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For nearly a century, humanity has been grappling with a new understanding of the impact which our behaviour has on the natural world. New data regarding the changing climate, the decimation of non-human species and the destruction of natural habitats has alerted governments and populations to the fact that humans must radically change their understanding of their relationship with the natural world or else perish. This realisation has altered the way in which politicians, philosophers, sociologists, scientists and geographers have approached their fields. The same is also true of theologians. In recent decades a new area of Christian theology – now commonly called ‘ecotheology’ – has emerged. Scholars working in this field ask questions regarding the proper interpretation of sacred texts, our proper understanding of creation, of eschatology and of created human nature in light of new knowledge about our changing planet. This course investigates five key topics within the area of eco-theology, examining its key questions and evaluating the answers provided by its key thinkers.
Week 1
employed byA History of Ecotheology
The term ‘ecotheology’ was first employed by theologians in the mid-twentieth century. Its earliest avowed proponents included Jack Rogers, Sallie MacFeague and Jurgen Moltmann amongst many others. However, the roots of this tradition go much deeper. In this section of the course, we examine some proto-eco theologians – including Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, Seraphim of Sarov – whose work has inspired those working in the field today.
Week 2
Ecological Hermeneutics
Hermeneutics is the word used by theologians to describe the ways in which Christians explore their sacred text: the Bible. The Bible is replete with references to the relationship between humanity and non-human creation. At different points in history, the Bible has been used by those who seek to support an anthropocentric understanding of creation: with human beings given a warrant to dominate and exploit the natural world. At other points, Christians have been inspired by the Bible to become stewards of creation. This section of the course asks whether Biblical texts can be relevant or inspirational for us today, in light of our new understanding of the relationship between human and non-human nature.
Week 3
Ecology and Christology
How do Christians understand the central tenet of their belief system – the incarnation of God in the form of Jesus Christ and His atoning death – in the context of current ecological science? One perspective, advocated by Neils Gregersen and Elizabeth Johnson, is often referred to as ‘deep incarnation.’ These scholars propose a new way of thinking about Christology, based on the central claim that ‘flesh’ – which Christians believe Christ became – can only be truly understood in the light of ev. Christ’s flesh in other words, was not only the vector for his kinship with humanity but also for his kinship with the entire cosmos. What implications does this claim have for the story of the incarnation and atonement?
Week 4
Christian Ecological Ethics
For much of the history of the Church,ethical debates were largely consumed with a focus on the correct way in which human beings should treat one another. In the twenty-first century, most people have a more nuanced understanding of the close relationship which humans and non-humans share. As such, many people argue that human beings have a moral responsibility for the wellbeing of non-human creatures. This section of the course asks the question: how does our understanding of the impact of human behaviour on the natural world shape our understanding of the ethical message of the Gospels?
Week 5
A Christian Anthropology for the Anthropocene.
Underpinning many of the ethical and theological issues raised by ecotheologians is a fundamental question: what are human beings? The nineteenth century saw the rise of evolutionary theory. The discovery of evolution disrupted many centuries of human thought regarding the nature of humanity. It brought Christianity into conflict with the scientific consensus and created a rift which for many remains unhealed. For many of those involved in the ecotheology project, a principle task lies in outlining a meaningful and feasible account of the specialness of humanity, whilst recognising that humanity is related to the rest of creation in a far more intimate way than was previously thought. How do Christians best understand the status of humanity and, as such, the idiosyncratic relationship between humanity and God?
Reading
Questions for reflection
1. What do we mean by the word ‘stewardship’ in the context of Christian theology?
2. Does Plato’s concept of ‘Soul’ conform with a Christian understanding of human nature?
3. Is it coherent within Christian theology to talk about human beings as ‘co-creators’ with God?
4. How do you interpret this passage from Colossians?
a. “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood.”
5. Is it helpful or unhelpful to describe ecological crisis as a punishment for human sinfulness?
6. Is there any point in looking to ancient and medieval sources to help us understand creation? Or is our contemporary understanding on creation too different from theirs?
Reading
Questions for reflection
1 Is Lynn White correct to call Christianity ‘the most anthropocentric religion the world has ever seen’?
2. Is the concept of stewardship necessarily anthropocentric? How and why does Calvin deWitt dispute this claim?
3. Is the Hebrew Bible ‘an instruction manual for the domestication of nature by human agents’? What examples of this can you think of?
4. Can the Hebrew Bible help us to understand our relationship with non-human life in 2024?
5. Do you agree that the book of Leviticus expresses an ‘agrarianist’ attitude?
6. Do you think human beings feel closer or less close to nature in the age of Darwin than we did in the period when the book of Leviticus was written?
Reading
Questions for reflection
1. What does the term ‘deep incarnation’ mean to you?
2. What are the key differences between Johnson and Gregersen’s approaches?
3. What does it mean to say ‘Divinity becomes flesh so that flesh may be divinized’? Does it change the way that we think about God?
4. Does thinking about deep incarnation address the problem of evil in the way that Denis Edwards hopes?
5. John 3.16 says that all who believe in Christ will have eternal life. Is this tenable if we subscribe to deep incarnation theology?
6. Is there, as Polkinghorne suggests, a risk that Deep Incarnation theology leads to the risk of pantheism?
7. Is deep incarnation theology to exclusivist? If we say that the incarnation is the reason for the sanctity of creation, then what does that mean for people of other faiths and none?
8. What aspects of Christian theology do we have to give up in order to accept Deep incarnation?
9. Does thinking about creation through the lens of the incarnation change much for Christians? Or is it too intellectual?
Reading
Questions for reflection
1. Do you believe in concepts like ‘speciesism’ and‘ animal rights’?
2. What are the pros and cons of the utilitarian approach to the climate crisis?
3. What do we mean when we talk about ‘climate justice’? How does this relate to the writings of John Rawls?
4. What are the pros and cons of the Kantian approach to the climate crisis?
5. How might Martha Nussbaum assess the relative value of different forms of life?
6. What are the pros and cons of the capabilities approach to the climate crisis?
7. Is climate change the result of human sinfulness?
8. Should human beings intervene more or less in the natural world?
9. Is it possible to see life as an intrinsic good without believing in a benevolent God?
10. ‘Christian ethics provides a middle way between misanthropic biocentrism and humanistic interventionism.’ Do you agree?
Reading
Questions for reflection
1. “Anthropology forms the crux of any ecological theology.” Do you agree?
2. What does Conradie mean by homo faber?
3. Does the dualist account of human beings damage the relationship between human and non-human life?
4. What are the pros and cons of the substantialist readings of Genesis 1?
5. What are the pros and cons of the functionalist readings of Genesis 1?
6. Does the relational reading solve these problems?
7. Is traditional Christian anthropology to blame for the ecological crisis?
8. Can eschatology help us to change our view of human nature and humanity’s place in creation
9. Does the imago dei teach us that human beings are ‘less great’ than other creatures?
10. Does evolutionary biology impoverish or enrich our understanding of the ‘theo-drama’?
EVALUATION FORM
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Evaluation Form - God, Creation and Humanity · ChurchSuite Forms
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Aidan is a tutor in Social and Environmental Justice stream. He completed his PhD at the Divinity Faculty of the University of Cambridge in 2018. During his doctoral studies he ran as a Parliamentary candidate for the Green Party. He is the author of two academic books: Jewish Christians in Puritan England (2020) and Israelism in Modern Britain (2021). Between 2020 and 2022 he worked as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at St Mary's University in London.
