Wipf & Stock, 2024
ISBN: 979-8385200245
Reviewed by Chris Holmes
_________________________________________________________________
Neil J. Whitehouse is a Minister in the United Church of Canada, having moved from England to Montreal at the beginning of this century. ‘The Gospel of Jesus Green’ is a catchy title which draws one in to what is an unorthodox and fascinating perspective on Jesus. The early part of the book examines the parables and actions of Jesus and shows that while there is some evidence of a Green consciousness, because of the very different historical context he had ‘’ an interest in money and social order and drew on nature to make his points’’. I was a little reminded of the old efforts to demonstrate that Jesus was a socialist, or would have been were he alive today!
The remainder of the book, around 140 pages, goes much deeper, showing how ‘faint Green’ can become ‘deep Green’ if our understandings of Jesus and Green grow and change. Much of this will be familiar to GreenSpirit people – references to Teilhard, Aldo Leopold, to the ecological crisis facing us, the claim that the Earth is ‘home for all, not just for humans’. Neil has some powerful points and arguments to make and he concludes that ‘’the more I have considered what is Green with the studies of the historical Jesus and the New Testament, the more I find Jesus would be Green today’’. He asks: ‘How can we change? Is there power to change in the Jesus story that still makes sense? Does this give people hope to live differently?’ Near the close of the book Neil writes very movingly about the cross and all it symbolises; he seems hopeful about the future.
‘The Gospel of Jesus Green’ is a passionate book, almost a conversation with the reader. Some Christian readers may be horrified, many will warm to it, and people of no faith may be agreeably surprised at its depth of thought.