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Theologians commonly draw a distinction between general and special divine action. Unfortunately, there is no universally accepted definition of these two concepts in the fields of theology or science and religion. One way to distinguish them Wildman Drawing this distinction allows for creatures to be autonomous and indicates that God does not micromanage every detail of creation.
Still, the distinction is not always clear-cut, as some phenomena are difficult to classify as either general or special divine action. Alston makes a related distinction between direct and indirect divine acts. God brings about direct acts without the use of natural causes, whereas indirect acts are achieved through natural causes. Using this distinction, there are four possible kinds of actions that God could do: God could not act in the world at all, God could act only directly, God could act only indirectly, or God could act both directly and indirectly.
In the science and religion literature, there are two central questions on creation and divine action. To what extent are the Christian doctrine of creation and traditional views of divine action compatible with science? How can these concepts be understood within a scientific context, e. Note that the doctrine of creation says nothing about the age of the Earth, nor that it specifies a mode of creation.
This allows for a wide range of possible views within science and religion, of which Young Earth Creationism is but one that is consistent with scripture. The theory seems to support creatio ex nihilo as it specifies that the universe originated from an extremely hot and dense state around The net result of scientific findings since the seventeenth century has been that God was increasingly pushed into the margins. This encroachment of science on the territory of religion happened in two ways: While the doctrine of creation does not contain details of the mode and timing of creation, the Bible was regarded as authoritative.
Second, the emerging concept of scientific laws in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century physics seemed to leave no room for special divine action. These two challenges will be discussed below, along with proposed solutions in the contemporary science and religion literature. Christian authors have traditionally used the Bible as a source of historical information. Biblical exegesis of the creation narratives, especially Genesis 1 and 2 and some other scattered passages, such as in the Book of Job , remains fraught with difficulties.
Are these texts to be interpreted in a historical, metaphorical, or poetic fashion, and what are we to make of the fact that the order of creation differs between these accounts Harris ? Although such literalist interpretations of the Biblical creation narratives were not uncommon, and are still used by Young Earth creationists today, theologians before Ussher already offered alternative, non-literalist readings of the biblical materials e. From the seventeenth century onward, the Christian doctrine of creation came under pressure from geology, with findings suggesting that the Earth was significantly older than BCE.
From the eighteenth century on, natural philosophers, such as de Maillet, Lamarck, Chambers, and Darwin, proposed transmutationist what would now be called evolutionary theories, which seem incompatible with scriptural interpretations of the special creation of species. Ted Peters and Martinez Hewlett have outlined a divine action spectrum to clarify the distinct positions about creation and divine action in the contemporary science and religion literature.
They discern two dimensions in this spectrum: At one extreme are creationists. Like other theists, they believe God has created the world and its fundamental laws, and that God occasionally performs special divine actions miracles that intervene in the fabric of laws. Creationists deny any role of natural selection in the origin of species. Within creationism, there are Old and Young Earth creationism, with the former accepting geology and rejecting evolutionary biology, and the latter rejecting both.
Next to creationism is Intelligent Design, which affirms divine intervention in natural processes. Intelligent Design creationists e. Like other creationists, they deny a significant role for natural selection in shaping organic complexity and they affirm an interventionist account of divine action. For political reasons they do not label their intelligent designer as God, as they hope to circumvent the constitutional separation of church and state in the US which prohibits teaching religious doctrines in public schools Forrest and Gross Theistic evolutionists hold a non-interventionist approach to divine action: God creates indirectly, through the laws of nature e.
For example, the theologian John Haught regards divine providence as self-giving love, and natural selection and other natural processes as manifestations of this love, as they foster autonomy and independence. While theistic evolutionists allow for special divine action, particularly the miracle of the Incarnation in Christ e. God has laid out the laws of nature and lets it run like clockwork without further interference. Deism is still a long distance from ontological materialism, the idea that the material world is all there is.
Views on divine action were influenced by developments in physics and their philosophical interpretation. In the seventeenth century, natural philosophers, such as Robert Boyle and John Wilkins, developed a mechanistic view of the world as governed by orderly and lawlike processes. Laws, understood as immutable and stable, created difficulties for the concept of special divine action Pannenberg How could God act in a world that was determined by laws? One way to regard miracles and other forms of special divine action is to see them as actions that somehow suspend or ignore the laws of nature.
This concept of divine action is commonly labeled interventionist. Interventionism regards the world as causally deterministic, so God has to create room for special divine actions. By contrast, non-interventionist forms of divine action e. In the seventeenth century, the explanation of the workings of nature in terms of elegant physical laws suggested the ingenuity of a divine designer.
For example, Samuel Clarke cited in Schliesser Another conclusion that the new laws-based physics suggested was that the universe was able to run smoothly without requiring an intervening God. The increasingly deterministic understanding of the universe, ruled by deterministic causal laws as, for example, outlined by Pierre-Simon Laplace — , seemed to leave no room for special divine action, which is a key element of the traditional Christian doctrine of creation. Newton resisted interpretations like these in an addendum to the Principia in Alston argued, contra authors such as Polkinghorne , that mechanistic, pre-twentieth century physics is compatible with divine action and divine free will.
In such a mechanistic world, every event is an indirect divine act. Advances in twentieth-century physics, including the theories of general and special relativity, chaos theory, and quantum theory, overturned the mechanical clockwork view of creation. In the latter half of the twentieth century, chaos theory and quantum physics have been explored as possible avenues to reinterpret divine action.
One difficulty with this model is that it moves from our knowledge of the world to assumptions about how the world is: Robert Russell proposed that God acts in quantum events. This would allow God to directly act in nature without having to contravene the laws of nature, and is therefore a non-interventionist model. Since, under the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, there are no natural efficient causes at the quantum level, God is not reduced to a natural cause. Murphy outlined a similar bottom-up model where God acts in the space provided by quantum indeterminacy. After all, it is not even clear whether quantum theory would allow for free human action, let alone divine action, which we do not know much about Jaeger a.
Next to this, William Carroll , building on Thomistic philosophy, argues that authors such as Murphy and Polkinghorne are making a category mistake: God is not a cause in a way creatures are causes, competing with natural causes, and God does not need indeterminacy in order to act in the world. Rather, as primary cause God supports and grounds secondary causes. While this solution is compatible with determinism indeed, on this view, the precise details of physics do not matter much , it blurs the distinction between general and special divine action.
Moreover, the Incarnation suggests that the idea of God as a cause among natural causes is not an alien idea in theology, and that God at least sometimes acts as a natural cause Sollereder There has been a debate on the question to what extent randomness is a genuine feature of creation, and how divine action and chance interrelate. Chance and stochasticity are important features of evolutionary theory the non-random retention of random variations.
In a famous thought experiment, Gould imagined that we could rewind the tape of life back to the time of the Burgess Shale million years ago ; the chance we would end up with anything like the present-day life forms is vanishingly small. However, Simon Conway Morris has argued species very similar to the ones we know now including human-like intelligent species would evolve under a broad range of conditions.
Under a theist interpretation, randomness could either be a merely apparent aspect of creation, or a genuine feature. Plantinga suggests that randomness is a physicalist interpretation of the evidence.
God may have guided every mutation along the evolutionary process. In this way, God could. By contrast, some authors see stochasticity as a genuine design feature, and not just as a physicalist gloss. Their challenge is to explain how divine providence is compatible with genuine randomness. Under a deistic view, one could simply say that God started the universe off and did not interfere with how it went, but that option is not open to the theist, and most authors in the field of science and religion are theists, rather than deists. Elizabeth Johnson , using a Thomistic view of divine action, argues that divine providence and true randomness are compatible: God gives creatures true causal powers, thus making creation more excellent than if they lacked such powers, and random occurrences are also secondary causes; chance is a form of divine creativity that creates novelty, variety, and freedom.
One implication of this view is that God may be a risk taker—although, if God has a providential plan for possible outcomes, there is unpredictability but not risk. Johnson uses metaphors of risk taking that, on the whole, leave the creator in a position of control creation, then, is like jazz improvisation , but it is, to her, a risk nonetheless.
Why would God take risks? There are several solutions to this question. The free will theodicy says that a creation that exhibits stochasticity can be truly free and autonomous:. Authentic love requires freedom, not manipulation. Such freedom is best supplied by the open contingency of evolution, and not by strings of divine direction attached to every living creature. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have similar creation stories, which ultimately go back to the first book of the Hebrew Bible Genesis.
According to Genesis, humans are the result of a special act of creation. Genesis 1 offers an account of the creation of the world in six days, with the creation of human beings on the sixth day. Islam has a creation narrative similar to Genesis 2, with Adam being fashioned out of clay. These handcrafted humans are regarded as the ancestors of all living humans today. Humans occupy a privileged position in these creation accounts. In Christianity, Judaism, and some strands of Islam, humans are created in the image of God imago Dei.
There are at least three different ways in which image-bearing is understood Cortez According to the functionalist account, humans are in the image of God by virtue of things they do, such as having dominion over nature. The structuralist account emphasizes characteristics that humans uniquely possess, such as reason. The relational interpretation sees the image as a special relationship between God and humanity. Humans also occupy a special place in creation as a result of the fall.
By eating from the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil they fell from this state, and death, manual labor, as well as pain in childbirth were introduced. The Augustinian interpretation of original sin also emphasizes the distorting effects of sin on our reasoning capacities the so-called noetic effects of sin. As a result of sin, our original perceptual and reasoning capacities have been marred. Whereas Augustine believed that the prelapsarian state was one of perfection, Irenaeus second century saw Adam and Eve prior to the fall as innocent, like children still in development.
Scientific findings and theories relevant to human origins come from a range of disciplines, in particular geology, paleoanthropology the study of ancestral hominins, using fossils and other evidence , archaeology, and evolutionary biology. These findings challenge traditional religious accounts of humanity, including the special creation of humanity, the imago Dei , the historical Adam and Eve, and original sin. In natural philosophy, the dethroning of humanity from its position as a specially created species predates Darwin and can already be found in early transmutationist publications.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed chimpanzees as the ancestors to humans in his Philosophie Zoologique He proposed that the first organisms arose through spontaneous generation, and that all subsequent organisms evolved from them. He argued that humans have a single evolutionary origin: Darwin was initially reluctant to publish on human origins. In the twentieth century, paleoanthropologists debated whether humans separated from the other great apes at the time wrongly classified into the paraphyletic group Pongidae long ago, about 15 million years ago, or relatively recently, about 5 million years ago.
Molecular clocks—first immune responses e. The discovery of many hominin fossils, including Ardipithecus ramidus 4. These finds are now also supplemented by detailed analysis of ancient DNA extracted from fossil remains, bringing to light a previously unknown species of hominin the Denisovans who lived in Siberia up to about 40, years ago.
Taken together, this evidence indicates that humans did not evolve in a simple linear fashion, but that human evolution resembles an intricate branching tree with many dead ends, in line with the evolution of other species. In the light of these scientific findings, contemporary science and religion authors have reconsidered the questions of human uniqueness and imago Dei , the Incarnation, and the historicity of original sin.
Care of the Earth: Skillfully written over seven years of Sabbaths in the solitude of his hillside retreat, Berry candidly reveals his spirituality and ponderings on relationships with the land and people who comprise his community. The free will theodicy says that a creation that exhibits stochasticity can be truly free and autonomous:. Vistas on a New Century. Every Creature a Word of God:
Some authors have attempted to reinterpret human uniqueness as a number of species-specific cognitive and behavioral adaptations. For example, van Huyssteen considers the ability of humans to engage in cultural and symbolic behavior, which became prevalent in the Upper Paleolithic, as a key feature of uniquely human behavior.
Other theologians have opted to broaden the notion of imago Dei. Given what we know about the capacities for morality and reason in non-human animals, Celia Deane-Drummond and Oliver Putz reject an ontological distinction between humans and non-human animals, and argue for a reconceptualization of the imago Dei to include at least some nonhuman animals. Joshua Moritz raises the question of whether extinct hominin species, such as Homo neanderthalensis and Homo floresiensis , which co-existed with Homo sapiens for some part of prehistory, partook in the divine image.
There is also discussion of how we can understand the Incarnation the belief that Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, became incarnate with the evidence we have of human evolution. For instance, Peacocke regarded Jesus as the point where humanity is perfect for the first time. Teilhard de Chardin had a teleological, progressivist interpretation of evolution, according to which Christ is the progression and culmination of what evolution has been working toward even though the historical Jesus lived years ago.
According to Teilhard, evil is still horrible but no longer incomprehensible; it becomes a natural feature of creation—since God chose evolution as his mode of creation, evil arises as an inevitable byproduct. Deane-Drummond , however, points out that this interpretation is problematic: Teilhard worked within a Spencerian progressivist model of evolution, and he was anthropocentric, seeing humanity as the culmination of evolution.
Current evolutionary theory has repudiated the Spencerian progressivist view, and adheres to a stricter Darwinian model. Deane-Drummond, who regards human morality as lying on a continuum with the social behavior of other animals, conceptualizes the fall as a mythical, rather than a historical event. She regards Christ as incarnate wisdom, situated in a theodrama that plays against the backdrop of an evolving creation. As a human being, Christ is connected to the rest of creation, as we all are, through common descent.
By saving us, he saves the whole of creation. Debates on the fall and the historical Adam have centered on how these narratives can be understood in the light of contemporary science. On the face of it, limitations of our cognitive capacities can be naturalistically explained as a result of biological constraints, so there seems little explanatory gain to appeal to the narrative of the fall. Some have attempted to interpret the concepts of sin and fall in ways that are compatible with paleoanthropology.
Peter van Inwagen , for example, holds that God could have providentially guided hominin evolution until there was a tightly-knit community of primates, endowed with reason, language, and free will, and this community was in close union with God. At some point in history, these hominins somehow abused their free will to distance themselves from God. For van Inwagen, the fall was a fall from perfection, following the Augustinian tradition.
John Schneider , on the other hand, argues that there is no genetic or paleoanthropological evidence for such a community of superhuman beings. Helen De Cruz and Johan De Smedt favor an Irenaean, rather than an Augustinian interpretation of the fall narrative, which does not involve a historical Adam, and emphasizes original innocence as the state that humans had prior to sinning. This final section will look at two examples of work in science and religion that have received attention in the recent literature, and that probably will be important in the coming years: Other areas of increasing interest include the theistic multiverse, consciousness, artificial intelligence, and transhumanism.
Even before Darwin formulated his theory of natural selection, Victorian authors fretted over the implications of evolutionary theory for morality and religion. Evolutionary theorists from Darwin onward argued that human morality is continuous with social behaviors in nonhuman animals, and that we can explain moral sentiments as the result of natural selection. This capacity has evolutionary precursors in the ability of nonhuman animals to empathize, cooperate, reconcile, and engage in fair play e.
Since we can explain ethical beliefs and behaviors as a result of their long-term fitness consequences, we do not need to invoke ethical realism as an explanation. Some ask whether evolutionary challenges to moral beliefs apply in an analogous way to religious beliefs see Bergmann and Kain , especially part III. Others have examined whether evolutionary ethics makes appeals to God in ethical matters redundant.
John Hare , for example, has argued that this is not the case, because evolutionary ethics can only explain why we do things that ultimately benefit us, even if indirectly e. According to Hare , evolutionary ethics does not explain our sense of moral obligation that goes beyond biological self-interest, as evolutionary theory predicts that we would always rank biological self-interest over moral obligations.
Therefore, theism provides a more coherent explanation of why we feel we have to follow up on moral obligations. Intriguingly, theologians and scientists have begun to collaborate in the field of evolutionary ethics. For example, the theologian Sarah Coakley has cooperated with the mathematician and biologist Martin Nowak to understand altruism and game theory in a broader theological and scientific context Nowak and Coakley The cognitive science of religion examines the cognitive basis of religious beliefs.
Recent work in the field of science and religion has examined the implications of this research for the justification of religious beliefs. De Cruz and De Smedt propose that arguments in natural theology are also influenced by evolved cognitive dispositions. For example, the design argument may derive its intuitive appeal from an evolved, early-developed propensity in humans to ascribe purpose and design to objects in their environment. This complicates natural theological projects, which rely on a distinction between the origins of a religious belief and their justification through reasoned argument.
Kelly Clark and Justin L. Barrett argue that the cognitive science of religion offers the prospect of an empirically-informed Reidian defense of religious belief. Thomas Reid proposed that we are justified in holding beliefs that arise from cognitive faculties universally present in humans which give rise to spontaneous, non-inferential beliefs. If cognitive scientists are right in proposing that belief in God arises naturally from the workings of our minds, we are prima facie justified in believing in God Clark and Barrett John Wilkins and Paul Griffiths argue that the evolved origins of religious beliefs can figure in an evolutionary debunking argument against religious belief, which they formulate along the lines of Guy Kahane The evolutionary process X does not track the truth of propositions like p.
Wilkins and Griffiths hold that the epistemic premise can sometimes be resisted: However, they hold that this move does not work for religious and moral beliefs, because such beliefs are assumed not to be the result of truth-tracking cognitive processes. Comte, Auguste cosmological argument Hume, David: This research was supported by a small book and research grant of the Special Divine Action Project, specialdivineaction.
Religion and Science First published Tue Jan 17, What are science and religion, and how do they interrelate? Science and religion in Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism 2. Contemporary connections between science and religion 3. Future directions in science and religion 4. Science and religion in Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism As noted, most studies on the relationship between science and religion have focused on science and Christianity, with only a small number of publications devoted to other religious traditions e. As Robert Hooke wrote in the introduction to his Micrographia: For example, Clark writes, Exclude God from the definition of science and, in one fell definitional swoop, you exclude the greatest natural philosophers of the so-called scientific revolution—Kepler, Copernicus, Galileo, Boyle, and Newton to name just a few.
Contemporary connections between science and religion Current work in the field of science and religion encompasses a wealth of topics, including free will, ethics, human nature, and consciousness. In this way, God could guide the course of evolutionary history by causing the right mutations to arise at the right time and preserving the forms of life that lead to the results he intends. The free will theodicy says that a creation that exhibits stochasticity can be truly free and autonomous: Future directions in science and religion This final section will look at two examples of work in science and religion that have received attention in the recent literature, and that probably will be important in the coming years: The evolutionary process X does not track the truth of propositions like p Conclusion: Pakistan Philosophical Congress, New York City Press, pp.
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Cortez, Marc, , Theological Anthropology: A Guide for the Perplexed , London: Deane-Drummond, Celia, , Christ and Evolution: Wonder and Wisdom , Minneapolis: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities , Cambridge: A Historical Introduction , Gary B. Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. Oxford University Press, pp. A Study in Religious Sociology translated by J. What Scientists Really Think , Oxford: Edis, Taner, , An Illusion of Harmony: Forrest, Barbara and Paul R. Gross, , Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design , Oxford: Garwood, Christine, , Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea , London: Harris, Mark, , The Nature of Creation.
Examining the Bible and Science , Durham: Pasquini, Suzanne Duke, Jessica J. From Conflict to Conversation , New York: Islam, China and the West second edition , Cambridge: The Natural History of Religion.
A Critical Edition , T. Non-European Roots of Mathematics 2nd edition , Princeton: Museum d'Histoire Naturelle Jardin des Plantes. A Christian Approach to Evolution , Cambridge: Margaret Evans, Karl S. Rosengren, and Paul L. Masci, David and Gregory A. Mernissi, Fatima, , Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World trans. Russell, Nancey Murphy, and Arthur Peacocke eds. Norenzayan, Ara, , Big Gods: The Principle of Cooperation , Cambridge, Ma: Critical Realism in Science and Religion , Greencastle: Philipse, Herman, , God in the Age of Science?
A Critique of Religious Reason , Oxford: Science, Religion, and Naturalism , New York: Polkinghorne, John, , Science and Theology: An Introduction , Minneapolis: Rios, Kimberly, Zhen H. Totton, and Azim F. Ruse, Michael and E. Volume 1 , Berkeley, CA: Volume 2 , Berkeley, CA: Volume 3 , Berkeley, CA: Volume 4 , Berkeley, CA: Volume 5 , Berkeley, CA: Cambridge University Press, pp.
Southgate, Christopher, , The Groaning of Creation. God, Evolution and the Problem of Evil , Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. University of Wisconsin Press. Hague , San Diego: Tylor, Edward Burnett, , Primitive Culture: Wentzel, , Duet or Duel? Theology and Science in a Postmodern World , London: Peterson and Raymond J.
Other important works Clayton, Philip and Zachary Simpson eds. New Historical Perspectives , Cambridge: Stump, Eleonore and Alan G. Academic Tools How to cite this entry. Enhanced bibliography for this entry at PhilPapers , with links to its database. National Center for Science Education: Evolution Resources by Kenneth R. This collection of 16 often-stimulating essays on the polities, science and philosophy of conservation grew out of a conference held at the University of North Texas.
Oelsehlaeger The Idea of Wilderness ends the book by suggesting that, in our current culture, religion is fundamental to solving ecological crises. Eco-Justice and Theology Author: A rich collection of essays that provides theological and ethical reflections helpful in confronting current ecological crises. Contributors study and respectfully interpret Christian worldviews to form a foundation for social and ecological justice. An excellent resource for reflection and discussion. Piano hymn settings that celebrate the Creator and the beauty of His creation Author: Mason here writes an eloquent, important plea for a total rethinking of our relationship to the animal world.
An Unspoken Hunger Author: She shares the deep conviction that our lack of intimacy with the natural world initiates, and is reflected in, our lack of intimacy with one another. An exploration of what it means to affirm the goodness of creation in the light of evils of history and the suffering of the innocent. In his characteristic style — at once poetic, joyful and profoundly moving — his words become a conversation between God and all of humankind.
Dunlap, Lauren Glen and illus. At Home in the Cosmos Author: Retells how religion and science have shaped Western attitudes toward the environment; he gives a more sophisticated account of biblical and classical Christian theologies of nature than is usually reflected in environmentalist rhetoric. Austin, a Presbyterian minister and organic farmer, has a special vocation in environmental theology. Beauty of the Lord: Awakening the Senses Author: Berry, Thomas and Thomas Clarke.
Thomas Berry and Thomas Clarke discuss the tole of religion in the ecological movement today. They agree that religion, to now, has completely failed to address the despoliation of the earth, which they believe to be the greatest crisis in the history of the planet. Yet they offer hope and viable ways for ecology that will move us forward in our quest to heal the world. Through the Eyes of Faith Author: The author brings a biblical perspective to theories on origins, contrasting creationism, intelligent design, and evolution.
Highlighting the unique nature of biology and its interaction with Christian thought, Wright demonstrates that Christian stewardship can be the key to a sustainable future. Wilson, an eminent scientist, posits that our natural affinity and love for life — biophilia — is the very essence of our humanity and binds us to all living species. He demonstrates his own biophilia through his attentiveness to delicate interactions between many species and through his philosophical ponderings throughout this beautifully written book.
Meister Eckhart, Matthew Fox. Buddhism and Ecology Author: Batchelor, Martine and Kerry Brown, editors. Buddhism exists in many different forms in many different countries. In this book Buddhists from Japan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Tibet and the West offer their approaches to ecology and tell of practical activities as well as Buddhist teachings and philosophy. Stories, pictures and poems add to the picture of Buddhism and ecology and the book finishes with a message from the Dalai Lama. Care of the Earth: A collection of essays arranged by topic.
And God saw that it was good: What then shall we do? Caring for Creation in Your Own Backyard: Over Things Christian Author: Wilkinson, Loren and Mary Ruth Wilkinson. Toward an Ethic of Responsibility Author: Christians, says Rowthorn, have for too long failed to realize this, and have acted as if the holy and sacred are to be found only in places of worship or within cloistered walls. Pastors and lay leaders will find practical ideas and timely information in this hands-on guide to environmental stewardship for the church.
A sound biblical argument calls congregations to action, followed by facts and figures that detail the current environmental woes that plague the earth. Hymns of Love and Justice for the 21st Century Authors: Barbara Hamm and Dan Damon. Hamm brings a fresh and passionate plea for us to save life on our beloved planet Earth while there is yet time!
Christianity and Ecology Author: Breuilly, Elizabeth and Martin Palmer, editors. Christians from very diverse backgrounds — from Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, the Benedictine and Franciscan traditions and the World Council of Churches — have contributed their different experiences of Christianity and ecology to this book. They look at the background to the present problems of our planet, and at biblical and Christian teaching and practice, and how these have contributed to the problem or helped in the struggle to find answers.
Questions for discussion and materials for worship and meditation are included. This valuable compendium of over twenty-five papers, presented at an historic Harvard conference on Christianity and ecology, represents a broad range of current Christian scholarship on ecological crises.
The papers cover ethics, theology, sustainable development, and spirituality. The book is an excellent introduction with an extensive bibliography and index. Christianity, Wilderness and Wildlife Author: Bratton In this book, Susan Bratton employs powerful and vivid stories from the Holy Scriptures and from the rich history of Christian wilderness spirituality to illustrate a tradition of reverential Christian attitudes toward nature.
Creation and the History of Science Author: Examines the relationship between the theology of creation and the history of science. The author provides important background and discussion for a wide variety of issues, from the greenhouse effect to deforestation, water and waste, soil erosion and overpopulation, as well as the biosphere, biblical views of nature, creation and covenant, and lifestyle issues. Helpful appendixes list additional resources. Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth Author: Passionate and provocative, Fox uncovers the ancient tradition of a creation-centered spirituality that melds Christian mysticism with the contemporary struggle for social justice, feminism, and environmentalism.
Cross Generation This Protestant hymnal gathers distinguished pastoral musicians to chose the very best songs currently in use in contemporary worship settings. A Spiritual Geography Author: Lover of the Dakotas, devotee of monastic Christianity, and superb writer, Norris meditatively takes her readers through the experience of her return and commitment to this place of tenacious living.
Norris provides many spiritual insights along the way. A week discussion guide for adults. She set some goals for Unitarian Universalists involved in religious education, which were adopted for this curriculum. This curriculum is intended for use in UU churches and fellowships, by lay-led adult groups.
McKibben writes about how us, as consumers, need to consume differently regarding food and energy use. He shows how more is not necessarily synonymous with better anymore. McKibben also writes about how local areas need to become more self sustainable and gives worldwide examples.
Defending Mother Earth brings together important Native voices to address urgent issues of environmental devastation as they affect the indigenous peoples throughout the Americas. The essays document a range of ecological disasters, including the devastating effects of mining, water pollution, nuclear power facilities, and toxic waste dumps. Path to a Sustainable World Author: Christopher Uhl Addressing the question, what do students need to know to become more environmentally literate and ecologically conscious? He examines ways in which people are damaging the earth and, in the process, their own bodies and spirits, then presents the essential tools necessary for both planetary and personal transformation.
Dream of the Earth Author: Explores human-earth relations and seeks a new, non-anthropocentric approach to the natural world. According to Berry, our immediate danger is not nuclear war but industrial plundering; our entire society, he argues, is trapped in a closed cycle of production and consumption. Berry points out that our perception of the earth is the product of cultural conditioning, and that most of us fail to think of ourselves as a species but rather as national, ethnic, religious or economic groups.
This anthology brings together addresses, invocations, and poems that explore the causal relationship between our relentless destruction of the natural environment and the limitations and inadequacies of our religious beliefs and spiritual values. Earth and All the Stars: A Book of Reflection for Action Edited by: Released by the United Nations Environment Programme, this publication reflects on links between faith and the preservation of our planet.
Earth Community Earth Ethics Author: This award-winning book provides a comprehensive approach to issues of social cohesion and ecological concern, synthesizing insights from Christian theology and ethics, and environmental science in a single vision for creating a sustainable Earth community. Experts warn that the earth is in a state of environmental crisis. Faced with dilemmas such as global warming, soil erosion, air and water pollution, and rapid extinction of species, how might Christians respond? In this volume, nineteen eco-theologians from around the world respond to questions regarding the place of Christianity and Christian congregations within current crises of eco-injustice.
Orr focuses not on problems in education, but on the problem of education. The author begins by establishing the grounds for a debate about education and knowledge. Earth Prayers from Around the World: Roberts, Elizabeth, and Elias Amadon. This is a treasure chest of prayers and poems about Earth from different religious traditions.
Earth Revealing, Earth Healing: Ecology and Christian Theology Editor: In Earth Revealing-Earth Healing, the authors attempt to make clear the way in which Christian theology opens out into a theology of Earth revealing and challenges us towards a practice of Earth healing. Earth Revealing-Earth Healing offers a rethinking of theology as a significant part of the rethinking that the human community must do in its stance toward creation.
Aware that some theological attitudes have contributed to exploitative attitudes and to disregard for the good of the planet, the contributors are also convinced that the biblical and theological tradition has resources that can be retrieved and developed as an ecological theology. Such a theology can contribute to the healing of our planet.
Art and Jocele Meyer. Should the church be involved in questions of ecology? Is there a biblical theology on which to base Christian care for the earth? How does it relate to daily living? The authors examine root causes of environmental degradation and analyze major concerns: Earthkeeping in the Nineties: Stewardship of Creation Author: The book begins by laying out, with scientific precision, the state of the planet. Several chapters then carefully examine various historical and contemporary views of creation.
The book concludes by offering hopeful, practical guidelines for an earthkeeping ethic. A New Vision for Congregations Author: Praying with Nature Author: We need prayers — prayers that will heal the open wounds caused by our misuse of the natural world and help us to rebuild a healthy relationship with the earth. Nature prayers can best be expressed with a childlike heart — a heart that is drawn to mystery and willing to respond with reverence. The need for nature prayers inspired this book, but that is not its only focus. The book also addresses the longing each of us has to encounter nature from the depths of our life.
The Unfinished Journey Editor: Gibson Eco-Justice… links ecological sustainability and social justice from an ethical and often theological perspective… This collection includes contributions from the leading interpreters of the eco-justice movement as it recounts the evolution of the Eco Justice Project. Mies, Maria, and Vandana Shiva. These two internationally respected feminists offer poignant analyses of global economics and ecology.
In particular, they unmask exploitative systems that disproportionately impact women and children in non-industrialized settings. An excellent resource for assessing the current cultural and theological context in which we live. A Christian Vision Author: Wright and Donald Kill. This inspiring introduction to a new, ecologically-sensitive view of Christian vocation and spirituality pulls down the barriers between matter of earth and spirit. Ecological Healing provides an integral environmental ethic. It links the human need for social and economic well-being to the sustainable management of environmental resources.
Critiques common approaches to ecology, conservation and environmentalism among them. He states that these middle class approaches fail to scrutinize the systemic causes of ecological despoliation and their impact on the poor in the world. Ecological Spirituality in Cross-cultural Perspective Author: Kinsley explores various cultural and religious understandings of how humans relate to Earth, and how these understandings impact the current ecological crisis.
Readers will look at the views of indigenous peoples, Asian traditions, Christians, contemporary culture, and others. Voices from South and North Author: The ground-breaking essays by more than two dozen contributors in this book are divided into five sections: Healing Ourselves, Healing the Earth Author: Catholic Approaches to Ecology Author: LaChance and John E.
Brings together original and seminal contributions by contemporary Catholic spiritual and mystical writers who explore the Christian view of nature and our place in it. Their writings address not only theological, philosophical, and spiritual parameters but specific, concrete issues as well. Duties to and Values in the Natural World Author: This is a comprehensive, philosophical text on human interactions within the natural world. In his analysis, Rolston avoids both utilitarian and bio-centric views of nature — allowing him to present a view that bridges these two ends of the environmental ethic spectrum.
Ethics for a Small Planet: Looks at the crisis caused by overconsumption, overpopulation, and economic and political injustice. The authors discuss religions as part of the big powerhouses in making the problems worse but also at how they can help to solve them. Berry opens our eyes to the full dimensions of the ecological crisis, framing it as a crisis of spiritual vision. Every Creature a Word of God: Compassion for Animals as Chrisian Spirituality Author: The authors mix personal stories with Biblical insight and passionate argument to produce a book that is as creative as it is earnest and focused.
These earthy, honest stories offer a hopeful voice of moral integrity. New and Selected Poems Author: Includes a study guide and is ideal for individuals or groups. The Spirituality and Ethics of Eating Author: Food for Life draws on the authors experience as theologian, ethicist, pastor, and eater extraordinaire. He encourages us to see our humdrum habits of eating and drinking as a spiritual practice that can renew and transform us and our world. For God So Loves the World: Author White, Vera K. This curriculum consists of six sessions.
Based on selected biblical passages on the care of creation. The session titles summarize the movement of the course: For the Beauty of the Earth: Steven Bouma-Prediger At a time when it seems humans have erred much in their understanding and keeping of the planet, For the Beauty of the Earth explores the relationship between Christianity and the natural world in the most thorough evangelical treatment available on a theology of creation care.
For the Common Good Author: A landmark work by an eminent theologian Cobb and an equally eminent economist Daly. This book examines how our economy works, how it affects societies and bioregions, and offers a model for redirecting it to enhance both human and non-human communities. Creation Centered Night Prayer Author: Each of the night prayer services is thematically developed. They bring together psalms, Christian prayers and hymns, and writings of mystics and naturalists, with liberal borrowings from many religious traditions.
From Creation to New Creation: Old Testament Perspectives Author: Princeton theologian Bernhard Anderson explores the historical, mythopoeic, and theological dimensions of classic Old Testament reflections on the motif of creation. The result is an abundance of fresh insight and compelling exegesis that have implications for human life and thought today. From the Good Earth: From his visits to farming communities around the world, Ableman an organic farmer gifts his readers with rich photographs and stories in From the Good Earth.
This book celebrates human relationships with the land and with each other. Gaia and God Author: Green living is no longer a fad—simple lifestyle solutions are now available to everyone. Discover creation care as an act of worship and a call to deeper harmony with our Creator, our fellow gardeners, and our living earth. Gardening Eden invites you to consider a new, spiritual perspective to practical environmentalism.
Gather Comprehensive This Catholic hymnal compiles organ-based material chosen from the more familiar works written in that musical style, resulting in a hymnal that is ideal for parishes who tend to use more contemporary music, but still enjoy some traditional hymnody. Go Green, Live Rich Author: Bach is here to say that you can have both: God After Darwin Author: This book provides an original, insightful, and exhilarating look at how a quite radical version of neo-Darwinian theory, usually understood as excluding and belief in God, can in fact aid Christians in developing a more Biblical faith by replacing the God of static design and controlling power with the God of vulnerable, self-giving love.
Ecology for Christians Author: A simple yet superb explanation of why Christians should be environmentalists, God Is Green shows, through the Bible and other ancient writings, how at the heart of Christian belief is a sense of a sacred world. A well packaged guide for environmentally responsible meetings and events. Rich with a variety of resources that may be used in many areas of church life. Growing a Green Church Author: Do you want to make sure your church is environmentally responsible? Could a drop in the utility bills give the budget a much-needed lift?
This guide also gives a list of manufacturers of resource efficient building materials. Harvest for Hope Author: Seeds of Truth Author: This book looks at the environmental values of the Hindu tradition — its past and present teachings and practice. In it the author speaks to prominent Hindu environmental activists and thinkers, presents their ideas and explains what they are doing. Hole in the Sky: Now a creative writing teacher at the University of Montana, his writing beautifully, and sometimes heart-breakingly, explores the guiding myths of the West and the ways in which they no longer serve us.
Hope for the Earth: This handbook is based on the belief that several themes from the Wesleyan tradition can help the church become a powerful force in the struggle to bring about a just and sustainable world. Hymn of the Universe Author: Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. A paleontologist and Roman Catholic priest, Teilhard de Chardin envisioned a convergence of the divine life of Christ and the universe. Our planet is desperately ill and must be healed.
If the human race does not change its present behavior, the ecosphere may be doomed within the next ten years. A renowned anti-nuclear activist for twenty years, Helen Caldicott here turns from the arms race to the race to save the planet, laying out the grim details of ozone depletion, excess energy consumption, pollution, and global warning. In the Beginning There was Joy: Islam and Ecology Author: The duties and obligations of humans to each other and to the created world that are contained in its verses are central to Islam, and the laws that guide Muslim action reflect an inherent concern for ecology.
In this book Muslim perspectives on issues as wide-ranging as animal husbandry, desert reclamation, international trade, and science are addressed through discussion, examples, stories, and quotations. Jesus and the Cosmos Author: Edwards combines both contemporary cosmological perspectives and theological responses to contemporary ecological crisis into a theology. This cosmos is created, sustained, and empowered by God in whom it has its unity. Discusses link between ancient Jewish Wisdom literature and the subsequent development of New Testament views of the personification of Wisdom in Jesus Christ.
Judaism and Ecology Author: Just and Proper Use: Issues in Environmental Stewardship Author: While they pray, the rain forests are being eradicated, more and more animal species become extinct, the burning of fossil fuels goes unchecked and the impoverished bear the brunt of pollution and environmental decay. These are properly the issues of the church, author Judy Scherff insists in this booklet, and to respond to the needs of the earth is to fulfill our very baptismal vows.
At the root of the environmental crisis is greed, and the undoing of our greed is always the hope of every Christian — and perhaps the only hope for the planet. Keeping and Healing the Creation Author: Presbyterian Eco-Justice Task Force. It contains a study guide and an excerpt from the General Assembly policy. A list of resources is included at the end of the book for your use.
Living More with Less Author: Longacre provides a pattern for living with less and a wealth of practical suggestions from around the world in chapters on money, clothing, homes, transportation and travel, celebrations, and recreation. Longing for Running Water: Ecofeminism and Liberation Author: Love God, Heal Earth: In Love God, Heal Earth: Bingham brings together 21 highly regarded spiritual leaders from diverse faiths to make the case for environmental stewardship and show how their faith communities are tackling the issue of religion and environment.
Parish Resources for Faithfulness in Creation Author: This comprehensive program is designed to answer questions like: What are the religious dimensions of the environmental problem? What books and films can we use as parish resources? How can we incorporate creation issues in liturgy? How can children and young people be part of efforts to reorient our lifestyles? Ministering with the Earth Author: The challenge is more than caring for the Earth; it is also engaging with the Earth in ministry… Stories and visions invite us to meditate, to analyze, and to take a new view of the Earth—not merely as a source of beauty and certainly not as a collection of valuable resources—but as a creation of God with which we are bound in conventional relationship.
The Search for Enough An Earth Ministry publication that explores money from the perspective of faith and the environment. Hicks In this timely resource, author Douglas A. Hicks offers a faith-based account of the global economy and our place in it. Money Enough is filled with insight and wise advice that walks the line between rejecting the marketplace and accepting its excesses.
Using well-chosen illustrative examples, the book shows how to develop practices that help us survive in hard times and reach out to others. A broadly graded stewardship education program for children ages four through grade two and children in grades three through six. This five-session course can be used in your congregation during a stewardship emphasis, for a special study, or as a resource for a five-day vacation school program. Each session is designed for a one-hour time frame but offers a wide variety of activities adn can be easily expanded.
Encountering God in Nature Author: Wonder, reverence, and praise in encounter with the beauty of nature. Of God and Pelicans: A Theology of Reverence for Life Author: This is not a book merely about pelicans and God. It is a book about all living things on earth, both inanimate and animate: Such questions are especially urgent for those coming of age in the twenty-first century. I see in this generation a passionate yearning to live in a way that is good for our endangered planet, life-giving to others, and attentive to the presence of God.
On Our Way is a response to this yearning, offered by a group of authors who belong to the diverse, imperfect, amazing community that has gathered around Jesus Christ across the centuries. Pick up your garden tools and get to work. As we follow Jesus out of doors into the ebb and flow of creation, we will discover that mountain top experiences cannot be separated from the needs of human beings for physical and spiritual healing. Our Sustainable Table Editor: A collection of essays about our off-track relationship with food, the land, and the people who farm it.
Passion for the Earth: Challenging the Church to respond to environmental degradation, Sean McDonagh examines newly-industrialized nations and looks at the effects on the environment of GATT. Examples are given from many countries. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Author: It presents Dillard — mystical naturalist wordsmith — at her best. Vancouver BC author decides to eat food grown within miles of home for one year and tells about this challenge. Practice of the Wild Author: Snyder is a highly respected nature poet and writer. This collection of essays provides a good sampling of his work.
Practicing Our Faith Author: Their responses, represented here, explore vital ways to apply Christian tradition and practice to everyday life in a world that demands continuous personal change and discernment. A thoughtful discussion of possibilities for responding to the challenges of faith through the shared dimensions of spiritual life. Praying with Francis of Assisi Author: Stoutzenbarger and John D. Praying with Francis of Assisi is not a biography about St.
Francis, but a way of praying with him. Praying with Julian of Norwich Author: Jim Merkel Many people feel the need to change their own lifestyles as a tangible way of trasnforming our unsustainable culture. Radical Simplicity is the first book to guide you toward a personal sustainability goal, and then offer a way to lower your footprint to be more equitable among all people, species, and generations.
Restoring Nature to Culture Author: Volume 4 of 4 in a comprehensive, systematic statement of environmental theology by a Christian teacher. In this stand-alone volume, focuses on restoring a love and reverence of nature to modern culture. A Contemporary Spirituality Author: The realization that we live in such a universe will change how we work and pray, how we relate to one another and to God, to ourselves.
Kathleen Fischer calls us not only to contemplation but to solicitude for the earth. Patience and Practice in the Desert Author: In this collection of essays, poems, congressional testimony, and journal entries, Williams reflects on the God-given value of wilderness and the need to preserve wild places — for their own sake and the sake of the human spirit.
Redeeming the Creation Author: Redeeming the Time Author: An examination of environmental theology from four major viewpoints. Scharper looks first at how Christianity began to look at the environmental crisis and has responded to it over three decades. He then explores the viewpoints: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Author: Oregon Ecumenical Center for Environmental Action. A look at the problem, the theological basis for recycling, benefits of recycling, economics, opportunities, success stories, and practical tools for starting a recycling program in the church.
Includes extensive lists of practical resources and congregational tools. Williams, a naturalist and writer from Salt Lake City, weaves the story of the flooding of Great Salt Lake in , and the resulting loss of wetlands, with the losses in her own family due to cancer caused by nearby atomic testing. This compassionate book poignantly combines love and knowledge of place, landscape, and family. Religion and the New Ecology Author: The book reflects the conviction that we must establish significant coherence between our historical, scientific, and religious understandings of nature if we are to effectively address current and emerging environmental problems.
Filled with well-chosen resources to help you design your own outdoor retreats and prayer experiences. Skillfully written over seven years of Sabbaths in the solitude of his hillside retreat, Berry candidly reveals his spirituality and ponderings on relationships with the land and people who comprise his community. Each poem is like a brief, wisdom-filled retreat. Ecofeminist Theology and Globalization Author: Grey Focusing on such simple yet profound symbols as water, light, and sacred space, noted theologian, Mary Grey, tries to re-instill a spiritual quest — a kind of eco-mystical renewal — as an element in the transformation of desire, lived out in Christian community.
Sands of the Well Author: Saving Creation Full Title: However, over the last century, the evangelical church has let the value of caring for creation slip away. In this book, author and pastor Tri Robinson makes a compelling case for the biblical precedence behind environmental stewardship and shows the church what it can do about this eroding value. Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action Author: Matthew Sleeth was living the American dream as a medical chief of staff—until the increasing number of chronic illnesses he was witnessing gave him a new environmental awareness.
Seven Songs of Creation: Liturgies for Celebrating and Healing Earth Author: Written by the chief editor of the Earth Bible Project, this resource intends to help worshipping communities develop liturgies to revere, honor, love, and serve Earth. Christian Practices for Enjoyment Author: David Beckman, President, Bread for the World.
Each booklet focuses on a different facet of simple living: