Because of the centrality of Christ, truly God and truly human, Christian theology regards the understanding of the human as one of its essential tasks. In the wake of environmental concerns, however, the dominant self-understanding of the human is presently being challenged and rethought by Christians. This study is an attempt to contribute to this larger effort of examining the role of the human in Christian theological responses to the ecological "crisis," a question that is surfacing as a paramount concern in this emergent literature. / In this work I examine how the role of the human is an inherent problematic in Christian ecological literature. I review some of the principal categories or paradigms of Christian ecological literature, such as Gaia theory, process theology, new cosmology, ecofeminism, and liberation theology. / All these approaches, I contend, make important contributions to a renewed understanding of human interaction with nature. Yet each model, on its own, seems somewhat incomplete in its portrait of the human. On the one hand, a certain segment of this religious and theological literature diminishes or undervalues the role of the human in our ecological destiny. On the other hand, much of this literature neglects to examine seriously humanity's historical context, which includes economic, political, and social dimensions. / Through a study of these paradigms for approaching the environmental crisis, this work explores the idea that only a theology that views the human agent as a principal actor in both the devastation and reclamation of the life systems of the planet is a viable ecological theology. Such a theology views the human agent in terms of social, economic, political, cultural, moral, as well as ecological transformation in order to confront comprehensively the threats to the planet's ecosystems. With the reading assistance of liberation theology from Latin America, with its emphasis on solidarity, a preferential option for the destitute, and societal transformation, this work raises the possibility of a political theology of the environment, outlining several salient horizons for such a theology.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.34532 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Scharper, Stephen B. |
| Contributors | Baum, Gregory (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Faculty of Religious Studies.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001618680, proquestno: NQ37021, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
Page generated in 0.0021 seconds