Analysis Of Sallie Mcfague 's An Ecological Christology

The death and resurrection of Jesus offers hope of redemption for all flesh. 5. The life-giving presence of the Spirit who empowers all creation is also the power of resurrected life for all beings. Not knowing a lot about theology myself I was surprised when she linked lots of the Christian stories to the natural world. For example, she talks about in the beginning how can one make a theological statement about a lady bug?

Our earthly habitat is not an unexpected occurrence of little worth, but rather, it is one to be highly valued and preserved. The biblical doctrine of creation helps the Christian to understand the true significance of the world in order to deal with the environmental crisis. The Bible says, “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited…” (King James Version, Isaiah 45:18). In Christian teaching, God not only created Heavens and Earth, but expressed His delight in His creation. This creation meant, everything encompassing the trees, the

This essay will compare Christianity and the Naturalism worldviews. Christianity is man’s desire to live according to the principles outlined in the Bible. Naturalism on the other hand is rooted in man’s will being the sole purpose of their existence. Both have had long term effects on the world in which we live. They both illustrate the way man treats one another. The question that is asked in both cases is what this relationship means; how it affects the believer, and does it change the way the world is viewed.

The author also addresses four themes to help the reader gain an understanding of the Christian world view which include creation, fall, redemption and consummation. Creation addresses the understanding of who humans are and how it relates to the world that we live in. The fall deals rebellion against God in the garden. Redemption speaks about the forgiveness of our sins that came through the savior of Jesus Christ. Finally Consummation pulls all three previous topics together and is the start of the integration at its core.

In L. Russ Bush’s Christian apologetic work, The Advancement: Keeping the Faith in an Evolutionary Age, he details the development and apparent fallacy associated with the modern naturalist worldview. Bush, a professor at Southeast Baptist Theological Seminary, focuses on the idea of inevitable progression within the modern worldview and provides an overview of this view’s promulgation within epistemology. Bush asserts

However, Christ’s resurrection ensures our regeneration. We have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Peter explicitly connects Jesus’ resurrection with our regeneration or new birth (1 Peter 1:3-4). When Jesus rose from the dead he had a new quality of life, a “resurrection life” in a human body and human spirit that were perfectly suited for fellowship also obedience to God forever. In his resurrection, Jesus earned for us a new life. Notably, we do not receive all the new “resurrection life” when we become Christians, for our bodies remain as they were, still subject to weakness, aging, and death. But in our spirits, we are made alive with new resurrection power.

However, Christ’s resurrection ensures our regeneration. We have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Peter explicitly connects Jesus’ resurrection with our regeneration or new birth (1 Peter 1:3-4). When Jesus rose from the dead, he had a new quality of life, a “resurrection life” in a human body and the human spirit that were perfectly suited for fellowship also obedience to God forever. In his resurrection, Jesus earned for us a new life. Notably, we do not receive all the new “resurrection life” when we become Christians, for our bodies remain as they were, still subject to weakness, aging, and death. But in our spirits, we are made alive with new resurrection power.

The issue of Deforestation has been high on the global environmental agenda for many years, and remains a serious problem today. In the tropics and many other parts of the world, nations continue to lose the valuable biodiversity, soil and water conservation, and climate regulation that natural forests provide. Christianity can only address this matter by continuing to combine an acceptance of the command to people to ‘multiply and replenish the earth’ (Genesis 1:28) with a balancing injunction to act as stewards of the environment. Charities such as Christian Ecology Link and World Vision work to increase awareness of the current ecological crisis and encourage adherents to live sustainably and make ‘green’ consumption choices.

The Christian worldview, also categorized under theism, is highly recognized and held by many. This is the belief that there is a single, personal, and relational God who is the creator of all things, this includes a belief in morality and the afterlife. This paper will discuss important aspects and key characters in the Christian worldview, including God and His plan for His children, humanity and the Fall, and Jesus’ role in restoration.

McFague’s argues that people should stop limiting their ability to concern their needs as humans being and consider the environment and other living organisms. McFague argues that people must move toward thinking about sustaining the world, not just the people. McFague poses the concept of the Earth being a household that everyone in society livings a part of this one house that lives together. Therefore, she goes to mention that those of the Christian Faith embrace “all creations and not just human beings who make up less than one percent of it” (120). McFague asserts that society needs to pay more attention to what is happening with the environment because under this neoclassical model people are consuming too many resources.

Like a farmer, a disciple of Christ is heavily involved in creation as they produce crops and care for animals. While farmers deeply love creation, pest, disease, and bad weather are constantly attempting to destroy everything the farmer has accomplished. Despite all their good work, crops fail, animals die, and the land is slowly degraded. Yet, farmers continue to work towards sustainability, undeterred by the multitude of challenges they face.

He says,” Hence we shall continue to have a worsening ecologic crisis until we reject the Christian axiom that nature has no reason for existence save to serve man.” pg 6. White is question people belief and putting blame on why people treated the environment because the western Christian do not show proof in the bible that they care for nurture. While some people will argue that nice true. He want Western Christian to change the way they think by explaining, “The greatest spiritual revolutionary in Western history, Saint Francis, proposed what he thought was an alternative Christian view of nature and man's relation to it; he tried to substitute the idea of the equality of all creatures, including man, for the idea of man's limitless rule of creation. “ pg 6. This article could be a very touchy subject because of he talk about

This anthropocentric Christology and doctrine of salvation are inseparably connected to the loss of the cosmic pneumatology found in Scripture and the patristic

Christian voice is correcting them or proclaiming the biblical model of man’s relationship to nature which: is unique and superior to the dominant free-market and environmentalist models. . According to Gardner and Stern (1996), in that place are exclusive approaches that have power to be implemented in companionships search to defend the environment. One like approach may take a closer look at holy and regarding duties beliefs and the effects of these beliefs on the environment. The idea to create values and beliefs in environmental issues are important components of having a safer and enjoyable world for its people and the world they live in. Christian and non-Christian, at hand, must see the environment and the shortcoming of business by reason of a proper conversion to an act or purpose of and preservation of the wealth the planet has to support life. Christians as the Bible originate directing the eye to what has to be published by word force in reference to human natures dependence and bounden duty to the nature and its resources. As Christians we should do what ever it takes to make sure this earth glorify God. If we are careless about science and economics — not caring about how they work and what they describe, creation’s economy will suffer (Christians Research Institute).

White’s thesis in The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis states that in order to confront the expanding environmental crises, humans must begin to analyze and alter their treatment and attitudes towards nature. The slow destruction of the environment derives from the Western scientific and technological advancements made since the Medieval time period. “What people do about their ecology depends on what they think about themselves in relation to things around them” (RON p.7). Technology and science alone will not be able to save humans until we adjust the way of thinking and suppress the old ideas of humans power above nature. Instead, we need to learn how to think of ourselves as being