Towards A Theology Of The Environment

POPE BENEDICT said at the beginning of his Pontificate that external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast. Therefore the earth's treasures no longer serve to build God's garden for all to live in, but they have been made to serve the powers of exploitation and destruction. This book is a theological investigation of the environment, and takes in scientific, biblical, moral and spiritual themes, all addressed by recent Church teaching on the subject. The starting point is a detailed analysis of the various problems assailing the environment at present. Then a distinction is made between the science of ecology and the ideological overtones which are often associated with this area. Next, an overview of Christian teaching on ecology is present as an antidote to both New Age pseudo-mysticism and political ideology. A Christian theology of the environment is then formulated which has consequences for our moral life and our prayer. PAUL HAFFNER is a priest and professor of theology at Regina Apostolorum University in Rome, visiting professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and adjunct lecturer at Duquesne University Roman Campus. Author of over 20 books and 100 articles on philosophical and theological themes, many of his works have been translated into several languages, including Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. Other published volumes by this author include Mystery of Creation, Mystery of the Church, The Mystery of Mary, The Mystery of Reason and The Sacramental Mystery, all from Gracewing.

The biblical and Christian traditions have long been seen to have legitimated and encouraged humanity's aggressive domination of nature. Biblical visions of the future, with destruction for the earth and rescue for the elect, have also discouraged any concern for the earth's future or the welfare of future generations. But we now live in a time when environmental issues are at the centre of political and ethical debate. What is needed is a new reading of the biblical tradition that can meet the challenges of the ecological issues that face humanity at the beginning of the third millennium. 'The Bible and the Environment' examines a range of biblical texts - from Genesis to Revelation - evaluating competing interpretations. The Bible provides a thoroughly ambivalent legacy. Certainly, it cannot provide straightforward teaching on care for the environment but nor can it simply be seen as an anti-ecological book. Developing an 'ecological hermeneutic' as a way of mediating between contemporary concerns and the biblical text, 'The Bible and the Environment' presents a way of productively reading the Bible in the context of contemporary ecology.

"This book offers a comprehensive analysis of Catholic teachings on environmental themes by exploring official statements from Rome and the bishops of the Americas, as well as from contemporary visionary theologians". (p. [4] cover).

In this 2002 book, Tim Gorringe reflects theologically on the built environment as a whole.

Christianity struggles to show how living on earth matters for living with God. While people of faith increasingly seek practical ways to respond to the environmental crisis, theology has had difficulty contextualizing the crisis and interpreting the responses. In Ecologies of Grace, Willis Jenkins presents a field-shaping introduction to Christian environmental ethics that offers resources for renewing theology. Observing how religious environmental practices often draw on concepts of grace, Jenkins maps the way Christian environmental strategies draw from traditions of salvation as they engage the problems of environmental ethics. He then uses this new map to explore afresh the ecological dimensions of Christian theology. Jenkins first shows how Christian ethics uniquely frames environmental issues, and then how those approaches both challenge and reinhabit theological traditions. He identifies three major strategies for making environmental problems intelligible to Christian moral experience. Each one draws on a distinct pattern of grace as it adapts a secular approach to environmental ethics. The strategies of ecojustice, stewardship, and ecological spirituality make environments matter for Christian experience by drawing on patterns of sanctification, redemption, and deification. He then confronts the problems of each of these strategies through critical reappraisals of Thomas Aquinas, Karl Barth, and Sergei Bulgakov. Each represents a soteriological tradition which Jenkins explores as an ecology of grace, letting environmental questions guide investigation into how nature becomes significant for Christian experience. By being particularly sensitive to the ways in which environmental problems are made intelligible to Christian moral experience, Jenkins guides his readers toward a fuller understanding of Christianity and ecology. He not only makes sense of the variety of Christian environmental ethics, but by showing how environmental issues come to the heart of Christian experience, prepares fertile ground for theological renewal.

There has been a proliferation of publications in the field of Christian ecological theology over the last three decades or so. These include a number of recent edited volumes, each covering a range of topics and consolidating many of the emerging insights in ecological theology. The call for Christian churches to respond to the environmental crisis has been reiterated numerous times in this vast corpus of literature, also in South Africa.

Here is comprehensive coverage of the rapidly growing field of eco-theology. Eco-Theology evaluates the merits or otherwise of contemporary eco-theologies and introduces readers to critical debates, while tracing trends from around the globe and key theological responses. The emphasis is on the theological aspects of Christian engagement with environmental issues, rather than primarily ethical or spiritual concerns. Included are further reading sections and discussion questions.

"A thoughtful and interesting contribution to environmental theology literature." --Choice "Richly informative and provocative." --Review for Religious "Stephen Bede Scharper has added a significant new book to the growing collection of Christian ecotheological offerings....an admirable job of summarizing the main strands of Christian environmental theologies and highlighting the most valuable contributions of each....heartfelt...There is much to celebrate in this book!...presents a comprehensible and accessible guide to the major varieties of what Scharper calls 'Christian ecological theology.'...In this book he succeeds not just in coherently summarizing a number of the most important voices in ecotheology, but also in giving us a blueprint for the changed consciousness necessary to motivate a conversion from our destructive earth-damaging behavior to a more earth-friendly way of living." --Worldviews

How one of the world's most important religions, Christianity, shaped one of the important issues of our time, the environment.

Climate change promises monumental changes to human and other planetary life in the next generations. Yet government, business, and individuals have been largely in denial of the possibility that global warming may put our species on the road to extinction. Further, says Sallie McFague, we have failed to see the real root of our behavioral troubles in an economic model that actually reflects distorted religious views of the person. At its heart, she maintains, global warming occurs because we lack an appropriate understanding of ourselves as inextricably bound to the planet and its systems. A New Climate for Theology not only traces the distorted notion of unlimited desire that fuels our market system; it also paints an alternative idea of what being human means and what a just and sustainable economy might mean. Convincing, specific, and wise, McFague argues for an alternative economic order and for our relational identity as part of an unfolding universe that expresses divine love and human freedom. It is a view that can inspire real change, an altered lifestyle, and a form of Christian discipleship and desire appropriate to who we really are.