Christian Ecotheologies

…the killing of Mother Earth in our time is the number one ethical, spiritual, and human issue

of our planet. ~Matthew Fox

Sallie McFague, A New Climate for Theology: God, the World, and Global Warming

Denis Edwards, Ecology at the Heart of Faith Charlene Hosenfeld, Eco-Faith: Creating &

Sustaining Green Congregations Leonardo Boff, Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor

Ecological location is where we are situated within human society and the wider biotic community. The biotic community and the Members of the biotic community are active agents interacting with and shaping the other members of biotic ecological community.

We are shaped by the land, water, air, and fire (energy used) as well as the creatures of a given locale.

We live in a semi-arid to arid environment in SoCal We are in a serious drought; It effects not only

humans and other life. Farming, drilling for fossil fuels, energy used to

transport water to us from Northern California. Polluting aquifers Excessive consumerism

Lynn White, “The Historical Root of Our Ecologic Crisis,” 1967.

Genesis 1:38 “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue (kabash) it, and have dominion over (radah)…

two verbs radah and kabash signify violent assault and crushing—image of conquest of subduing

“God planned all this for this explicitly for man’s benefit and rule; no item in physical creation had any purpose save to serve man’s purposes…Christianity is the most anthropocentric religion the world has see.” White

Genesis 2-3 are an etiological story about the human condition

Adam and Eve were never historical. The interpretation of Western Christianity

understands original sin as transmitted through sexuality.

The Earth was tainted by human fallenness.

The Fallenness of the Earth The Development of Atonement Model (Anselm

of Canterbury) Protestant & Catholic theologies of redemption

are heavily indebted to sin-guilt model. Therefore, redemption is an Incarnation rescue

mission to save humanity from sin.

This existed in Celtic Christianity and Orthodox Christianities

Read: Patrick Cheng, From Sin to Amazing Grace.

John Duns Scotus God intended Christ’s Incarnation before Creation.

This moves in the directions of modern Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox theology to understand Creation, Incarnation, and Salvation as the Flow of God’s Divine Love.

We need to reframe our theologies with an ecological perspective.

Man is superior to and separate from Nature. Everything is for the benefit and use of

humanity. Loses the Theocentric perspective of the text Callous Indifference to other life

“An ecological Christology means that God is with us—we are dealing with the power and love of the universe; it means that God is with us—on our side, desiring justice and health and fulfillment for us.; it means that God is with us –all of us all people and other life forms, but especially those who do not have justice, health, and fulfillment.” Sallie McFague

Prophetic Christology

Sacramental Christology

Jesus’ ministry to the oppressed should be extended to nature

Preferential Option for the Poor and Vulnerable Should we not extend the model of loving others

to Nature? Deserving justice and compassionate care?

“The incarnation is a crucial feature of an ecological Christology for two reasons. By bringing God into the realm of the body, of matter, nature is included with the divine reach.”

“Incarnational Christology means that salvation is neither solely human not spiritual. It must be for the entire creation…Incarnational Christology says that God wants all of nature and all other entities to enjoy well-being to both and spirit.”

“The flesh that is embraced by God is not limited to the human. It includes the whole interconnected world of fleshy life and, in some ways, the whole universe to which flesh is related and on which it depends.” Denis Edwards

“To say that God became flesh is not only to say that God became human but to say also that God became an Earth creature, that God became a sentient being, that God became a living being, that God became a complex Earth unit of minerals and fluids, and that God became an item in the carbon and nitrogen cycles.”

“…the incarnation of God in Christ can be understood as a radical or deep incarnation, that is, an incarnation into the very tissue of biological existence, and system of nature. Understood this way, the death of Christ became an icon of God’s redemptive co-suffering with all sentient life as well as with the victims of social competition. God bears the cost of evolution, the price involved in the hardship of natural selection”

Churches are not ecological Bringing the Church back to the Earth

“The world cannot be left out. The church must become ecological through and through.”

Oikos—household, the Church We derive the words, ecumenical, ecology, and

economics from oikos.

Household is the whole planet; it is composed of human beings in interdependent relations with all other life-forms and earth processes

Ecology is the study of earth’s organization along with everything that affects them: it is the study or organisms in their homes and their interactions with one another. Once this basic knowledge is learned is difficult to deny.

Solutions: Ecological Literacy She quotes Wallace Stevens: “ Nothing is

itself taken alone. Things are because of interrelationships.”

Everything is related to everything else. See ourselves as part of the web of life, an

incredibly vast, complex , subtle, beautiful web that amazes us can call forth our concern.

Ecological unity of ourselves, life, and our planet is not an interpretation of reality, it is what science describes as our “interconnectedness.”

We must begin to see ourselves as interrelated and interdependent with animate and inanimate elements of our planet and begin to earth’s rules of limited use, recycling, and long-term sustainability.

“Respect Earth and life in all its diversity. Recognize that all beings are interdependent and every form of life has value regardless of its worth to human beings.”

“The Earth does not belong to us; we belong to the Earth.” Chief Seattle

“We, human beings, men and women, have exiled ourselves from the homeland we shared in common, the Earth. We have forgotten that man was made from humus and that Adam and Eve, son and daughter of the Earth and our ancestors, came from Adamá, land of fertility.” Leonardo Boff

Part of the Biotic Community. All life interrelated to us. Francis of Assisi: All life and the Earth processes

are our siblings.” Imago Dei (image of God)

Belief that God is incarnate in the world implies rethinking the issues of creation and providence in light of the world as internally related to God—the world as within God or the world as God’s body—rather than externally as an artist to his or her production.

Incarnation mean—we and God are in the same place and that we share responsibility for the world.

“Those living within the model of the world as God’s body see the world differently: not as an object or machine or simply a resource but as sacred, valuable, and needing care. The world, including nature, is not ours to do with as we wish. It all belongs to and tells us of God.”

“We should be clear about what happens when we destroy the living forms of this planet. The consequence is that we destroy modes of divine presence…”

Human need is more basic than human greed; we are relational beings from the moment of conception to our last breath. The well-being of the individual is inextricably connected to the well-being of the whole.

Ecological economics begins with sustainability and distributive justice

“Ecological Christology defines sin as the refusal to share the necessities of life with other humans and other life forms. Sin is insatiable greed, wanting to have it all. Acting justly toward nature and other human beings demands sacrifices from Christian elites. Sustainable living involves acceptance of finite limits such as how we drive our cars, emissions controls and carbon taxes on industry.”

Household Rules Take your share Clean up after yourself Keep the house in repair for future occupants

“Overall the condition can only be described as unsustainable, which means that we are changing the world and using its resources much more rapidly than they can be renewed, and leaving for our children and grandchildren a world that will be much less diverse, rich, healthy, and resilient than the one in which we live now.” Peter Raven

The Earth is alive – just like the biological patterns found in cells, species, individual organisms, and ecosystems; only at a different scale – and thus can die if boundary conditions for health are exceeded. 

“Care for the earth is our primary vocation as God’s partners in helping creation to flourish . . .God loves the world and expects us to as well” Sallie McFague

“God is the thread of hope that desperate people hold on to. God is the scrap of life and goodness still in us. God is what keeps us from giving up. God is not a being, but whatever life or love there is, no matter how small. We hold on to whatever shred of hope is left. It is very small sometimes—but it is enough. “Because the Holy Ghost over the bent/ World broods with warm breast and ah! Bright wings.” Gerard Manley Hopkins S.J.