Th e themes of creation (as creatura ) and salvation are both embedded in well-known phrases such as ‘ human dignity ’ , ‘ women ’ s emancipation ’ , ‘ black liberation ’ , ‘ human development ’ , ‘ cultural authenticity ’ and ‘ environmental sustainability ’ . A retrieval of a theology of creation alone would therefore not suffi ce for an adequate ecotheology. Despite criticisms raised by authors such as Matthew Fox against a fall – redemption scheme for ecotheology, a mere emphasis on any ‘ original blessing ’ will not be able to resist the forces that lead to environmental destruction. 9 Although soteriological language is used almost inevitably and is therefore touched upon everywhere (also in secular discourse on sustainability), until recently there have been rather few systematic contributions on soteriology and ecology. 10 Th is may be partially understood as a critical response to the preoccupation with the theme of salvation in many other theologies and the tendency to marginalize the doctrine of creation.
Some therefore eschew soteriology as anthropocentric or subsume such refl ection under the doctrine of creation.
A few earlier contributions addressed soteriological themes through a discussion of the relationship between nature and grace. Joseph Sittler ’ s Essays on Nature and Grace (1972) is perhaps the most signifi cant example. 11 One may also mention Robert Faricy ’ s Wind and Sea Obey Him (1982) which
9 See M. Fox, Original Blessing (New Mexico: Bear & Co., 1983).
10 For a discussion on what salvation could mean in terms of the suff ering of organisms in terms of
ecology and evolutionary biology, see L. H. Sideris, Environmental Ethics, Ecological Th eology, and Natural Selection (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), pp. 196 – 201.
11 See J. Sittler, Evocations of Grace: Th e Writings of Joseph Sittler on Ecology, Th eology and Ethics
(eds. S. Bouma-Prediger and P. W. Bakken; Grand Rapids: WB Eerdmans, 2000).
explores approaches to a theology of nature but within the tension between sin and salvation. 12
One signifi cant recent contribution is Willis Jenkins ’ s Ecologies of Grace (2008). Jenkins off ers a typology of three ethical strategies and associated ecological spiritualities on the basis of three soteriological metaphors ( ‘ ecologies of grace ’ ), namely sanctifi cation, ‘ redemption ’ and deifi cation. He investigates each of these strategies in more detail, drawing on three classic representatives of such notions of grace, namely Th omas Aquinas, Karl Barth and Sergei Bulgakov, respectively. 13
Jenkins also hosted a colloquium related to the Christian Faith and the Earth project at Yale Divinity School, 11 – 12 December 2008, in which the following question was addressed: how is the Christian notion of salvation to be understood in the context of environmental threats? At this colloquium I read a paper entitled ‘ Th e Salvation of the Earth from Anthropogenic Destruction:
In Search of Appropriate Soteriological Concepts in an Age of Ecological Destruction ’ . Th e paper, together with a number of responses, other versions of a conceptual map and some constructive contributions, was subsequently published in the journal Worldviews . 14
In my contribution, I noted the confl icting diversity of concepts that have been employed in soteriological discourse. 15 I off ered a conceptual map of such pneumatological concepts, from a point of departure in Gustaf Aul é n ’ s famous typology of the Christological doctrine of atonement, noting the dangers that are embedded in any such mapping. A brief description of these soteriological metaphors may indeed off er a map of some of the available literature in this regard. In short, the argument is that the notion of salvation has been understood in especially three quite diff erent ways in the Christian tradition:
as God ’ s victory over the forces of evil, death and destruction on the basis
●
of the resurrection of Jesus Christ – including healing 16 in the case of
12 R. Faricy, Wind and Sea Obey Him: Approaches to a Th eology of Nature (London: SCM Press,
1982).
13 See W. Jenkins, Ecologies of Grace: Environmental Ethics and Christian Th eology (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2008).
14 See E. M. Conradie and W. Jenkins (eds.), Worldviews 14/2&3 (2010).
15 E. M. Conradie, ‘ Th e Salvation of the Earth from Anthropogenic Destruction: In Search of
Appropriate Soteriological Concepts in an Age of Ecological Destruction ’ , Worldviews 14/2&3 (2010), pp. 111 – 40.
16 One example is the volume by N. G. Wright and D. G. Kill, Ecological Healing: A Christian Vision
(Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1993). See also H. A. Snyder, Salvation Means Creation Healed: Th e Ecology of Sin and Grace (Eugene: Cascade Books, 2011).
sickness, victory amidst military threats, rescue from threats to safety, rain in the context of droughts, feeding in the context of famine, liberation from political and economic oppression, 17 overcoming the impact of disasters (including environmental disasters), the establishment of good governance amidst anarchy and corruption, exorcism from the power of evil spirits and pervasive ideologies and, fi nally, new life (resurrection), even in the face of death itself;
as reconciliation in a context of alienation,
● 18 with specifi c reference
to the cross of Jesus Christ, which becomes possible on the basis of a liberating word of forgiveness – in the context of personal relations, in terms of intergroup confl icts (labour disputes, war, civil war, colonialism, apartheid), in economic transactions where debt is incurred, in terms of jurisprudence in order to address injustices through a word of legal pardoning or amnesty, in the cultic bringing of sacrifi ces in order to restore social harmony and, in religious terms, with reference to the relationship between God and humanity (typically using these same metaphors to describe the healing of such a relationship); and as fi nding an inspiring moral example to follow in order to cope with
●
the demands of life and to adopt a caring ethos (or sometimes merely to fi nd personal fulfi lment), but also to build a better society, to engage in education and moral formation, uplift ment, development 19 and social reconstruction – typically with reference to the life, ministry, parables, wisdom, suff ering and death of Jesus Christ, but also with reference to the judges, kings, prophets, and priests of Israel and to the saints, martyrs, church leaders, and theologians in the history of Christianity – where these examples are then codifi ed in moral codes, books of wisdom, catechisms, and even in a bill of rights.
17 See the contributions by Leonardo Boff , Ecology and Liberation (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1995); Cry
of the Earth, Cry of the Poor (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1997) and Ivone Gebara, Longing for Running Water: Ecofeminism and Liberation (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999). See also S. Bergmann, Creation Set Free: Th e Spirit as Liberator of Nature (Grand Rapids: WB Eerdmans, 2005); C. Birch, W. Eakin and J. B. McDaniel (eds.), Liberating Life: Contemporary Approaches to Ecological Th eology (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1990) and M. L. Daneel, African Earthkeepers, Volume Two: Environmental Mission and Liberation in Christian Perspective (Pretoria: Unisa Press, 1999).
18 See the title of Th omas Berry ’ s book Befriending the Earth: A Th eology of Reconciliation between
Humans and the Earth (Mystic: Twenty-third Publications, 1991).
19 Th e huge corpus of literature on sustainable development is relevant here albeit that it is seldom
connected to Christian soteriology.
Each of these metaphors implies a particular understanding of the underlying predicament (see below). From this perspective there is ample available literature although this is seldom connected to classic Christian soteriologies.
It is especially striking how scant references to the core Christian themes of reconciliation and the forgiveness of sins are. 20 Th ere is clearly a need for further work in this area.
Th e working group of the Christian Faith and the Earth project on creation, salvation and consummation subsequently also produced two edited volumes on the relationship between the Christian doctrines of creation and salvation.
Th is is of course a classic theological problem also recognized in ecotheology. 21 Th e fi rst volume explores the approaches of a number of classic theologians, from Irenaeus of Lyons to John Calvin, who have shaped Christian discourse on creation and salvation. 22 Th e second volume focuses on a number of recent theological movements that shape current ecumenical discourse on creation and salvation for better and for worse. 23 Th ese volumes provide a barometer of the current state of the debate in Christian ecotheology on this point.