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Creation and A Nonviolent God

In the beginning, God blessed humans with filling the earth and subduing it. We've done this, but at the expense of nature and the climate we share. By assuming Genesis 1 & 2 narrate a material story, we've left the Bible saying nothing about caring for creation. Thankfully, our assumption is wrong.

Contents

  1. Seven Reasons Genesis 1 is Not a Material Story
  2. What's the Earth Doing There?
  3. Creation Myths Israel's Ancient Neighbours Told
  4. The Origin of Order
  5. The Pinnacle of Creation
  6. Vertical vs. Horizontal Worldviews
  7. So That We May Rule
  8. Five Reasons Genesis 2 is a Sequel
  9. The Untranslated Word in Genesis 2
  10. Ribs and Side Rooms
  11. Death and Suffering Before the Fall
  12. Non-Order, Order, and Disorder
  13. The Subdue Dilemmas
  14. Our Original Mandate
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“Ancient people did not explain material creation. Instead, their origin stories describe how their gods organised the world to function day after day, year after year.”

— Steve Hall, Creation and A Nonviolent God, p.43

The ironic thing about Creation and A Nonviolent God is that I spent a couple of years trying to write something similar before I gave up, chopped up what I'd written into tiny pieces, and redrafted it from scratch to email out to the earliest subscribers of A Nonviolent God. Within in a matter of months, I had the book I'd been attempting to write all along.

While Genesis 1 & 2 may not seem an obvious place to challenge the notion of a violent God, our material understanding of these two chapters lies at the root of humankind's exploitation of our planet. As we hurtle towards damaging our atmosphere beyond repair, it's vital we acknowledge the role the Bible plays in our Christian (and Western societal) attitudes to the natural world so we can change our thinking before it's too late.

The first four chapters are free to read, while Chapter and Book Patrons can read all chapters of Creation and A Nonviolent God online after signing in.

Alternatively, you can purchase a paperback version on Amazon, or an ebook version on Kindle or Apple Books to add to your collection. The two major differences between the published book's text and the online version you can read above are that the book edition contains an exclusive preface and there are more sub-headings in the online version to make it easier to read without paginations.

Steve Hall
August 2026

Creation and A Nonviolent God
Copyright © 2025 Steve Hall

Steve Hall has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Published in October 2025 by Cookies and Oxygen Publishing

This book collects 14 articles originally emailed to Patrons of A Nonviolent God during 2025 that were revised by the author before publication. An exclusive preface has been added to the book edition.

ISBNs
9781912403257 (Paperback)
9781912403264 (Ebook)

Cover design by Steve Hall
Stock vector image by moonshine / www.123RF.com

"Anyone who has seen me," Jesus said, "has seen the Father."

— John 14:9 NIV

Join me in migrating from a violent view of God to a nonviolent one.

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