All Christian Theology can be Green - book or download by John Butterfield
Over the last thirty years Christian theologians from many different traditions have written about the relationship of God, people and planet in the light of the major environmental issues facing the earth. This detailed academic study looks at five contrasting theological positions to see how they approach the environment and concludes that all theology can be green. The chapters include reference to the following theologians: John Stott (Envangelical), Paulos mar Gregorios (Orthodox), Rosemary Radford Ruther (feminist), A N Whitehead and John Cobb (process), Matthew Fox (very progressive or even new age) and others as well. (Look below at a full list of contents.)
This is an important conclusion because it gives theological underpinning for Christians to be at the forefront of the environmental movement rather than being linked to those who are destroying God's creation through selfishness and greed.
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All Christian Theology can be Green CONTENTS:
1. Introduction
The Environmental Crisis
Adumberations
Method
The Theological Perspective
The Ecological Perspective
2. Evangelical Environmentalism
Introduction
Evangelical social political and ethical concern
Why should an evangelical care about the environment?
The Wheaton statement
A creation ordinance
A response to being blamed for degredation
Biblical arguements
Evangelical covenant on integrity of creation
Conclusions
The use of the Bible
Fall and redemption
Evangelical eschatology and ecology
God's relationship to the natural world
The church
The Gaia hypothesis
Green politics and evangelicals
Lifestyle implications
Critique
3. Process Theology
Introduction
Cobb's ecological theology
The Whiteheadian background
Overcoming reductionism
God as life/Gaia
The process doctrine of creation
Process anthropology
Process thought and eschatology
Process Christology and pneumatology
Ethics
Process environmental ethics
Animal rights
Vegetarianism
Problems with process ethics
Process theology's practical outworking
Conclusions
4. New Age Christian Thinkers
Introduction
The new age movement
Definition
Antecedants
Christian influences on the new age movement
Criticisms of the new age movement
Matthew Fox
Introduction
Original Blessing
Sin and grace
Panentheism
Spirituality
The charge of Gnosticism
The charge of Monism
Fox and the Roman Catholic church
Institute for Culture and Creation Spirituality
Criticisms of Fox
Thomas Berry
Thomas Berry and the main elements of his vision
Berry's analysis of where Christianity is wrong
The creation centred paradigm
Inter-religious encounter
The Bible
Social action
Redemption
Berry and Ethics
Berry and science
Berry's influence
Criticisms of Berry
Conclusions
5. Feminist Theological Approaches
Introduction
The basis of feminist ethics
Secular feminist spirituality
Secular ecofeminism
Goddess imagery
Models of God for an ecological age
Feminist critique of science and technology
The development of Christian ecofeminism
Hildegard of Bingen's mystical feminist ecological spirituality -
a hidden tradition rediscovered?
Rosemary Radford Ruether
Conclusions
6. The Orthodox Perspective of Paulos Mar Gregorios
Introduction
The Orthodox theological method
What is nature?
Gregory of Nyssa
Theosis and Change
Gregory's cosmology
Gregory's vision of the unity of all creation
Human fullness
The human vocation
Dominion
Maximus the confessor
Gregorios' criticisms of the process system
Mastery and mystery
Making images of the future
Christian ethical reflection
Science and faith
The role of the church
Christology
Life
Evil
Sin
Redemption
Conclusions
7. Conclusions
Introduction
The use of the word ecological
Models of engagement
The evangelical model
The process model
The new age Christian model
The Christian eco-feminist model
An orthodox model
What do these models bring to the Environmental debate?
Human attitudes
Liberation of life
Gaia
Human self-identity
Lifestyle and spirituality
Anthropocentricity
Looking to the future
Conclusions
