This essay aims to answer the question of if and how the theologian Sallie McFagues modelfor understanding God that she presents in her book The Body of God can be furtherdeveloped to be more fitting for church and individual today. To answer this question I havecompleted a comparative text analysis of Andrew Linzeys book Why Animal SufferingMatters , Elisabeth A. Johnsons book Ask the Beasts and Rosemary Radford Ruethers bookGaia & God . The views of the three theologians is presented thematically: firstly in regardsto animal rights, secondly in regards to human environmental impact.Based on the fact that animals are sentient; that they are unable to communicateeffectivly with humans; and that animals are equally created by God as humans are, Linzey,Johnson and Radford Ruether argues that animals should not be unnecessarily harmed.With regard to environmental impact the three theologians argues that the whole ofcreation belongs to God and that God made humans stewards of it. The stewardship meansthat we have a responsibility to care for the earth rather than exploiting it.Based on these arguments I find that McFagues model can be further developedmainly by creating a more clear animal theology and by making a connection betweenenvironmental impact and social injustices.

Studier har visat att religion är en viktig komponent för att förstå människors attityder och beteenden gentemot naturen. Kristendomen har av en del forskare pekats ut som en förklaring till människans exploatering av naturen och det finns forskare som ansett att kristen tro är oförenlig med ett miljöengagemang. Samtidigt visar studier att det finns ett växande miljöintresse hos kristna i t.ex. USA. Den här studien syftade till att undersöka ett exempel på vilka kopplingar och motsättningar som kristna i dagens Sverige uttrycker mellan sin kristna tro, naturen och miljöengagemang. Metoden som användes var deltagande observation i mikroformat under en kristen miljökonferens samt semi-strukturerade intervjuer med kristna. Studien visade att det inte uttrycktes några motsättningar mellan att vara kristen och engagera sig i natur- och miljöfrågor, däremot att det kan finnas en motsättning mellan miljöengagemang och kyrkan samt att motsättningar kan komma från olika tolkningar av bibelord som råda och härska. Studien visade också att intresset och engagemanget för natur och miljö hängde samman med den kristna tron om förvaltarskap och att det sågs som viktigt att ära Guds skapelse genom att vårda den. / Studies have shown that religion is an important component for understanding human attitudes and behaviors regarding nature. Christianity have by some scholars been proposed as an explanation for humanities exploitation of nature and some point out that Christianity is at odds with environmentalism. At the same time studies show there is a growing interest in environmentalism among Christians in for example the USA. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore an example of what connections and divergences that is expressed among Christians in Sweden today concerning their faith, nature and environmentalism. The methods used were case study during a Christian environmental conference in Sweden and semi structured interviews with Christians. The study showed that there weren’t any divergences expressed between being a Christian and environmentalism but that there may be a divergence between Christian environmentalism and the Church. Also, divergences may come from differing interpretations of biblical words such as rule and subdue. The study also showed that the interest and concern regarding nature and the environment had to do with the Christian belief in stewardship and that it was important to honor God’s creation by caring for it.

En studie av föreställningar om det gudomliga inom ekofeministisk teologi. Uppsatsen behandlar teologerna Rosemary Radford Ruether, Carol Christ och Sallie McFague. Frågeställningen besvaras med hjälp av en innehållslig idéanalys bestående av två analysfrågor med en rad följdfrågor. Den första analysfrågan söker hur det gudomliga förstås hos de olika teologerna, följdfrågorna behandlar begreppen immanens-transcendens, teism-panteism-panenteism samt könsroller. Den andra analysfrågan söker vilken relation mellan det gudomliga och skapelsen som beskrivs, följdfrågorna söker om relationen är intern eller extern, om det är en personlig eller opersonlig gudomlighet samt om människan har något särskilt ansvar inför det gudomliga.

I den här uppsatsen görs en postkolonial, feministteologisk och konstruktivistisk analys av det ursäktstal Svenska kyrkan framför till det samiska folket hösten 2021. Med hjälp av den postkoloniala feministteologen Kwok Pui-lan och den kontextuella teologen Marcella Althaus-Reid närmar sig uppsatsen frågan om det i ursäktstalet finns uttryck för koloniala tendenser eller möjliga befrielser från sådana. Analyses leder till ett utforskande av dynamiken mellan föreställningar om kön, sexualitet, den Andre och naturem, där dessa visar sig vara tätt sammanvävda i en dualistisk ontologi konkretiserad i heterosexuella antaganden. För att bli fri från koloniala tendenser krävs de gamla heterosexuella antagandenas undergång. Bara i den ömsesidiga enhetens harmoni skapas nytt liv.

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The aim of this study was to explore the relevance and function of Christian reli-gious belief in constructing views on climate change (sv: klimathot) and climate action (sv: klimatengagemang). To ensure a focus on religiosity and the construc-tion of personal beliefs rather than systematic theology the study used psycholo-gist Crystal L. Parks theory on religious meaning making. Fourteen articles about climate change with denominational elements from the Christian newspapers Dagen, Insidan, Kyrkans Tidning, Budbäraren and Världen Idag were analysed using a qualitative content analysis. The results showed that the articles had ex-panded the extent of religion to encompass both climate change and climate ac-tion. Through truth claims and references to the Bible the threat of climate change was incorporated in the narrative of Genesis and humanity’s fall from grace and climate change was portrayed as the result of humanity’s failure at properly stew-arding nature. The environment was assigned value through depictions of the en-vironment as a creation by God. Climate action was presented as a necessity and a duty with references to God giving humanity the responsibility of stewarding na-ture. The ascription of religious meaning to climate action also meant that the re-ligiosity of the authors functioned as a motivation in regards to climate action. The religiosity, as portrayed in the articles, also exhibited a transcendent function in the case where the authors described their stewardship as a united effort with God. The idea that God was helping humanity in their stewardship and had the power to renew the world for the better also functioned as a mitigation to climate anxiety.

The aim of this study is to explore how the concept of sin, guilt and responsibility can be used in the contemporary discourse of the climate catastrophe. In a comparative textual study on Sallie McFague’s A New Climate for Theology and Richard Bauckham’s Bible and Ecology these concepts are analyzed. The conclusion is that McFague and Bauckham both uses “responsibility” frequently, but neither “sin” or “guilt” are well used in there works. Yet, when they reflect on “sin”, both of them abandons the (in the western theology classical) Augustine theology on sin. McFague when she argues that “evil” is a perversion of good rather than a consequence of an external reality, Bauckham when he claims that the fall of sin is an ongoing process rather than a momentary event.   Hannah Arendt and Alistair McFadyen are used as an interpretative and theoretical background to the conclusions of McFague and Bauckham in the discussion that follows the comparative textual study. Arendt and McFadyen reflects on sin, guilt and responsibility with the Holocaust as context. In the discussion, their thoughts on the Holocaust are essayed to apply on the contemporary climate catastrophe. Hannah Arendt talks about “collective responsibility” and “personal guilt”, concepts that in the discussion part, when applied on the climate catastrophe and in a better way fits the contemporary situation, inverts to “collective guilt” and “personal responsibility”. The talk of collective guilt tangent the Augustine teaching of original sin where sin is a common heritage from the fall of sin. McFadyen uses original sin to explain the mechanism of the German people during the Holocaust which in many ways are similar to the processes of the climate catastrophe of today.    In the discussion of this study, original sin is used as a model to better understand the fact that people cannot escape guilt in the contemporary situation and to comprehend why people act as they do. The study intends accordingly to in a constructive way contribute with new perspectives on sin, guild and responsibility to the ecological theology of today.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att genom ett möte mellan befrielseteologi, ekoteologi och ekologi bidra till ett teologiskt tänkande och en möjlig attitydförändring inför det klimathot och den förändring som mänskligheten måste genomföra för sin biologiska överlevnads skull. Uppsatsen diskuterar befrielseteologi och förvaltarskap och svarar på frågor om människans uppgift och ansvar, vem människan är i förhållande till skapelsen, vem den förtryckte är idag samt vem som har mandat att föra skapelsens talan.

This thesis addresses the objective of formulating a moral-philosophically credible media ethics by encompassing two main dimensions: the examination of existing media-ethical models and the integration of sustainable arguments through utilizing eco-religious epistemology to overcome identified challenges. By incorporating eco-critical perspectives within the Media ecology tradition, which studies media as environments, the thesis proposes a creative intersection between established media theories and a theological tradition that tackles profound questions about humanity's place in the world. The initial section of the thesis analyzes moral-philosophical concepts within the media ethics frameworks proposed by three ethicists; Susanne Wigorts Yngvesson; Clifford G. Christians and Sandra L. Borden. While all three endorse universal values, they offer distinct frameworks for both understanding the ontology of universals and how these are contextualized in the journalistic community. Christians' moral epistemological theories,particularly regarding the ethics of being and Proto-norms have generated significant controversy and scholarly debate on the necessity and intellectual credibility of defending universal values in media ethics. Critical perspectives from this discourse are presented and evaluated as a complement to the analysis of Christians' media-ethical model. In exploring sustainable moral-philosophical arguments, the thesis suggests that moral claims can exhibit both universal and contextual characteristics. It suggests that a media-ethical model should integrate universal values with a communitarian perspective on journalists'moral responsibility. However, understanding the interplay between the contextual and universal dimensions of ethical values requires engaging in critical moral-philosophical theory. In addition, critical perspectives on technology and ideas of space and time need to be addressed in new ways. Thus, eco-religious epistemology, as advocated by ethicist and theologian Whitney Bauman, is proposed as a creative means to understand moral-philosophical questions regarding space/time, contextualism/universalism, and technology within media ethics.

This thesis explores how hope in relation to the threats to the earth’s biosphere can be formulated theologically. The starting-point is a questioning of hope raised by the French sociologist and anthropologist Bruno Latour. In Facing Gaia. Eight Lectures on the New Climatic Regime (2015) he asks why so little has happened to reduce the emissions of CO2. Parts of his answers relate to the view that hope is preventing action. Since hope is a central part of Christian doctrine, this study lets Latours scepticism meet some eco-theological litterature, mainly representing evangelical, orthodox and radical material theology, and religious naturalism. Since critic against eschatology is important in Latours explanatory model, this theme is discussed together with the possibilities of the church practices of liturgy and eucharistic celebration, especially in relation to the concept of time and space, the latter elaborated by the radical material theologian Petra Carlsson Redell. Although putting different emphasis on an ultimate eschatological hope, all authors stress the importance of acting now. The evangelical authors Daniel Brunner et al. present a strategy “living as if”, practicing restoration of the Earth here and now. In religious naturalism the hope lies in the common biological ground for all humanity and living things, also leading to a caring ethics. In general, relationality and materiality as well as including marginalized voices are important concepts when the authors are formulating environmental ethics and eco-theology.  The concept of hope is shown to be important to define, in order to sort out especially false hope from a possibly fruitful concept: resilient hope. A resilient hope is grounded in Christian discipleship, is adaptive and able to recover. It is in a reciprocal relation to action. To develop a resilient hope I argue that it is important to allow both desperation and hope, since the free moving between the two “poles” can act liberating and enable action. A resilient hope gives space for scepticism since it is grounded in a reality always on the move. It is open for emergence and construction. Christianity has resources to house the space between hope and despair both in central biblical narratives and in bodily practices as liturgy and eucharist. Resilient hope in this thesis is earthbound, withstands being lost, and arises again and again in search for new constructive possibilities.