A thorough look at trees, literal and figurative, in scripture. The author's testimony is given throughout as well. Many lessons to be learned from our reflection on trees.

I am a passionate lover of trees and, even more so, of God. Upon reading the back cover copy, I thought this book would be the culmination of those two loves. Sadly, I was disappointed in the theology. It feels to me like a case of eisegesis. Tree facts have been surrounded by scripture, the thread of the Bible rewoven with trees at it’s centre and, for me, in that process, God has lost His sovereignty and supremacy. I wholeheartedly support planting and saving trees but feel the author would have been better writing a book focusing on that cause rather than entwining the Bible and trees.

I was delightfully surprised at how much this book captured my imagination and showed me a side of the Bible that I have never considered. As a botanist and environmental scientist, I am thoroughly in support of trees, nature, and the environment already. I picked up this book with some faint curiosity about what the author might have to say about trees, environmental stewardship, and the Bible. My environmentalism is often viewed as something extra-Biblical in my conservative community. When I started reading, I was fascinated by the connections the author was drawing between trees in the Bible, Jesus, and faith. He also revealed many Hebrew and Greek words and names meaning"tree" that I never recognized and explained cultural information about certain tree species that lends meaning and depths to passages. I felt like this book was exactly what I needed to articulate my own deep and abiding personal faith in environmental stewardship and its source in my faith in Jesus. And, honestly, I feel so vindicated! I want to share everything I learned with my church and spread the "tree-hugging" Biblical commands to the whole world.

I’ll admit, I was skeptical of this one. My family is an outdoorsy family and I have a heart for trees and reforesting efforts. I was skeptical that an entire book could be written connecting trees to God without sounding repetitive and preachy. This book defied my expectations. What a fantastic job Matthew Sleeth did with this one. I live in the Seattle area surrounded by trees. Thanks to this book, I see them differently now. I grew in my faith, my appreciation of nature, and my Bible knowledge. This book taught me so much about an aspect of the world that I love but never thought to study in the Bible. I had no idea so many references to trees existed in the Word. I was given the chance to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book to share my honest feedback. This book has had a profound impact on me. My family homeschools with a focus on nature and faith, I will be incorporating this into our school studies as a way to tie the two together. This would obviously be a great read for nature lovers. I’d also encourage those who would rather ignore the great outdoors to check this one out- you’ll learn a lot and may understand more about why we love nature so much.

I was familiar with the work of Mathew Sleeth and his wife Nancy, as Christians in ministry. I was intrigued to read this book because I enjoy learning more about the Bible and as a nutritionist, am interested in learning more about biology. Sleeth's education and experience as a physician lends a lot to this book. The book includes many interesting facts such as that the Latin word for apple is the same as the word for evil. His look at trees in the Bible goes from the tree of life in Genesis to Calvary's "tree" where Jesus was crucified, to the Revelation. There are numerous references to trees through scripture which are discussed. Trees and people are inextricably linked, because without the oxygen that trees and other plants make, people would die. I love this book!
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy for me to review.

This book is amazing!

Some of it was familiar, and sone of it really made me think.
I am saddened to realize how many trees we have already lost, great forests that I didn't notice in scripture that have been destroyed.

But I am also motivated to do something. The significance of trees and plants to my faith, and future generations is real, and I will be planting more for sure.

The author writes in a very engaging way. For nonfiction, I enjoyed this far more than I had expected, because I struggle with the genre. His unusual background as a carpenter, doctor, nonbeliever who became a Christian leads to a remarkable storyline within this walk through the forests and plants that mark the most important events in the Bible.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to grow their faith, be challenged to get involved, and find a way to work together with anyone who cares about the environment.

I have not read a Karen Kingsbury book in a long time. I was glad to revisit the Baxter family. I need to go back and read some of the Baxter books I have missed. I have always enjoyed Karen Kingsbury books and my patrons at the library will look forward to this book.