18 Christianity, Creation, and the Climate Crisis …
347
approach the bible through a hermeneutic of resistance
3 (Horrell 2010, pp. 13–15).
Environmental interpretations of resistance argue that historic Christianity must learn
how to read the scriptures in light of our contemporary environmental circumstances.
An assumption is made that the bible primarily reflects the interests of humans and
that we should learn to read the scriptures “from the perspective of Earth” (Habel
2000, p. 34). Examples of this approach include the team of the Earth Bible (Habel
2008, 2012), Hilary Marlow’s ‘ecological triangle’ (Marlow 2009), the eco-feminism
of Elaine Wainwright (2006) or the post-colonial interdisciplinary work of Scandinavian scholars Tina Nilsen and Anna Solevåg (2016) that was inspired by the Earth
Charter.
A third option is the revisionist approach. Adherents accept that one cannot avoid
reading the bible through the lens of one’s personal experiences. It attempts to find
a middle ground that is faithful with historic Christianity whilst taking insights from
‘resistant’ scholars and integrate them with progressive perspectives gleaned from
‘recovery’ scholars (Santmire 1985; Horrell 2010, pp. 11–32).
Accepting that all ecotheological positions can be broadly framed within one
of these three perspectives helps contextualise the field of ecotheology. This then
becomes the starting position of this chapter which extends previous research by
building on these three frameworks. This chapter attempts to analyse and synthesise connections between political ideologies and diverse ecotheological interpretations that are essential for effectively engaging different publics towards more
environmentally sympathetic practices.
This chapter is written with a worldview orientation in mind that accepts the bible
as a key revelatory document that complements climate scientific and sociocultural
perspectives (more on this in Sect. 4). The multiple and diverse authorship of the
bible across many centuries offers rich perspectives on the interrelationships between
humanity, the natural world and the realm of the divine. Advocating for a tripartite
model (see Fig. 18.1) that integrates perspectives from the natural or Earth sciences,
social sciences and theological traditions, we argue that all three realms have a vital
contribution to make for effective and sustainable climate change adaptation in the
Pacific Island region and beyond. With this objective in mind, the following section
argues from the perspective that metaphysics and science are inseparably intertwined
and that they conceptually complement, rather than displace or eclipse each other.
3 Inspired by feminist theologians, scholars adopt three principles of suspicion, identification and
retrieval (Habel 2012, p. 97) that shape ‘ecojustice’. Accordingly, eco-justice theologians suspect
that the Earth is likely to be treated as an object (anthropocentric perspective), identify that an
‘Earth perspective’ means seeing humanity as interlinked with, and not separate from, the exploited
cosmos, and, retrieve the voice of the Earth that has been hidden in the gaps and silences of the
bible. There is also an alternative version of the resistant approach, one which resists the resistants.
It tends to be found in popular Christian literature and usually claims an overt biblicism and refuses
to bow to any perceived cultural pressure applied by an environmental agenda. Concerns are often
raised about New Age spiritualities coming in through the back door of environmentalism or that
natural disasters and signs of earthly decay should be celebrated as signals that the ‘End Times’ are
near. These types of approaches were particularly evident in popular books such as Hal Lindsey’s
The Late Great Planet Earth or the Left Behind novels of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (Horrell
2010, pp. 14–16).
347
approach the bible through a hermeneutic of resistance
3 (Horrell 2010, pp. 13–15).
Environmental interpretations of resistance argue that historic Christianity must learn
how to read the scriptures in light of our contemporary environmental circumstances.
An assumption is made that the bible primarily reflects the interests of humans and
that we should learn to read the scriptures “from the perspective of Earth” (Habel
2000, p. 34). Examples of this approach include the team of the Earth Bible (Habel
2008, 2012), Hilary Marlow’s ‘ecological triangle’ (Marlow 2009), the eco-feminism
of Elaine Wainwright (2006) or the post-colonial interdisciplinary work of Scandinavian scholars Tina Nilsen and Anna Solevåg (2016) that was inspired by the Earth
Charter.
A third option is the revisionist approach. Adherents accept that one cannot avoid
reading the bible through the lens of one’s personal experiences. It attempts to find
a middle ground that is faithful with historic Christianity whilst taking insights from
‘resistant’ scholars and integrate them with progressive perspectives gleaned from
‘recovery’ scholars (Santmire 1985; Horrell 2010, pp. 11–32).
Accepting that all ecotheological positions can be broadly framed within one
of these three perspectives helps contextualise the field of ecotheology. This then
becomes the starting position of this chapter which extends previous research by
building on these three frameworks. This chapter attempts to analyse and synthesise connections between political ideologies and diverse ecotheological interpretations that are essential for effectively engaging different publics towards more
environmentally sympathetic practices.
This chapter is written with a worldview orientation in mind that accepts the bible
as a key revelatory document that complements climate scientific and sociocultural
perspectives (more on this in Sect. 4). The multiple and diverse authorship of the
bible across many centuries offers rich perspectives on the interrelationships between
humanity, the natural world and the realm of the divine. Advocating for a tripartite
model (see Fig. 18.1) that integrates perspectives from the natural or Earth sciences,
social sciences and theological traditions, we argue that all three realms have a vital
contribution to make for effective and sustainable climate change adaptation in the
Pacific Island region and beyond. With this objective in mind, the following section
argues from the perspective that metaphysics and science are inseparably intertwined
and that they conceptually complement, rather than displace or eclipse each other.
3 Inspired by feminist theologians, scholars adopt three principles of suspicion, identification and
retrieval (Habel 2012, p. 97) that shape ‘ecojustice’. Accordingly, eco-justice theologians suspect
that the Earth is likely to be treated as an object (anthropocentric perspective), identify that an
‘Earth perspective’ means seeing humanity as interlinked with, and not separate from, the exploited
cosmos, and, retrieve the voice of the Earth that has been hidden in the gaps and silences of the
bible. There is also an alternative version of the resistant approach, one which resists the resistants.
It tends to be found in popular Christian literature and usually claims an overt biblicism and refuses
to bow to any perceived cultural pressure applied by an environmental agenda. Concerns are often
raised about New Age spiritualities coming in through the back door of environmentalism or that
natural disasters and signs of earthly decay should be celebrated as signals that the ‘End Times’ are
near. These types of approaches were particularly evident in popular books such as Hal Lindsey’s
The Late Great Planet Earth or the Left Behind novels of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (Horrell
2010, pp. 14–16).