Eco-Theology

Front matter

The Laudato Si’ Integral Ecology Collection

An electronic version of this book has been made freely available as part of the Laudato Si’ Integral Ecology collection. The collection is curated by Laudato Si’ Research Institute at Campion Hall, Oxford, working with Knowledge Unlatched (KU). The aim of the collection is to make scholarly works on integral ecology freely available to academics, students, activists, church leaders, and the wider public in order to provide resources to help address today’s most pressing socio-ecological challenges.

The collection has been generously funded by the following institutions:

Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface: The Turn to Ecology

. Trends in Ecology and Environment . Economics and Environmental Justice . Eco-theology from the North

Preface

The turn to ecology

CG duceMeoRant CONCERN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. broadly understood as a turn to ecology, takes its bearings from secular concerns about the environment that have developed and intensified over the last few decades. The rise of religious environmentalism in particular adds its own voice to the debate, for it seeks to trace the malaise of environmental decay as rooted in spiritual issues, along with its potential solution to environmental understanding, by a retrieval of religious symbols and traditions. In a recent survey entitled 4 Greener Faith, Roger Gottlieb traces the rise of religious environmentalism in different religious traditions, including Christianity.! His purpose is to survey the different possible religious responses to environmentalism, rather than analyse their validity from within a particular tradition. The intention of this book is rather different. Its aim, as the title suggests, is to offer a resource book that highlights and seeks to evaluate the merits or otherwise of different contemporary ecotheologies, drawing from different Christian theological traditions and contexts. It represents an attempt to map out a burgeoning field in a way that is accessible to university students or other readers with a serious interest in the topic.? It aims to introduce the reader to critical debates in eco-theology, and encourage further reflection and analysis. In bringing together something of the diversity of the field, my hope is that the student will be encouraged to listen to different emerging voices and form his or her own view on the merits or otherwise of particular positions. I have, accordingly, often left open-ended matters that arise as a result of the considerable diversity in opinion among those who engage in eco-theology, in order to encourage students to situate themselves within this debate. | have tried to invite students to ask questions of the literature in offering some of my own critique, but I also offer more general discussion questions for each chapter in order to allow students to begin such critical reflection.

I am fully conscious of the fact that there are areas of eco-theological discussion that I have been forced to omit, or have treated somewhat superficially. The field has also grown so large that every chapter could, in itself, be expanded into a monograph. or even a series of monographs. A work that was x e Preface: the turn to ecology fully comprehensive would be more like an encyclopaedia in its proportions and take several volumes. This would suit a more corporate international effort, and plans are underway to implement such an ambitious project.? I have also, necessarily, focused on the work of contemporary writers rather than historical figures, except where those writings become important in the work of contemporary authors.* I have also concentrated on theology, rather than what loosely might be termed eco-spirituality and Christian eco-ethics, even though, of course, any lines of demarcation are somewhat blurred.’ Finally, I have confined my discussion to Christian theology, rather than attempt a broader, multi-religious perspective. I recognise the importance of other religious traditions in their engagement with ecological concerns. This is true of the other Abrahamic faiths as well as religions within Buddhist or Confucian traditions. However, there are existing resources that do attempt such a breadth,° and I am conscious of the primary need for Christian theologians to take on board the scale and extent of the development of ecotheology right across the globe from within their own traditions. This has often been recognised insufficiently, if at all. Perhaps only then a more articulate dialogue with other theological positions can begin. I find it astonishing that courses on eco-theology do not exist in many university departments of theology and religious studies in the United Kingdom. This book will, I hope, encourage tutors to take this issue far more seriously than to date, and place eco-theology firmly in the curriculum of contemporary theology. In addition, my intention is that this book will be suited to the wider context of educated laity for discussion and reflection, though I have presupposed a certain amount of theology.

The first premise that this book presumes is that it is possible to combine concern with the environment and an understanding of God. Eco-theology, as defined here, is that reflection on different facets of theology in as much as they take their bearings from cultural concerns about the environment and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. It is, in other words, broadly speaking a particular expression of contextual theology that emerges in the particular contemporary context of environmental awareness that has characterised the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.’ Given the widespread secular engagement with environmental issues at global, national and local levels, such expressions of theology are highly significant. This development is not simply the concern of a minority interest group, but reaches out to include all those who are aware of global and local environmental problems. Given that this affects human survival as well as the survival of all creatures on our living planet, such issues touch deeply our sense of meaning and purpose. In other words, it is hard to talk meaningfully about ecology in such a context, without also speaking about religion and theology as well. This is also true the other way round, so that for theology to be meaningful, it also, I suggest, needs to encompass an awareness that is beyond the human, inclusive of the natural world in which humanity is embedded. Ecology here means the

Preface: the turn to ecology « xi broader context of ecological concerns, as well as that described by ecological science as such.

The fashion in much contemporary academic theology has been to shift towards radical postmodern deconstruction, taking its cue from authors such as Derrida and Foucault. While such studies have their merits in raising unsubstantiated assumptions brought to bear in philosophical and theological reasoning, the spectre of relativism and nihilism looms, and unless carefully handled, leads to inactivity and disillusionment. Moreover, we should be fully conscious of the relativism of the turn to postmodernity in a way that is often insufficiently recognised. In other words, we need to view the swing to postmodern deconstruction as itself culture bound, often tied into particular Western traditions that form the basis of its criticism. What will be the next fashion after postmodernity? In such a climate, the tendency for theology might be either to resort to confessional positions that tgnore such criticism, or bend to it through lack of confidence in any constructive proposal. In a loose sense, all eco-theology is postmodern in that it takes context as its starting point, and challenges the presuppositions of much theology emerging in the so-called modern period.’ EcoSpirit: Religions and Philosophies for the Earth is published as this book goes to press.? EcoSpirit engages specifically with philosophy, and in particular, postmodern thought, but it assumes that grounding theological reflection in environmental and other practices is necessarily postmodern in its orientation -in other words, rejecting any notion of ‘foundation’, while affirming a sense of being ‘grounded’.

EcoSpirit is also wider in its brief compared with the present volume, gathering together a range of different religious and cultural traditions. It recognises that facts alone about environmental issues are not enough; what is needed is something more elemental, that probes the background assumptions pervading modern thought in a way that leads to denial what the editors term ‘apocalyptic insomnia’.!9 Such sensitivity to context echoes something of the concerns in other contextual theologies.!! In the main, eco-theology turns against the tide of radical postmodern relativism or confessional counter-reaction in that it accepts that environmental problems have a substantial and reasonable basis in reality. At their best, postmodern critiques show up the limitations of scientific analysis and theological dogmas. Eco-theology can survive such criticism by also challenging the secular idea that the sciences are sufficient to solve environmental problems. Moreover, | suggest that even at a secular level the various forms of eco-theology need to be viewed as important contributions to myth making and symbol making, where ‘myth’ is not intended to imply the lack of truth, but rather shows its capacity to reach beyond the rational to include other dimensions of knowing. It is disentangling the roots of such myths and their impact, negative and positive, that forms the basis of much eco-theological reflection. In other words, religious thinking and practices are as much part of the root of the problem as they are part of the potential way forward.

xii « Preface: the turn to ecology

Overall, eco-theology seeks to uncover the theological basis for a proper relationship between God, humanity and the cosmos. Humans are understood in Christian tradition to be created, but alienated from the natural world through their own tendencies towards domination. Many approaches to ecotheology are those that seek to recover our sense of place on the earth, a reminder that the earth is our common home, that the story of the earth and that of humans are one. This may also be broadened out to include the economy, the oikos or household of God. Such reflection naturally enough leads to a great deal of literature on ethics as that which needs to be practised to re-order the household. Yet, as Ernst Conradie has pointed out, moving too readily to a sense of humanity at home on earth misses out the concrete experiences of natural suffering, finitude and the pervasiveness of human sin.!2 Like Conradie, I believe that we need an ecologically informed anthropology, yet one that is more consciously aware of the limitations of simply trying to recover a sense of being at home on the earth. At the same time, other aspects of Christian theology need to be teased out through an ecological hermeneutic as well. Like Conradie, I believe that the agenda for eco-theology must be bold enough to encompass the main tenets of faith, without being reduced to environmental ethics.!3 He also acknowledges that while many publications have emerged from North American, British and German contexts, ‘perhaps more important is the sometimes unarticulated ecological wisdom that has been gathered from impoverished local communities in Africa, Australia, Central America, India, Latin America, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, the Philippines, South East Asia and also in North America itself? 14 This ‘rich mosaic’ of different cultures, traditions and contexts informs ecological theology, and is one reason why I have sought to highlight the global nature of ecological reflection, while being acutely aware that the scope of such reflection is limited in a work of this length. I hope, at least, to give something of the flavour of such diversity in eco-theology. At the same time, eco-theology has as its horizon environmental praxis; it is theology worked out at the coal-face, as it were, of environmental concerns and problems.

The purpose of this book is threefold. The first task is pedagogical. The first two chapters in this book raise secular environmental and economic dimensions of the debate in order to set the scene for more rigorous theological discussion. Issues such as climate change, biodiversity, and secular ecological values are raised, alongside particular practices that affect the economy, such as globalisation, sustainability and genetically modified crops. Such coverage cannot be exhaustive, but it is intended to be sufficient to give a flavour of the issues and problems for those readers encountering eco-theology for the first time. It also raises some of the ethical issues that have been the subject of intense debate. Ethical controversy sets the scene for theological discourse and arguably far more has been written on religious environmental ethics compared with eco-theology, though the lines between the two are also very

Preface: the turn to ecology œe xiii blurred in many cases. The next four chapters (3 to 6) review something of the diversity of eco-theological thought, emerging from different global contexts. The designations ‘North’, ‘South’, ‘East’ and ‘West’ in the chapter headings are loosely intended to highlight the global variety of the discourse. rather than imply that this book can ever hope to encompass the full extent of theological reflection on the issue from different starting points. Moreover, all these chapters are illustrative, rather than exhaustive reviews, and aim to encourage further reading, rather than being fully comprehensive. For example. Chapter 3 deals with deep ecology, the mystical creation theology of Teilhard de Chardin and Matthew Fox, while Chapter 4 discusses ecology and liberation theology in comparison with indigenous theologies. Chapter 5 outlines the particular approach to the doctrine of creation from the perspective of Eastern Orthodox theology, alongside its commitment to grounding theology in liturgical practice. Chapter 6 1s more concerned with sociological interpretations and the extent to which social and political insights might be incorporated into ecotheology. All these chapters to some extent are reviews of existing work as a basic primer in eco-theology.

The second task of this book, as exemplified in Chapters 7 12, seeks to go beyond merely critical literature review, and attempt more active theological construction. Chapter 7 begins the discussion by raising alternative interpretations of the Bible that draw on eco-justice principles. While such alternative readings could form the topic of a textbook in its own right, its purpose is primarily one that serves subsequent theological construction. The word *construction’ is not intended to mean an overarching or foundational position in the sense that it cannot be revised, but at the same time it seeks to go further than more timid renditions of theology that are becoming more popular in some quarters, where it is described as simple fragments to a discussion. It is, in other words, one way of reading systematic theology that arguably is helpful in the context of environmental concerns. All these chapters argue for the importance of the tradition of wisdom in theology and its potential for ecotheology. Different chapters focus on different systematic concerns in the light of ecology, ranging from Christology to Theodicy, Spirit. Eco-Feminist Theology and Eschatology. The doctrines of creation, Christian anthropology and the doctrine of the Trinity are also woven into the discussion of the book as a whole, rather than forming separate chapters. This is partly because | have written on these issues elsewhere,! and also because the other systematic themes are perhaps less obvious to students in terms of their potential ecological readings.

I am painfully and acutely aware that a book of this size could not cover all aspects worthy of consideration and some may be offended by my omissions or compressions of areas of work. There are also no specific chapters devoted to ecclesial perspectives, for example, but I have tried to give due consideration to these issues in other chapters, representing authors from Eastern and Western traditions. My hope is that this book will be a resource for reflection xiv « Preface: the turn to ecology in different churches, which is why I have deliberately not flagged up a particular denominational stance, such as a particular emphasis on the Roman Catholic tradition in which I now stand, or my roots in the Anglican tradition. The context in which I teach is one where students are welcomed from all faiths or none, and while I do not claim to be neutral with respect to my own faith position, I also believe that those who do not share a religious faith will find this book gives insights into the interweaving of faith, theology, and practices that form the basis for the development of eco-theology. In other words, a student does not have a requirement to be a believer in order to gain something from this book.

I am also aware that the layout of this work could have been very different, given the sheer size and scope of material relevant to eco-theology. For example, full chapters could have been devoted to gleaning the relevance of different aspects of the tradition from a historical perspective, such as Franciscan, Benedictine or Celtic traditions, for example. Such traditions do, I suggest, influence the authors that are represented in this book, so that those who are more influenced by Franciscan traditions will be inclined to a more sacramental approach, those by Celtic traditions towards a deeper affinity with the land, and those by Benedictine traditions will allow for some active change by human involvement, fostering notions such as stewardship, for example. Yet it also seems to me that sources relating to such traditions are relatively easy to access, so that the student or interested reader should not have difficulty finding such material. In fact, my hope is that those who read this book might feel inclined to delve more deeply into these traditions than has been possible in this very compressed survey. I could also, perhaps, have organised the material around what might be called loosely models of eco-theology, according to, for example, the sacramental and stewardship traditions already mentioned, but also according to eco-feminist and ecumenical approaches. By devoting a full chapter to eco-feminist thought, and by deliberately representing different theological traditions, my hope is that these issues will be clear to the reader. There is also a disadvantage in such modelling in as much as many authors draw from many different approaches and models, so fitting the work of one author to a given way of thinking is somewhat artificial, even if it lends some clarity. I hope that the reader will be alert to such different styles as they read this text.

As a pedagogic text this aims to highlight how it is possible to interpret more traditional doctrines in ecologically friendly ways. I have, of course, been limited by the scope of what is achievable in one relatively short volume, but I hope that I have been able to demonstrate the starting point for more reflection and more questions. I have woven in soteriological themes throughout, as well as considering such issues under the broader heading of Christology. My intention is to open up the field so that others will be encouraged to enter it, rather than even attempt a fully comprehensive survey. Given the diversity and contextual variety of much eco-theological literature to date, even providing such a starting point proved extremely challenging. I hope that any readers who are disappointed with the selection that | have made will bear patiently with the intention of this book, namely one that seeks to encourage more interest and research in the topic. Moreover, | will argue that such an analysis implies not simply that ecology is an option for theology, but also that it is necessary if theology is to be correctly understood.

The third task of this book 1s to encourage readers to engage 1n active reflection and positive action. I suggest that the re-reading of theology sketched out in this book has important implications for eco-praxis. The closing postscript points towards such an interpretation, though I am fully aware that a full text on theological eco-praxis would be desirable from such an analysis. | am using praxis to mean the liturgical life of the church as well as the particular ethical boundaries for individual actions. I have also included discussion questions emerging from each chapter that can be used in order to stimulate either individuals or groups to think further about the issues raised. This book has also benefited from being used as a source on a taught module entitled Ecotheology and environmental ethics for students at the University of Chester. The feedback from these students was interesting and slightly surprising to me. Almost all said how, as a result of taking this module. they found it necessary not only to re-think their theological beliefs, but also to change their lifestyle and practice. | am delivering this book to the publisher on 11 July 2007, appropriately the Feast of St Benedict. For him, as many others, Christian belief could never be divorced from practices that were 1n tune with the land. If this book contributes in any small way to this task. then it will have succeeded in its intention.

Chapter 1

Tag CHAPTER SEEKS TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE MORE important environmental concerns raised by the rapidly expanding knowledge of environmental problems and ecology. It also forms the background in which eco-theological discussion is situated, and it is therefore appropriate to name these issues at the outset. It would be impossible to do full justice to the complete range of issues that need to be addressed; instead | will highlight areas that seem to me to be crucial in demonstrating the extent and complexity of the problems involved. I am also deliberately avoiding using the language of ‘crisis’ to discuss these changes, not because | see a lessening of the problems at the dawn of the twenty-first century, but because this language has been around since the early discussions of environmental issues in the 1970s, and it has often been used as a rhetorical, polemical device for particular political purposes. | am also not implying by this move that political issues are irrelevant for discussion. but I will return to more particular political questions in later chapters. This chapter sets the scene for subsequent political and economic debate. I will briefly review population, resource use/pollution, climate change and biodiversity. This list will give some indication of the state of the planet and likely trends in the future. The final section explores values emerging from ecology that also feed into later theological discussion.

Population

Population growth is often one of the first issues that come to mind when reflecting on why the earth is suffering environmental strain. We are, in R. J. Berrys words, simply ‘running out of world’.! The exponential rate of population growth alarmed many writers in the 1960s, Paul Ehrlich, for example, likening the population explosion to a *‘bomb’ that would soon wreak havoc on human survival on planet earth. Others are less pessimistic today, believing that indefinite population growth is not inevitable. Demographic studies calculate population growth from live births and immigrants minus the number of deaths and emigrants. The global population in 2000 was twice that in 1960, reflecting a staggering rate of exponential growth in the last half of the twentieth century. In 2005 global population grew by 74 million, so that the world’s population topped 6.4 billion, more than twice the number in 1950. Although the population growth rate has dropped from 2 per cent in the 1970s to about 1 per cent in 2006, the overall trend is an increase in population. Over time medical improvements in health care in some populations have increased the rates of population growth by reducing the death rate, even when birth rates are falling. On the other hand, complex social issues, including sex education, the availability of contraception and abortion, attitudes to women, homosexuality, and economic incentives, all affect birth rates. Often improvements in economic and social gains are correlated with declining birth rate, but the question here is which comes first, the improvement in economics, or the reduction in birth rate? If the former comes first, then improving social conditions and economics should lead to a decline in birth rate, but if the latter, then a targeted approach to birth control is favoured. The total fertility rate (TFR), or average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime, has fallen in many populations, including not just the USA and Europe, but also Japan and China. However, this shift does not mean that overall population size is declining, for reasons mentioned above. In addition, other poorer nations of the world that show a much higher TFR have a corresponding lower average population age; but medical disadvantages and other social conditions such as poor hygiene also lead to high infant mortality rate. The overall effects are global increases in population size, so that even if the exponential rate of growth is slowing slightly, overall global population size is still increasing.

Resource use and pollution

But is population growth itself the only variable worth considering? It is recognised that global resources such as energy, soil and water are insufficient to meet the needs of a growing population. Yet many environmentalists believe that over and above population growth, the distribution and extent of resource use by some privileged groups leads to gross differences in energy and pollution burden per head in different populations.

In spite of vast increases in the global productivity of grain, world hunger still prevails. The production of food through monocultures has reached its limits. The world grain harvest dropped slightly from 1869 million tons in 1999 to 1840 million tons in 2000, but by 2005 it had reached a steady level of 2015 million tons.4 Yet the high grain production levels do not eliminate world hunger for economic reasons and because of difficulties of distribution. The modern system of producing food 1s dysfunctional. Not only are there mass migrations to cities in poorer communities, leading to a collapse in the

Resource use and pollution + 3 rural economy, but there is also a failure to meet the basic need for food for many of those in poorer nations. This contrasts with excessive over-consumption in other nations. Four billion people live on less than $2 per day. while 20 per cent of the world’s population is responsible for 90 per cent of consumption of resources and energy. The richer, Western nations are primarily responsible for over-consumption, leading to considerable global environmental strain. The largest cause of death in 2000 was due to cardiovascular diseases, which killed 16.7 million people. Infectious diseases and parasitic diseases, including AIDS, tuberculosis and respiratory diseases, malaria and diarrhoeal diseases, killed 14.4 million people, mostly in impoverished communities. Cancers also led to 6.9 million deaths. Cardiovascular diseases and cancers affected primarily those affluent populations who have sedentary lifestyles and consume unhealthy foods.®

In addition, 40 per cent of the world’s population is short of fresh water, and this is projected to rise to over 50 per cent by 2032. In 2000 the World Heath Organisation estimated that 1.1 billion people could not meet their basic need for clean water, contributing to the deaths mentioned above. In Asia 693 million people lack access to clean water. An estimated 3.4 million people die each year as a result of water-related disease and many more suffer disabilities as a result of water-related pathogens. It is estimated that 64.4 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALTs) come from water-related pathogens, often linked to inadequate sanitation. The most recent report suggests that 2.6 billion people still lack adequate sanitation facilities.’ Other data suggest that up to 1.1 billion people lack access to a clean water supply.* This effect is compounded by the growing use of artificial fertilisers in agriculture, leading to an increase in groundwater and leaching of minerals, reducing long-term productivity of the soil. Eutrophication is a process by which particular pollutants are washed into water supplies be it a lake, river, wetland or shallow sea — and overload it with organic and mineral nutrients. Common sources are nitrate fertilisers washed from the soil and phosphates from fertilisers and detergents in municipal sewage. There has also been a massive increase in global livestock populations, increasing 60 per cent since 1961. Pig and goat populations have doubled, chickens quadrupled. Industrial forms of production are on the increase, 43 per cent through feedlots where animals are kept in a confined space in factory-like conditions. For 200 million people living in arid areas, livestock is the only option. Overall there has been a fivefold increase in the global consumption of meat since the 1950s. In developing countries meat consumption between the early 1970s to the mid 1990s increased threefold over that in industrial countries.? Farm animals consume 37 per cent of the world’s grain harvest, cattle being the least efficient in this respect. Overgrazing has degraded 20 per cent of global rangeland: and half of rainforest destruction is the result of cattle ranging. Moderate. severe or extreme degradation affects 7-14 per cent of farmland, so that each year some

5-8 million hectares go out of production as a result of degradation.!9 The waste from livestock also contributes significantly to environmental damage, including consequences such as toxic algae blooms and global warming through methane production.

Global fossil fuel consumption has expanded by three and a half times since 1950. World oil use reached 3.8 billion tons (83.3 million barrels a day) in 2005, with the USA the largest consumer at 20.8 million barrels a day. Europe came a close second at 15.6 million barrels a day, China 6.6 million barrels and Japan 5.4 million barrels. Overall per capita, the USA uses two thirds more compared with Japan and 13 times more than China.!! Natural gas use is rising, and replacing use of coal. There is debate about the projected trends in energy use. For example, World Energy Outlook 2000 was more pessimistic than some about projected energy use. In North America and Western Europe there are no firm plans to increase nuclear power, though, ironically perhaps, under the pressure from anxiety about climate change, political talks have resumed in the United Kingdom, and this may spread to other jurisdictions. China, Japan and South Korea continue to fund new projects. There has been a mixed response in other countries, some such as Cuba and Taiwan responding to public pressure not to continue, others such as India and Brazil still completing projects. Global wind power increased by 24 per cent in 2005, and in 2004, the latest year for available data, global hydroelectric power increased by 5 per cent. The latter is hampered by lack of appropriate sites for development. In 2005 the global production of photoelectric cells increased by 45 per cent from the previous year, representing a sixfold increase since 2000, making it the world’s fastest-growing energy source.!2 These changes in energy use are, unfortunately, not yet sufficient to halt the overall trends in carbon emissions.