roger Owens THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Copyright © 2009 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 www.kentuckypress.com 13 12 11 10 09 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wendell Berry and religion : heaven’s earthly life / edited by Joel James Shuman and L. Roger Owens. p. cm. — (Culture of the land) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8131-2555-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Christianity. 2. Berry, Wendell, 1934– I. Shuman, Joel James. II. Owens, L. Roger, 1975– BR50.W398 2009 277.3’082092—dc22 2009018235 This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. Manufactured in the United States of America. Member of the Association of American University Presses Contents Introduction: Placing God in the Work of Wendell Berry 1 Joel James Shuman Part 1: Good Work What Would a Christian University Look Like? Some Tentative Answers Inspired by Wendell Berry 15 Stanley Hauerwas Mr. Berry Goes to Medical School: Notes toward Unspecializing a Healing Art 33 Brian Volck Of the Good That Has Been Possible in This World: Lawyering in Port William 50 Richard P. Church Proper Work: Wendell Berry and the Practice of Ministry 71 Kyle Childress Part 2: Holy Living The Pill Is Like. DDT? An Agrarian Perspective on Pharmaceutical Birth Control 85 Elizabeth Bahnson The Salvation of the City: Defiant Gardens in the Great Northern Feedlot 98 Fred Bahnson “And the Land I Will Remember”: Reading the Bible through Agrarian Eyes 115 Ellen F. Davis vi Contents Landscapes of Flesh: On Finding More Faithful Metaphors for the Body and Its Goods 131 Joel James Shuman The Dark Night of the Soil: An Agrarian Approach to Mystical Life 148 Norman Wirzba Part 3: Imagination “The Membership Includes the Dead”: Wendell Berry’s Port William Membership as Communio Sanctorum 173 D. Brent Laytham Embedded Hopefulness: Wendell Berry and Saint Thomas Aquinas on Christian Hope 190 Philip A. Muntzel Alien Landscapes: Christianity and Inevitable Violence 209 Scott Williams Let the Place Judge: Healing the Division between Theology and Practice 221 L. Roger Owens Part 4: Moving Forward Democracy, America, and the Church: Inviting Wendell Berry into the Discussion 239 Charles R. Pinches List of Contributors 261 Index 263 Joel James Shuman Introduction Placing God in the Work of Wendell Berry God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. —Gen. 1:31 We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life. —1 John 1:1 I take literally the statement in the Gospel of John that God loves the world. I believe that the world was created and approved by love, that it subsists, coheres, and endures by love, and that, insofar as it is redeemable, it can be