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Contemporary Theology, Joseph Okello

Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Humans Rule? Implications Of Religious Undergraduates’ Changing Environmental Perceptions, J. Robert Nielson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Addressing climate change requires correctly appraising one’s ethic toward the Earth. Historically, people have navigated their relationship to the natural world via environmental ethics of both religious and secular origin. Aldo Leopold described developing this relationship via the land ethic, a culturally informed process, as “an evolutionary possibility and an ecological necessity.” A land ethic provides a reference point from which individuals and societies make decisions about the Earth and its resources. This thesis considers the evolving land ethic of a young population of conservative Christian students at Brigham Young University with two separate cohorts of non-biology major undergraduates enrolled …

Service-Learning For Teachers/Exegetes: A Postcolonial Avenue For Biblical Sustainability Education, Maricel S. Ibita

Theology Department Faculty Publications

While textual excavation mainstreams biblical scholarship, studies on biblical pedagogies for social justice have also proliferated. In Activism, Bible, and Research-based Teaching (2024), the contributors expound on their biblical research and activism in areas of disability studies, gender-sexuality, community grounding and university pedagogies, Judaeophobia, climate change, etc. Although the book mentioned sustainable development, there is no discussion yet of “education for sustainable development”. In this study, I will briefly present the debate on education for sustainability (EfS), especially in relation to faith-based organizations, including educational institutions. Next, I will delve into the participative, community-based methodology of service-learning and its limits, …

“The Atmosphere That Supports Life On Earth”: An Ecocritical Approach To Tolkien’S Arda, Elizabeth Anne Turello

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Ecocriticism speaks to the relationship between the environment and literature, a progressively vital topic of discussion. What is often overlooked, however, is the necessity of the theory’s applicability to stories of speculative fiction; that is, ones existing outside the realm of the real world or, as is the case with the father of modern-day fantasy J.R.R. Tolkien, a mythology set in the ancient days of our world (“Arda”). At first, it may seem contradictory to learn about our surroundings through fictionalized ones seemingly irrelevant to Earth’s own; this apparent contradiction is not valid, though, as the relationship between humans and …

Toward A Broader Theocentric Environmentalism, Melvin L. Otey

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Deconstructing And Expanding Gender Roles: Theological Reflections On Women And Local Disaster Response, Rachel Joyce Marie O. Sanchez, Stephanie Ann Y. Puen

Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture

The situation of women during and after local disasters may, at first, seem unrelated to feminist theology, but this article argues that a critical reflection on the matter helps the Church further understand the relationship between men, women, and the rest of creation. In the context of two Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) documents entitled “What is Happening to Our Beautiful Land?” (1988) and “Upholding the Sanctity of Life” (2008), this article will analyze and articulate the gender ideologies that seem to underpin how women and nature are understood, using the reflections on the situation of women in …

Conserving The Public Lands: Policy And Spatial Analysis Of A Bureau Of Land Management Conservation Leasing Mechanism, Isaiah M. Menning

Environmental Studies Senior Theses

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the largest land administrator in the United States, managing about 10% of U.S. lands, primarily in the Western states. The BLM manages under a multiple-use framework, issuing commercial authorizations for grazing, mining, oil and gas, and wind and solar on public lands, while also managing for ecosystem health. In April 2024, the agency finalized a rule that would create a conservation leasing mechanism to allow private, state, and tribal parties to lease BLM lands for restoration and mitigation purposes, which I investigate here. First, I find that while the conservation leasing mechanism does …

When Planetary Cosmopolitanism Meets The Buddhist Ethic: Recycling, Karma And Popular Ecology In Singapore, Siew Ying Shee, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

By thinking with and through Buddhist cosmology, this paper explores the emergence of an ethical sensibility—what we call planetary cosmopolitanism—that is based on not just a spatially expanded ethic of care to ecological worlds, but also a temporally extended sense of justice to the future Earth. This transtemporal sense of ethical becoming reflects how the possibility of future ‘rebirth’ and accountability for past actions can motivate new ecological consciousness in the present. We forge these ideas through an empirical focus on popular Buddhist ecological practices in Singapore, where green recovery visions have primarily been driven by a secular and technocratic …

Losing And Finding Braj: Commodification And Entrepreneurship In The Sacred Land Of Krishna, Leena Taneja

All Works

Braj is a sacred place revered by Bengali Vaishnavas, followers of the bhakti sect of Vaishnavism, one of four branches of Hindu devotion. Followers of the sect worship the God Krishna, who it is believed manifested in Braj and carried out many divine feats and activities that are imprinted onto the land. Braj today is dotted with thousands of holy shrines, temples and natural places connected to Krishna. Devotees connect to Krishna through the landscape of Braj; it is where the transcendental and the physical realms meet. Braj has been transformed in a multitude of ways with the influx of …

Foundations And Principles Of A Reframed Consistent Ethic Of Life, Anatoly Angelo R. Aseneta

Landas

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin’s Consistent Ethic of Life (CEL) is a moral vision that can be used to uphold the value and dignity of human life consistently in all its stages and circumstances. However, it must be reframed to acknowledge the new ways in which life is threatened today; these include the modern ecological crisis of our common home. This essay seeks to paint a more concrete picture of a reframed CEL. The first part rebuilds the original foundations of Bernardin’s moral vision in light of the crisis of our common home. The second part identifies and reframes principles from Catholic …

Red Wolf Multispecies Justice Publication 2023, Eskar, Elizabeth Bennett, Finley Schad, Alex Baldwin, Oluwaseyifunmi Adejugbe, Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, Maisie Schad, Sadie Braddock, Azra Soyer, Melih Soyer, Anne-Laure Blanche, Zubair Barkat, Amol K, Sarah Ann Woodbury, Kirsten Vinyeta

Publications

Our understanding of multispecies justice is still solidifying. In spring 2023, a group of Utah State University undergraduate and graduate students attended a course by Dr.Kirsten Vinyeta on Multispecies Justice and Indigenous Approaches to the Environment. Throughout this course, we studied the works of scholars and writers from a variety of social locations and identities who challenge Western theoretical frameworks in social science.

This publication celebrates our intellectual struggle with this emerging field and opens a forum for conversations about justice for humans and additional species. This issue features various writings, reflections, and photos from students taking the Multispecies Justice …

The Modern Wesley Class Meeting - Bringing Accountability, Practical Faith, And Personal Connection Into Established Local Congregations, Roger Graham Clayton Jr

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

This paper is an attempt to resurrect the Wesleyan class meeting in to the modern day congregation in order to build stronger and more vibrant communities. By examining the historical footprint of the class meeting in Wesley's Britain and the beginning of the American experiment, the core attributes of the class meeting are extracted to be accountability, vulnerability, and practical faith.

This paper also attempts to show that these core principles of the class meeting are still present in the modern world outside of the church to great success within the military, non-denominational faith groups, and in the battle against …

Rooted In The Earth: An Igbo Sacramental Nature Of The Universe, A Model For Igbo Christian Ecological Ethics, Kenneth Oguzie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The contemporary Igbo society faces a lot of challenges. These include political, religious, and moral crises. These crises affect the environment in many ways. They threaten the peace and harmony of the Igbo society. As a result, it touches on faith. The Igbo society holds a holistic view of life. Whatever affects one aspect of life affects the other areas. Ecologically, various factors are responsible for the crises. These include changes in lifestyle from the traditional way of living to modern style of life with its penchant on consumerism. Also, colonialism and its lingering residues, civil unrests, politics, population growth, …

Editorial: Re-Purposing Universities For Sustainable Human Progress, Iain S. Stewart, Victoria Hurth, Stephen Sterling

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Editorial on the Research TopicRe-Purposing Universities for Sustainable Human ProgressHumanity is confronting the most acute and urgent threat it has ever consciously faced. Soaring inequality, accelerating climate crises, ecological collapse, and social and psychological breakdown represent a multi-faceted socio-ecological crisis that is threatening viability of life on Earth. The undeniable evidence of this is fueling a growing global recognition that something has gone badly wrong with the ways in which our society has sought to optimize its wellbeing and that of non-human life which it brings into its ethical sphere of care. But what is the culpability of universities in …

Urban Sustainability Through Science, Literature, And Art, Asha Griffith

HHE 167: The Nature of the City, 2022

No abstract provided.

Human As Animals - Pluralizing Humans, Karen Bradshaw

Utah Law Review

Species-based inequality is embedded in our institutions of law, government, and property. Legal distinctions between people and animals drive biodiversity loss. Recent environmental movements—including the rights of nature, animal rights, and wildlife property ownership—seek to lessen the gap in law’s unequal treatment of humans and other living things. Despite growing popular support for such reforms, legal scholars have yet to directly grapple with the mindset underlying the legal status quo.

This Article identifies and challenges institutionalized speciesism in law. It critically examines the legal treatment of non-human animals. It also presents an alternative legal worldview—one informed by scientific, cultural, and …

Review: Jedediah S. Rogers And Matthew C. Godfrey, Eds. The Earth Will Appear As The Garden Of Eden: Essays On Mormon Environmental History. Salt Lake City: University Of Utah Press, 2019., Camden Burd

Mormon Studies Review

The Earth Will Appear as the Garden of Eden: Essays on Mormon Environmental History fits into an established trend in environmental history. Over the past decades, historians from Lynn White Jr. to Mark R. Stoll have established the religious roots of environmental change in human history.1 Like those scholars, the contributors to this collection seek to understand the complicated and interconnected relationship between theology, faith, and the natural world. Divided across three sections, The Earth Will Appear as the Garden of Eden provides a much-welcomed examination of the environmental aspects of Mormon theology, culture, and history.

The Green Gītā: Connecting Ontology, Soteriology, And Environmental Ethics, Supratik Sen

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

No abstract provided.

The Covid-19 Pandemic And Religious Travel: Present And Future Trends, Daniel H. Olsen, Dallen Timothy

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has had dramatic effects on both the health and economic stability of countries around the world. While several scholars and media commentators have suggested that the pandemic would be a good time to reset an unsustainable tourism system, left out of these discussions has been the impacts on religion and religious travel. The purpose of this paper is to review the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on religion and religious travel, including the tensions that have arisen between religious communities, governments and health officials. The paper then discusses potential futures regarding religious travel in a …

Towards A Green Diapraxis: Experiences And Reflections From An Interfaith Journey, Einar Tjelle

Consensus

The article explores the increased cooperation and dynamic learning between religions during the last decades, on the themes of climate, environment and sustanability. Examples are given from a Norwegian interfaith context, but with global links as well. This cooperation has broadened the scope and perspectives of churches and religions. Contextual and holistic approaches have emerged as fruits of this mutual learning and exchange, the author claims. Pope Francis` encyclical Laudato Si` has captured important parts of this development with its strong message of interconnectedness and moral responsibility. It has also stimulated a wider religious and interfaith global commitment to Mother …

Ascetical Practice And Ignatian Pedagogy For Sustainability: Tools For Teaching Sustainable Living, James Leighter, John O'Keefe

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Inspired by Laudato Sí, we outline an application of the Ignatian Pedagogy for Sustainability to our course, Sustainable Practice: The Examined Life. We describe the development of the course in the context a new undergraduate program in the College of Arts and Sciences at Creighton University. In the course, we draw from the notion of ascetical practice, an approach for students as they strive for incorporating more sustainable practices into their daily living. We concentrate on four domains of asceticism: attention, sustenance, materials, and energy. Additionally, we argue that mindfulness through meditation is a necessary activity for students pursuing …

Spera: 2019, Hope College

Spera

Yearly publication that serves as a "spotlight on faculty research and scholarly work".

Telaah Kritis Terhadap Pendekatan Ekoteologi Dalam Upaya Pelestarian Hewan Liar Di Minahasa, Glenn Allen Tielung, Tony Rudyansjah

Antropologi Indonesia

The environmental theology approach, known as ecotheology, attempts to make people aware of their actions towards the natural environment through a theological framework. Its basic assumption departs from the idea that the dogma of hierarchical construction of the universe is the dominant factor in influencing ethical relation between humans and the natural world surrounding them. Within the framework of the dogma, humans are given a special mandate to maintain other creations. This article argues that ecotheology’s approach in conserving wild animals in Minahasa is still trapped in the ontological model of dualism. It is characterized by humans’ special status compared …

"Do What You Do In The Wisdom Of God": Theological Resources For Quaker Ecological Action In The Writings Of George Fox (Chapter One Of Quakers, Creation Care, And Sustainability), Rebecca Artinian-Kaiser, Cherice Bock

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

In a time when intentional action to care for our planet is of increasing importance, Friends drafted the Kabarak Call for Peace and Ecojustice (2012) to call Quakers to ecological action as an expression of faithfulness. The following work represents one starting point for drawing Friends' awareness to the theology and practice of early Friends in relation to creation by exploring the writings of George Fox. In this essay, we examine Fox's use of the motif of "wisdom," his view of the connection between wisdom and creation, his understanding and experience of the Word of wisdom (that is, Christ), and …

Eucharist As Fruit Of The Earth And The Environmental Degradation In The Niger Delta: Implication Of Louis Mariechauvet’S Tripartite Cycle Of Gift, Reception And Return Gift For An Ecological Conversion, Michael Edomobi

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

There is a heightened global consciousness now more than ever before on the protection of the environment. Of late is the encyclical letter Laudato si of Pope Francis on care for our common home. The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is the context of my research. This region is endowed with massive oil deposits, which have been extracted for decades by the government of Nigeria and by multinational oil companies, at the expense of the people of the region whose environment suffer degradation and their means of livelihood destroyed. This study juxtaposes Eucharist as fruit of the earth and the …

A Phenomenological Study: The Quest For God In An Epoch Of Distraction, Todd Marcy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Distraction happens to everyone at some point in time. Diverted attention while driving can have serious consequences, and being sidetracked while talking on the cellphone can cause one to forget where the car keys were laid down at home. Distraction at church during a worship service can affect one’s relationship with God and others. Personal motivations, pre-existing conditions, and duration of time contribute to how a person will interact with a disturbance of attention; likewise, factors of biology, technology, values, and mores can influence the power of partial attention. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to examine the lived …

Catholic Tradition, And The New Catholic Theology And Social Teaching On The Environment, Robert W. Lannan

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Building A Relationship With The Earth: Humans And Ecology In Genesis 1-3, Stephen Grosse

Denison Journal of Religion

Grosse reimagines the relationship between 21st century Christians and nature by doing a close analysis of Genesis 1-3. While these chapters have long been used to prove that humans have dominion over the earth and can use it as they see fit, Grosse argues that a closer look at the language used by the Genesis writers provides a far different picture. In fact, he claims that this analysis results in a challenge issued to those invested in the Genesis story to treat the earth with respect and care.

Grosse's close reading of Genesis 1, the creation of the earth, shows …

"Social Love" As A Vision For Environmental Law: Laudato Si' And The Rule Of Law, Lucia A. Silecchia

Liberty University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Greening Of Faith: God, The Environment, And The Good Life (20th Anniversary Edition), John E. Carroll, Paul Brockelman, Mary Westfall

University of New Hampshire Press: Open Access Books

The recent release of Pope Francis’s much-discussed encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, has reinforced environmental issues as also moral and spiritual issues. This anthology, twenty years ahead of the encyclical but very much in line with its agenda, offers essays by fifteen philosophers, theologians, and environmentalists who argue for a response to ecology that recognizes the tools of science but includes a more spiritual approach—one with a more humanistic, holistic view based on inherent reverence toward the natural world. Writers whose orientations range from Buddhism to evangelical Christianity to Catholicism to Native American …