Theology of Climate Change Mitigation , Stewardship And Adaptation: The Place of The Church (original) (raw)
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Religions-Special Issue Religion and Planetary Climate Crisis, 2024
Religions play a key role in shaping our worldviews, values, and behaviours and this includes our interactions with the environment. Fuelled by the development of the technocratic paradigm, Christianity has historically received a bad reputation for perpetuating anti-environmental views. Nonetheless, the development of ecotheological strands and the emergence of faith-based organisations focusing on climate justice have aided in producing the much-needed environmental reformulations. As such, this paper seeks to provide a broad overview of the role of Christianity in shaping worldviews, from those hindering environmental action to more contemporary ecotheological approaches discussing climate change, particularly Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’. Christianity’s preparedness to navigate climate change will be theorised in relation to empirical evidence and the work of European faith-based organisations, as well as the methodological opportunities that the field of ecolinguistics can offer to inform effective communication.
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT: Christian Perspectives
Concern about the environment and the danger of not protecting it is and issue that has come to the fore during the last 100 years or less. The first persons to focus attention on this issue were various groups or movements. Then, the Catholic church has stepped in with various statements which have reached a highpoint in Laudato si of Pope Francis (2015), which has already had a good deal of influence on society at large. The World Council of Churches has also from time to time expressed its concern and it has its own constituency of influence. So, today, we read the bible in a new key where man is called not only to dominate, but also to serve, care for and nurture creation. The article was published as: Protecting the Environment: Christian Perspectives in: Dialogue New Series 42& 43(2015 & 2016)111-148
A Church's Response to the Earth's Healing in the Face of Ecological Crisis
Bedan Research Journal, 2019
The Roman Catholic Church, thru the Supreme Pontiff, prides herself in her prophetic vocation. Just like the prophets of old, the Church speaks whenever there are social issues that threatens the people of God. Currently, all people are facing the ecological crisis as characterized by unprecedented natural weather patterns (climate change), loss of species of both flora and fauna, desertification and the like. As a crisis, it needs an immediate response. This response is the main focus of this research. Hence, this research aimed to fulfill the following objectives: to describe the current ecological crisis; to identify the Church’s traditional and scriptural basis in responding to the challenges of the ecological crisis; to examine the different Church’s encyclical and teachings as responses to ecological crisis; and to propose recommendations to alleviate the present ecological crisis. The social action cycle of Mater et Magistra was used as framework in identifying the origins of the crisis (context), followed by identifying diachronically the response of the Church drawing from the scripture, tradition (conscience), and examining synchronically the response of the Church’s encyclical with special emphasis on Laudato Si, concluding with concrete recommendations (consciousness) to help alleviate the present ecological crisis. Thus, the result showed that the current ecological crisis is characterized by ‘excessive anthropocentrism’ which is a clear misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the human and nature relationships. Moreover, a clear interpretation of the Biblical truth must be preserved. Lastly, the Catholic Social Teachings, specifically the Laudato Si, indicated that there is a need for a “Dialogue”, among various sciences, to respond effectively to the ecological crisis. Keywords: Ecological Crisis, Laudato Si, Earth’s Healing, Care for the Environment, Social Action Cycle/Spiral
The issue of climate change is a complex one, yet we cannot simply neglect this problem because it is a pressing reality of the twenty-first century. Neglecting it will amount to neglecting not only the present generations, but most of all the future generations. We reaffirmed the findings of the IPCC that climate change is caused by human activities, though we cannot rule out the other factors caused by natural process. Science, politics and economics alone could not solve the problem of climate change which calls for the involvement of different faiths in the world, but in this study we have limited to one particular faith: Christianity.
Warszawskie Studia Teologiczne, 2020
The essay formulates four criteria for identifying the topos “signs of the times” and applies them for a specific Christian understanding of the ecological crisis. The aim of the argumentation is to decide why and in what way climate change, ecological degradation but also the new awareness of the value of nature is a theological issue. The second part of the essay deals with the question which competence the churches can contribute to the ecological discourse of a pluralistic, partly secular or atheistic society. I speak also about the encyclical Laudato si’.
Churches Concern for Environmental Issues: Making Sense of a New Christian Diakonia
Forum Teologiczne
Recent years have witnessed an abundance of statements by many Christian Churches aimed at addressing environmental issues, most recently the Catholic Encyclical Laudato si’. These documents invite theological engagement, especially after becoming aware of the criticism that such proposals might raise in different social and intellectual settings. This paper tries to expose such criticism and the reasons that could discourage the Church’s environmental engagement, to stimulate a critical and dialogical stance able to move into the ongoing discussion and to answer the most pressing questions.
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP: EMERGING TRENDS IN CHRISTIAN ECOLOGICAL ETHICS
Destruction and dilapidation of Earth’s ecology and natural capital in the present ethos is leading theologians and ethicists to seek the support of religious scriptures and theology for the growth of ecological sustainability and environmental ethics. The ecological response to Biblical ideas has facilitated the birth of an eco-theology which suggests the notion of responsible stewardship. Biblical attitude and principles have primarily been believed to have a destructive tendency towards nature and condemned for being the key root to ecological crisis. This notion not only questions the assumptions made about God’s relation with the world, created by Him in His own image, but also claims a major conflict between environmental ethics and Christian theology. Hence the Biblical basis for preservation and conservation of Nature needs to be deeply explored in order to re-establish the ecological connection between Man and the Eternal Being. Christianity has a long historical relation with nature and humanity. Christian Ecological ethics focuses its attention on the Christian scriptures, liturgical and spiritual practices centred on environmental conservation. The doctrine of stewardship occurring in Genesis points out man’s role of stewardship rather than ownership, entrusting him the responsibility of guarding nature by opposing policies and practices which pose a threat to the ecosystem. The Prophetic Books in the Old Testament reveal nature’s major role in the revelation of God’s purpose on Earth. Its destruction is also symbolic of the declining relation between God and humans. The relation between God, Man and Nature remains indispensable. In this paper, I intend to use the theological response to environmental crisis, re-examining the Biblical and ecclesiastical customs and traditions in ecological terms and thereby bring certain Biblical texts into sharp focus in order to explore and reinforce the unalterable and consistent affiliation between spirituality and cosmology.
Eramatare: A Missional and Theological Approach to Environmental Stewardship
African Theological Journal for Church and Society, 2024
African Theological Journal for Church and Society, vol. 5, no. 2 (2024): 25–51 While climate change is not a ‘settled science’ (it is not the nature of scientific inquiry to be ‘settled’), the fact of climate change is incontrovertibly obvious and its real effects on real communities (perhaps especially in the majority world) are devastating, including in East Africa. For Christians, environmental stewardship (also known as ‘Creation Care’ or ‘Earth Keeping’) should be an automatic part of Christian ethos and praxis. Failure to steward the earth or to ‘care for creation’ represents both a failure to keep the second ‘greatest commandment’ and also theological irresponsibility. Examining local evidence in East Africa in the contexts of biblical theology, Christian witness, and Maasai indigenous knowledge, this paper proposes approaches for Creation Care for world Christianity. In keeping with the author’s positionality amidst African orality, the article attempts to maintain the styles of oral communication.
A CHRISTIAN BASIS FOR ENVIRONMENTALISM
Human action is contributing to a worldwide decrease in biodiversity and a decrease in the health of the world"s ecosystems. Members of the Christian religion are poised to become frontrunners in the fight to restore the world"s ecosystems and to pioneer responsible ecological practices. This paper explores the effect that humans have had on the environment and proposes reasons why Christians should engage in solving the most challenging ecological issues of the modern era. Our role as God"s Image bearers in caring for Creation is reconceived in light of McFague"s remythologization of the Creation model and by consideration of the Bebbington quadrilateral and Bookless" assimilation of it into evangelicalism which informs the Christian tradition of Creation care.
Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae, 2020
Research on the ecological crisis has revealed its global and total character, which implies that any attempts at overcoming it must take into account a wide variety of perspectives. It is not surprising, therefore, that for several decades the study of the ecological crisis has been undertaken by philosophers and religologists who seek inspirations for ways to shape an environmentally friendly lifestyle in various religious traditions. Notwithstanding the prevailing stereotypes as regards Christianity and its allegedly anti-ecological attitudes, there are many indications that this rich religious tradition has a lot to offer in the battle against the environmental crisis. The aim of this study is to present four Christian models of human relations with nature, which confirm the great ecological potential of Christianity. These include: 1) Celtic animate model; 2) Benedictine custodial model; 3) Nuptial model of Hildegard of Bingen; and 4) St. Francis' fraternal model.