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| ecotheology | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ecotheology |
| Focus | Intersections of religion and environment |
| Regions | Global |
ecotheology Ecotheology examines religious interpretations of nature and environmental stewardship, exploring sacred texts, ritual practice, and moral responsibility toward the nonhuman world. It engages scholars, clerics, activists, and institutions across traditions to frame ecological crises in religious, ethical, and practical terms. Debates involve scriptural exegesis, doctrinal reform, liturgical innovation, and alliances with secular movements.
Ecotheology addresses how religious actors and institutions in traditions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Shinto, Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Australia, Zoroastrianism, Baha'i Faith, Rastafari movement, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Protestantism, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism, Methodist Church', Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism, Quakerism, Unitarian Universalism, Mormonism, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Eastern religions articulate meanings of nature. It intersects with institutions like the World Council of Churches, Vatican, Council on American–Islamic Relations, Union for Reform Judaism, Hindu American Foundation, Buddhist Global Relief, Interfaith Power & Light, GreenFaith, World Wildlife Fund, United Nations Environment Programme, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, G7, European Union, and African Union in debates about stewardship, dominion, sacredness, and covenant. Scholars draw on figures such as Pope Francis, Lynn White Jr., Thomas Berry, Sallie McFague, Alister McGrath, Alisdair MacIntyre, Hans Küng, Jürgen Moltmann, Gustavo Gutiérrez, Dorothy Day, Wendell Berry, E. O. Wilson, Mary Daly, Rachel Carson, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, William Wordsworth, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Paulo Freire, Cornel West, Martin Luther King Jr., Desmond Tutu, Wangari Maathai, and Greta Thunberg.
Roots trace to ancient scriptures and practices in Genesis, Quran, Torah, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Dhammapada, Avesta, Kojiki, and ritual calendars of Maya civilization, Inca Empire, and Haida people. Medieval and early modern expressions linked monastic land management in Benedictine Order and agrarian theology tied to estates like those of Thomas Aquinas and Francis of Assisi. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century influences include natural theology debates involving Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, John Henry Newman, and conservation movements led by organizations such as Sierra Club and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Postwar developments saw ecological thought codified through conferences at United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm Conference, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, and papal addresses culminating in Laudato si'. Academic formation occurred in settings like Harvard Divinity School, Yale Divinity School, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of Chicago, Union Theological Seminary, King's College London, University of Notre Dame, and University of Toronto.
Doctrinal resources include concepts of creation, stewardship, dominion, covenant, sin, redemption, incarnation, sacrament, karma, rebirth, ahimsa, samsara, and moksha as discussed by theologians such as Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Karl Barth, Joseph Ratzinger, Hans Urs von Balthasar, John Wesley, Charles Hodge, Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, Dominic Crossan, N.T. Wright, Stanley Hauerwas, Irenaeus of Lyons, Origen, Philo of Alexandria, Maimonides, Saadia Gaon, Al-Ghazali, Rumi, Adi Shankara, Ramanuja, Siddhartha Gautama, and Mahavira. Liturgical and sacramental practices in Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, Sunni Islam, Shi'a Islam, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, and Shinto inform communal relationships to land and biodiversity. Ethical frameworks are informed by documents like Laudato si', statements by the World Council of Churches, and resolutions from synods and councils such as the Second Vatican Council.
Christian ecotheology branches include liberation ecology associated with Gustavo Gutiérrez, creation care movements tied to Billy Graham-era evangelical networks, and ecofeminist strands from scholars like Sallie McFague and Mary Daly. Jewish environmentalism features organizations like Hazon and thinkers such as Abraham Joshua Heschel. Islamic environmentalism includes the development of green fatwas and initiatives by scholars associated with Islamic Relief and Muslim Aid. Hindu and Buddhist traditions contribute through leaders such as Sri Aurobindo, Dalai Lama, and networks like Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center. Indigenous movements involve coalitions with activists like Winona LaDuke, Oren Lyons, Vine Deloria Jr., Chief Seattle (historical figure), and institutions like Assembly of First Nations and National Congress of American Indians. Interfaith alliances include Parliament of the World's Religions, Religions for Peace, Interfaith Youth Core, Faith for Earth, and grassroots groups like Creation Justice Ministries.
Practical implications encompass land stewardship, sustainable worship spaces, divestment campaigns, restoration ecology projects, agroecology inspired by figures such as Aldo Leopold and Wendell Berry, and climate justice advocacy linked to Mary Robinson and Ban Ki-moon. Faith-based organizations engage in rewilding, tree-planting campaigns like those championed by Wangari Maathai, urban green initiatives connected to Green Belt Movement, and disaster relief coordinated with International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Caritas Internationalis. Ritual calendars and pilgrimages to sites like Camino de Santiago, Hajj, Kumbh Mela, Mount Kailash, and Uluru raise issues of carrying capacity and conservation. Educational programs at seminaries and institutions such as Yale School of the Environment and Oxford Centre for Mission Studies train religious leaders in ecological literacy.
Critiques arise from scholars aligned with Lynn White Jr. who argued that Western religious ideas contributed to ecological degradation, and from conservative theologians who view ecological reinterpretation as politicization, including voices connected to National Association of Evangelicals and some leaders within Southern Baptist Convention. Debates occur over scriptural hermeneutics, moral obligations across generations, rights of nonhuman entities as explored in legal innovations like those in Ecuador and New Zealand recognizing nature's rights, and tensions between development projects promoted by institutions like World Bank and community-based conservation. Feminist and postcolonial scholars such as Vandana Shiva and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak contest narratives that marginalize Indigenous knowledge and gendered labor in environmental care. Philosophical critiques engage with eco-Marxist, deep ecology, and anthropocentric frameworks debated by figures like Murray Bookchin and Arne Næss.
Religious voices have shaped policy through involvement in conferences like United Nations Climate Change Conference, national legislation influenced by faith coalitions in countries such as United States, India, Brazil, Kenya, and through advisory roles to institutions like the European Commission and African Union. Faith-based advocacy has supported campaigns for Sustainable Development Goals, renewable energy transitions, and indigenous land rights cases before courts in Canada, Australia, and Colombia. Grassroots movements mobilize congregations via organizations like 350.org partnerships, climate litigation supported by networks associated with Climate Justice Alliance, and electoral engagement through groups such as Faithful America and Catholic Climate Covenant. High-profile interventions include statements by Pope Francis at United Nations, endorsements from leaders such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and interfaith declarations emerging from assemblies like Parliament of the World's Religions.
Category:Religion and the environment