Thesis advisor: Stephen Pope / Agendas in ethics are often set by questions raised in the wider society. The growth and flourishing of environmental ethics is a good example of this phenomenon. In recent decades, the growing concern among scientists, politicians, economists, and the media regarding the future of life on the planet has raised all kinds of questions about the origin of the so-called ecological crisis. Complex analyses and different sets of solutions have followed. Yet the problems seem far from being solved. Ethicists and theologians have joined the conversation and have also proposed interpretations and complex, often contradictory, solutions to the problems raised by this crisis. / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Denna studie handlar om att beskriva, diskutera och jämföra de olika argumenten som de två teocentriska filosoferna Michael Northcott och James Gustafson har om miljöfrågan. Studien fokuserar på vad de har för tankar om ursprunget till miljökrisen, vilken position mannen har i skapelsen, vad naturen har för värde och vilka konsekvenser deras ställningstagande har för lösningen till miljökrisen. Till sist undersöker studien vad de har för kritik mot samhället, vilken lösning de har för en fortsatt utveckling av samhället utan att ytterligare skada naturen. / This study descirbes, discusses & compares the different arguments that the two theocentric philosophers Michael Northcott and James Gustafson have about the environmental issue. The study looks at their thoughts about the origin of the environmental crisis, humans position in creation, the value of nature and the consequences their environmental ethics have for solving the environmental crisis. FInaly the study examines their critique on society and their solutions for development of society without causing further harm to nature.

An exercise in applied Christian ecotheology, this thesis focuses on a community of Lutheran church bodies (ELCA) in North Central Pennsylvania as they grappled with natural gas hydraulic fracturing in the summer of 2012. In the paper, I employ a combination of theological, environmental, historical, and ethnographic research methodologies to ground my analysis of how this synod of Lutherans to date has approached the fracking boom. My primary research question is: How might the Upper Susquehanna Synod of the ELCA--as a representative body of 131 Lutheran churches that are steeped in tradition--use its history, community involvement, theology, and church structure to address an ecological quandary like fracking? I answer this question in four sections, with each chapter focusing on a different thematic sub-question. Though I borrow techniques from the social sciences, I have written this thesis as a narrative, in order to draw the reader into this fascinating community. Instead of separating my literature review from my ethnographic data, I blend the two together in each chapter, weaving together quotes from synod members with secondary source material. Embedded throughout the report are also maps that I have produced using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technique to give the story a spatial dimension. Additionally, I use photographs of the synod counties to enhance the reader’s understanding of the region’s ecological and cultural landscapes.