The Travail of Nature shows that the theological tradition in the West is neither ecologically bankrupt, as some of its popular and scholarly critics have maintained, nor replete with immediately accessible, albeit long-forgotten, ecological riches hidden everywhere in its deeper vaults, as some contemporary Christians, who are profoundly troubled by the environmental crisis and other related concerns, might wistfully hope to find. This is why it is appropriate to speak of the ambiguous ecological promises of Christian theology.

H. Paul Santmirehas been a leader in the field of ecological theology for more than forty years. Ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), he is the author of The Travail of Nature: The Ambiguous Ecological Promise of Christian Theology(1985), Nature Reborn: The Ecological and Cosmic Promise of Christian Theology(2000), andRitualizing Nature: Renewing Christian Liturgy in a Time of Crisis (2008), all from Fortress Press.