The Wonders of Creation: Learning Stewardship from Narnia and Middle-Earth - Paperback

by Kristen Page (Author), Christina Bieber Lake (Contribution by), Noah J. Toly (Contribution by)

"Highly recommended for fans of Tolkien and Lewis, for those who love literature and ecology, and really for all of us whose capacity for wonder will be expanded by this delightful little book." - Jonathan A. Moo, professor of New Testament and environmental studies at Whitworth University

When an author of fiction employs the imagination and sets characters in a new location, they are in a sense creating a world. Might such fictional worlds give us a deeper appreciation for our own?

Many readers have found themselves, like the Pevensie children, transported by C. S. Lewis into Narnia, and they have traveled from Lantern Waste to Cair Paravel and the edge of the sea. Thanks to J. R. R. Tolkien, readers have also journeyed with Bilbo, Frodo, and their companions across Middle-earth from the Shire to the Lonely Mountain, the forest of Mirkwood, the mines of Moria, and the very fires of Mount Doom. But as often as we enter these fictional worlds as readers, we eventually return to our world refreshed with sharpened insight.

In The Wonders of Creation, biologist Kristen Page explores the beloved fictional landscapes of Narnia and Middle-earth in order to discover whatwe might learn about real-life landscapes and how to become better stewards of God's good creation.

About the Series

The Hansen Series celebrates the literary and spiritual contributions of seven British authors whose works have captivated readers across generations: Owen Barfield, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams. These seven authors were all deeply involved in the friendships and intellectual exchanges that shaped the Inklings, a mid-twentieth-century group of Christian writers and thinkers in Oxford, England. This series invites readers to deepen their engagement with these timeless voices and their enduring influence on literature, faith, and the life of the imagination.

Author Biography

Emily Hunter McGowin (PhD, University of Dayton) is associate professor of theology at Wheaton College. She is the author of Quivering Families and Christmas, and coeditor of God and Wonder. Her articles have appeared inChristianity Today and The Week. She is a priest and canon theologian in the Anglican diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others. She and her husband, Ron, also a priest, live in Chicagoland with their three children.

Kristen Page (PhD, Purdue University) is Ruth Kraft Strohschein Distinguished Chair and professor of biology at Wheaton College. Her work has appeared in scholarly journals, including The Journal of Wildlife Management, Journal of Parasitology, Journal of Wildlife Diseases, and Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Christina Bieber Lake (PhD, Emory University) is the Clyde S. Kilby professor of English at Wheaton College. She is the author of Beyond the Story: American Literary Fiction and the Limits of Materialism, Prophets of the Posthuman: American Literature, Biotechnology, and the Ethics of Personhood, and The Incarnational Art of Flannery O'Connor.

Noah J. Toly (Ph.D., Delaware) teaches environmental politics and is director of urban studies and assistant professor of politics and international relations at Wheaton College in Illinois. Previously he served as policy fellow at the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy in the University of Delaware's School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy.