Armageddon may well be nigh, but plenty of Christian students are eager to save the planet in the interim. Along with energy-efficient buildings and recycling programs, evangelical universities are adding classes for an emerging core of believers who view environmental stewardship, or "creation care," as a key tenet of their faith.

"It's a pretty exciting time," says Daniel Brunner, who teaches a "Christianity and Earthkeeping" class at George Fox Evangelical Seminary in Newberg, Oregon. "Evangelicals are recognizing that they are being stereotyped as Earth haters and Earth destroyers. And there's a not-insignificant movement to change that."

Brunner's class addresses issues such as the proclamation of humans' "dominion" over the earth in Genesis and why Christians should take care of a planet they believe will ultimately be annihilated by fire. "The class was split as to whether the earth would be destroyed," Brunner says, "but they all agreed that the Christian community must take responsibility for stewarding it."

How have these words been made manifest? Eastern University, a Christian college in St. Davids, Pennsylvania, purchases 100 percent wind energy, and Indiana's Goshen College installed wind turbines that power an extension campus.