The overall goal of the course is for students to see that creation care is not an “issue” the church has the option to take up or not. Caring for creation goes to the heart of our human vocation announced in Genesis 2 – namely, to till and keep the garden of creation. We are created in the image of God who planted a garden. Creation is God’s garden. How we care for it speaks clearly about whether or not we understand ourselves to be creatures made in the image of God the Gardener, and whether we see our world and our life as gifts from God to be protected, shared, and celebrated. The church, understood as the practical site for the formation of the people of God, simply must incorporate the care of creation in its life and mission.
Description & Purpose:
It is now virtually impossible to deny that creation is being degraded and destroyed by humans. The scope and speed of the destruction are unprecedented in human history. As a modern environmental consciousness developed in America, however, it was (and continues to be) customary to blame churches for the destruction. Indeed, the scriptural command “to subdue and dominate the earth” has been understood by many inside and outside the church to legitimate exploitation.
Various theologians, biblical scholars, and church leaders have worked hard over the past several decades to show that scripture (and church traditions) have a positive and compelling vision for creation’s care. This is a vision that has been slow in the making, but even slower in the implementation: the sad reality is that many congregations in their proclamation and practices are still wedded to economic patterns and priorities that degrade creation. Fortunately, there are bright spots here and there that show how creation care can be a vital and integral part of the church’s overall mission.
This course will develop a multi-faceted approach to developing and implementing a vision for the church’s care of creation. It will include an analysis of history, scriptural traditions, theological reflection, denominational statements and resolutions, and cultural critique, all with the overall aim of crafting practices for creation’s and humanity’s healing. By semester’s end, students will be able to articulate several models of creation care – stewardship, virtue, ecclesial, priesthood, agrarian, monastic, indigenous, and liberation – and be able to show how these models might be put to work in diverse church settings like education, preaching, liturgy, mission and outreach.
Required Texts:
- Steven Bouma-Prediger. For the Beauty of the Earth (Baker, 2nd Edition) – SBP
- Gordon W. Lathrop. Holy Ground: A Liturgical Cosmology (Fortress) – GWL
- Elizabeth Theokritoff. Living in God’s Creation: Orthodox Perspectives on Ecology (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press) – ET
- Sarah McFarland Taylor. Green Sisters (Harvard) – SMT
- Randy Woodley. Shalom and the Community of Creation (Eerdmans) – RW
- Norman Wirzba. The Paradise of God: Renewing Religion in an Ecological Age (Oxford) – NW
Recommended Texts:
Bill McKibben. Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet (Times Books) – BM
Course Schedule:
Week 1– Introductions; The State of Creation (SBP 1-2; NW Introduction)
Week 2– Thinking about Nature and/or Creation (ET 1, NW 1-2)
Week 3– The Stewardship Approach (RJB 1-2, 11-12, 26; NW 4)
Week 4– The Virtue Approach (SBP 5-6)
Week 5– The Priesthood Approach (RJB 24; ET, 2-3, 5-6)
Week 6– An Agrarian Approach (NW 3, 5; Berry essays)
Week 7– Learning from Women Monastics (SMT)
Week 8– A Liberation Approach (Boff 104-139)
Week 9– An Indigenous Approach (RW 1, 4-8)
Week 10– A Liturgical Context (GWL 1-6, ET 4)
Week 11– Preaching and Teaching (GWL 7-9)
Week 12– The Church’s Mission (SBP 8, ET Conclusion)