If any single word in the Christian vocabulary captures our relationship to--and responsibility for--the environment, that word is stewardship. It is a word that brings into view the relationship between humanity and the natural world of water, land, animals, and fellow human beings.

Nevertheless, today, some people think Christianity, especially Calvinism, is largely responsible for many of our environmental problems. The language of exercising dominion, subduing the earth, creation mandate, and technological progress somehow suggests abuse, exploitation, and pollution.

But are these...