The purpose of this course is to introduce students to aspects and dimensions of the socioecological crisis; to help them reflect theologically and ethically on socioecological problems; to develop or enhance their particular faith tradition’s theoretical and practical engagement with socioecological issues; to provide knowledge of the intersection of ecology and economics, and political and public policy implications of this relationship; and to formulate public policy possibilities and practical projects to address and propose solutions for socioecological problems.
John Hart
Boston University School of Theology
Course Objectives
The course will provide the setting for students to consider:
- multiple forms of socioecological problems and ethical issues in each;
- implications of the central affirmations of the Christian faith for the formation of socioecological ethics;
- the nature of Christian love and justice in socioecological contexts;
- current national and international policy debates on socioecological concerns;
- potential directions for public policy that are theologically, ethically, socially, ecologically, economically, and strategically coherent;
- the present and possible future role of the churches in responding to socioecological concerns.
The class format will include opening lectures by the instructor on the reading(s) of the day and related topics; and student written and oral presentation of responses to the readings.
Reaction Papers (TS 829: 3 pages each; TS 929: 5 pages each):
Prior written preparation of points for discussion—questions, or critiques or affirmations of the readings–submitted for class sessions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, on the day of each session.
Reflection Paper (TS 829: 7 pages; TS 929: 11 pages):
Student analysis of and interaction with two of the scholars studied, focused on one theme common to the two authors. The paper should reveal the participants’ positions on the issue, their complementary perspectives, their expressed or implied critique of the other’s position, and a proposed resolution of points of disagreement and integration of points of agreement.
Research Paper (TS 829: 18-20 pages; TS 929: 23-25 pages):
A constructive/creative statement and analysis of ecological teachings from a student’s faith tradition: an examination of the tradition’s biblical, theological, and/or ethical basis for ecological responsibility, an exploration of its potential for catalyzing ecological responsibility among its members and for impacting public policy, and student suggestions for needed supplementary material in the faith tradition’s teachings, with supporting justification. The paper should engage at least four of the authors of the required texts as “conversation partners” with their faith tradition’s ecological teachings.
Course Structure Overview
The course is divided into three basic parts: first, consideration of the perspectives of three ethicists (Hart, Rasmussen, Nash) from different Christian denominations, and of the internationally developed, socioecologically visionary Earth Charter; second, relation of those perspectives to ecological, political, economic, and pastoral issues in diverse social settings, via stimulating case studies; and third, development of student perspectives on ecological ethics that represent their individual reflections and commitments, their considered reflection on course readings, and their engagement with Christian socioecological ethics as a whole, and with a particular faith tradition within the field. Students should be formulating the third part as they interact in the first and second parts with the texts, the course professor, and each other.
Course Texts
Earth Charter (2000). Pdf. [www.earthcharter.org]
Gudorf, Christine E., and James E. Huchingson (2010). Boundaries. A Casebook in Environmental Ethics, Second Edition. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press
Hart, John (2004). What Are They Saying About Environmental Theology? Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press
(2008). “The Poor of the Planet and the Planet of the Poor,” University of St. Thomas Law Journal (Environmental Law issue), Vol. 5, No. 1, 144-182
Stivers, Laura A., Christine E. Gudorf, and James B. Martin-Schramm (2012). Christian Environmental Ethics. A Case Method Approach, Fourth Edition. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books
Nash, James A. (1991). Loving Nature: Ecological Integrity and Christian Responsibility. Nashville: Abingdon Press
Rasmussen, Larry L. (1996). Earth Community Earth Ethics. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books
Rockefeller, Steven C. (2015). Democratic Equality, Economic Inequality, and the Earth Charter. [pdf] [www.earthcharter.org]
Course Schedule
1. Introduction to the course and ecological issues. Discussion of ‘Christian guilt’ for the ecological crisis (Lynn White, Jr.). Selected biblical insights on Earth as creation and commons: Genesis 1, Wisdom 13:5, Matthew 25:31-46, Acts 2:42-47. Sacramental (revelatory) universe and sacramental (revelatory) commons. Pantheism and panentheism. Pope Francis I.
2. The development of environmental and ecological thought in the Catholic Christian tradition, 1: International and regional “official” perspectives
Reading: Hart, Intro., Chapters 1-3
Discussion: Why Church Earth documents? What might be developed further?
Reaction Paper 1 is due.
3. The development of environmental and ecological thought in the Catholic Christian tradition, 2: Individual insights; additional considerations for theology and ethics; community projects
Reading: Hart, Chapters 4-7
Discussion: Which insights were particularly helpful, and why? Which projects?
Reaction Paper 2 is due.
4. Earth issues in context. Analysis of pressing problems and initial proposals for resolving them
Reading: Rasmussen, Part I
Discussion: Which problems were particularly striking, and why? How overwhelming do the problems appear? How might you and your faith tradition respond to them?
Reaction Paper 3 is due.
5. Respect for Earth as creation and as the context of biotic existence; hope for Earth’s future
Reading: Rasmussen, Part II
Discussion: Which of Rasmussen’s themes seem most appropriate to your faith tradition, based on your experience and study to this point? Why?
Reaction Paper 4 is due.
6. Recognizing Earth community; renewing Earth ethics; realizing Earth visions
Reading: Rasmussen, Part III
Discussion: Which projects/practices described by Rasmussen seem applicable for Christians in the social contexts with which you are familiar?
Reaction Paper 5 is due.
7. Ethical Concerns in the Ecological Crisis: (1) Pollution, Climate Change, Ozone Depletion; (2) Resource Exhaustion, Overpopulation, and Resource Maldistribution; (3) Dangers to Biodiversity, “Ecological Virtues”; (4) Theoretical and contextual engagement of Christian theology and ecology; ecological love
Readings: (1) Nash, pp.11-39; (2) Nash, 40-54; (3) Nash, 54-67; (4) Nash, 68-161
Discussion: How would the ideas and insights of Hart, Rasmussen, and Nash intersect on selected ecological issues? How do or might Christian churches address these issues?
8. Christian ecological ethics and public policy
Reading: Nash, pp. 162-217
Discussion: How would the ideas and insights of Hart, Rasmussen, and Nash intersect on these and other political issues and public policies?
Reaction Paper 6 is due.
9. Human Rights, Economic Systems, and Ecology: Theory and Practice
Reading: Earth Charter
Discussion: Are the EC’s analysis, considerations, and proposals too idealistic for, or a reasonable challenge to “business as usual” in reflections on ecological and economic wellbeing?
Reaction Paper 7 is due.
10. Renewing the Earth: Common Good on Common Ground
Reading: Rockefeller
Discussion: How might Nash and Rasmussen react/respond to Rockefeller’s insights?
Reaction Paper 8 is due.
Reflection Paper is due:
American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting. Research Day
Prepare a two-page outline focused on one of the three areas to be discussed.
Select one of the following:
A. Environmental ethics case studies 1: (1) Setting the theological ethical foundation; (2) Issues: water, forests, habitat.
Readings: (1) Gudorf & Huchingson, chapter 1, Appendix; Martin-Schramm & Stivers, Intro., chapters 1-3; (2) G&H, chapters 2, 8, 5; M-S &S, chapters 7,8, 5, 6
Discussion: How would the ideas and insights of Hart, Rasmussen, Nash, and Rockefeller/EC intersect on these issues? How do or might Christian churches address these issues?
B. Environmental ethics case studies 2: Issues: stewardship, energy
Readings: G&H, chapters 4, 7, 10, 12, 6; M-S & S, chapters 4, 9, 10
Discussion: How would the ideas and insights of Hart, Rasmussen, Nash, and Rockefeller/EC intersect on these issues? How do or might Christian churches address these issues?
C. Environmental ethics case studies 3: Issues: pollution, bio-alteration, desertification.
Readings: G&H, chapters 3, 11, 13, 9; M-S & S, chapters 11, 12
Discussion: How would the ideas and insights of Hart, Rasmussen, Nash, and Rockefeller/EC intersect on these issues? How do or might Christian churches address these issues?
Presentation of Research Papers
Collaborative Research Paper
The research paper should demonstrate the extent to which the researchers have met course objectives. At least five of those objectives should be cited in the paper’s elaboration of a particular problem and proposed Christian churches’ efforts to resolve it. The paper should explore and engage a contemporary ethical-ecological-social issue from a Christian base and in relation to civic community and political process. The paper should include consideration and resolution of harms to humankind, other species, and Earth, while incorporating socioecological ethics which integrates social justice for human communities with biotic and abiotic well-being.
Method:
1. Socioecological Analysis
Description of the ecological issue utilizing, as appropriate, data from natural sciences; social sciences; historical traditions; past and present community insights; existing laws; and potential resistance to data: by whom, and for what reasons.
2. Socioecological Ethical Reflection
Consideration of socioecological impacts of the issue in context. Discussion of relevant ethical insights from Christian traditions and sources, and reflection on applicable socioecological praxis ethics principles. Discussion of generally applicable core, nonnegotiable ethical principles that would be retained, and negotiable principles (perhaps previously thought nonnegotiable) that could be adapted to context. Collaborative development of proposed socioecological praxis ethics for this issue and place, which might be appropriate for contextual consideration for other issues and places: reflection on generally applicable ethical principles, prioritization of principles, and selection of appropriate prioritized principles for this issue in this situation, providing rationale for selection and prioritization.
3. Socioecological Vision
Projection of desired future outcomes if selected socioecological ethical principles were engaged in this context to rectify the present socio-ecological situation of injustice toward biota (including human communities) and Earth. Vision of characteristics, consciousness, and conduct of humankind in a future context in which the current issue and conflicts have been resolved.
4. Socioecological Project
Propose concrete efforts, “on the ground,” to effect social change through resolution of the particular issue explored. Elaboration of anticipated actions that would engage people of faith and members of the broader community in selected places to realize the projected vision through concrete contextualization of ethical principles in historical projects, in a local place or bioregion, for religious entities and the broader human community.
Process:
- Develop a group of 2-3 students who will work individually and collaboratively on a selected issue.
- Determine necessary research areas and divide them among members of the group.
- Discuss each of the four sections together; determine your ethical position(s) and the content of each section.
- Decide on particular writing responsibilities: for each section; for final editing.
- Designate students’ respective responsibilities for class presentation.
- Submit jointly developed four-page outline by November 8.
Technical Requirements:
- Submission of four-page research paper outline (topic; individual or team paper; initial proposed title and four-part content) via email to the course professor.
Outline Due:
- Length: MS Word, Times New Roman 12 pt. font (individual paper: TS 829: 17-20 pages; TS 929: 20-25 pages; collaborative paper: TS 829: 18-22 pages; TS 929: 26-30 pages). [Minimum requirement.: 2p Intro; 3p per section; 2p concluding comments; 1p bibliography.]
- Grading is based on breadth and depth of understanding of the issue; integration of course objectives and course materials, and 5-7 supplementary sources; coherence and consistency of presentation; equitable balance of competing perspectives; creativity of responses to issue; spelling and grammatical accuracy.
- All materials used verbatim must have quotation marks and/or other proper attribution; plagiarism is a serious offense meriting a serious response in accord with STH policies.
- Research Paper Due for in-class presentation and discussion.
Course Professor: Summary Bio for this Course
John Hart, Ph.D. is Professor of Christian Ethics at Boston University School of Theology. His published books include: Encountering ETI: Aliens in Avatar and the Americas (Cascade Books, 2014); Cosmic Commons: Spirit, Science, and Space (Cascade Books, 2013); Sacramental Commons: Christian Ecological Ethics (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006); What Are They Saying About…Environmental Theology? (Paulist Press, 2004); Ethics and Technology: Innovation and Transformation in Community Contexts (Pilgrim Press, 1997); and The Spirit of the Earth — A Theology of the Land (Paulist Press, 1984). He is Editor of The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Religion and Ecology (Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK, 2016). He has written chapters for five edited books, and has more than one hundred published articles and essays. He was Director of the Midwestern Catholic bishops’ 12-state Heartland Project, and editor and principal writer of their land statement, Strangers and Guests: Toward Community in the Heartland (1980). He wrote the draft of Pope John Paul II’s homily on land stewardship presented at Living History Farms near Des Moines, Iowa (1979). He has worked with native peoples’ spiritual leaders and human rights activists; been a Member of the Delegation of the International Indian Treaty Council (a Non-Governmental Organization accredited to the United Nations) to the U.N. International Human Rights Commission, Geneva, Switzerland (1987, 1990); been an invited Observer at the World Conference of Indigenous Peoples, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil while participating in the United Nations Earth Summit (1992); and invited to testify at the Rosebud Reservation (South Dakota) Consultation (2012) of the UN Special Rapporteur on fulfillment of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007). He was the Project Writer and a member of the Steering Committee for the Western U.S. and Canada Catholic bishops’ bioregional pastoral letter, The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good (2001), on the ethics, economics, and ecology of the region; on behalf of this project he received a “Sacred Gift for a Living Planet Award” (2000) in Bhaktapur, Nepal from the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), presented by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
His involvement with the Earth Charter includes as a participant in the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Center meeting on Benchmark II (Geneva, Switzerland, 1999); the “Earth Charter Ethics Seminar,” as one of 25 invited scholars from four continents (Pocantico Conference Center, New York, 2002); the delegation to Urbino, Italy for planning meetings (2002); and the Earth Charter +5 conference in Amsterdam (2005). Internationally known for his work in social ethics and environmental ethics, he has given more than two hundred presentations on five continents: in eight nations and thirty-five U.S. states. In 2009, he went “from Patriarch to Parliament”: he was an invited speaker for Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I’s Mississippi River Symposium in New Orleans, and for the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia.
SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS 1: Church Documents
Students will research Church ecology-related documents from within their particular faith tradition and/or geographic area. A bibliography-in-progress will be developed from these documents as a faith-based ecological foundation for students in the current and future classes.
SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS 2: Works in the Field
Adams, Carol J., ed. Ecofeminism and the Sacred. New York: Continuum, 1994.
Attfield, Robin. The Ethics of Environmental Concern. 2nd ed. Athens GA: U. of Georgia Press, 1991.
Barbour, Ian G. Ethics in an Age of Technology. The Gifford Lectures, Vol. 2. San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1993.
Benyus, Janine M. Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. New York: Willliam Morrow, 1997.
Bernstein, Ellen, ed. Ecology and the Jewish Spirit: Where Nature and the Sacred Meet. Woodstock VT: Jewish Lights, 1997.
Berry, Thomas. The Dream of the Earth. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1988.
The Great Work: Our Way into the Future. New York: Bell Tower, 1999.
Boff, Leonardo. Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997
Bormann, F. Herbert and Stephen R. Kellert, ed. Ecology, Economics, Ethics. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991.
Bouma-Prediger, Steven. The Greening of Theology: The Ecological Models of Rosemary Radford Ruether, Joseph Sittler, and Jurgen Moltmann. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995.
For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001.
Bratton, Susan Power. Six Billion and More: Human Population Regulation and Christian Ethics. Louisville KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1992.
Brueggeman, Walter. The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith. Revised Edition. Series: Overtures for Biblical Theology. Augsburg, 2002.
Bullard, Robert D. Dumping in Dixie–Race, Class, and Environmental Quality. 3rd Edition. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000
Carroll, John E., Paul Brockelman, and Mary Westfall. The Greening of Faith: God, the Environment, and the Good Life. Hanover: University Press of New England, 1997.
Chapman, Audrey R., Rodney L. Petersen, and Barbara Smith-Moran, ed. Consumption, Population, and Sustainability: Perspectives from Science and Religion. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2000.
Chapple, Christopher Key and Mary Evelyn Tucker, eds. Hinduism and Ecology: The Intersection of Earth, Sky, and Water. Series: Religions of the World and Ecology, Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000.
Christiansen, Drew and Walter Grazer, ed. “And God Saw That It Was Good:” Catholic Theology and the Environment. Washington: U.S. Catholic Conference, 1996.
Cobb, Jr., John B. Is It Too Late? A Theology of Ecology. Denton TX: Environmental Ethics Books, 1995. Sustainability: Economics, Ecology, and Justice. Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books, 1992.
Colburn, Theo, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers. Our Stolen Future. NY: Plume/Penguin, 1997.
Crocker, David A. and Toby Linden, ed. Ethics of Consumption: The Good Life, Justice, and Global Stewardship. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998.
Crosby, Alfred W. Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900. Cambridge: Cambridge U. Press, 1986.
Daly, Herman E. and John B. Cobb, Jr. For the Common Good, 2nd ed. Boston: Beacon Press, 1994.
Daly, Herman E. and Kenneth N. Townsend, ed. Valuing the Earth: Economics, Ecology, Ethics. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1993.
Derr, Thomas S. with James A. Nash and Richard John Neuhaus. Environmental Ethics and Christian Humanism. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.
Gustafson, James M. A Sense of the Divine: The Natural Environment from a Theocentric Perspective. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1994.
DeWitt, Calvin, ed. The Environment and the Christian: What Can We Learn from the New Testament? Grand Rapids MI: Baker Book House, 1991.
Des Jardins, Joseph R. Environmental Ethics: An Introduction to Environmental Philosophy, 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2001.
Edwards, Denis. Jesus the Wisdom of God: An Ecological Theology. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1995.
Ehrlich, Paul R. and Anne H. Betrayal of Science and Reason: New Environmental Rhetoric Threatens Our Future. Washington: Island Press/Shearwater Books, 1996.
Eisenberg, Evan. The Ecology of Eden. NY: Vintage Books, 1999.
Engel, J. Ronald, and Joan Gibb Engel, ed. Ethics of Environment and Development: Global Challenge, International Response. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1990.
Fern, Richard L. Nature, God and Humanity: Envisioning an Ethics of Nature. Cambridge: University Press, 2002.
Foltz, Richard C. Frederick M. Denny, and Azizan Baharuddin, eds. Islam and Ecology: A Bestowed Trust.
Fowler, Robert Booth. The Greening of Protestant Thought. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1995. Series: Religions of the World and Ecology, Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003.
Gore, Albert. Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992.
Gottlieb, Roger S., ed. This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment. New York: Routledge, 1996.
A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet’s Future. NY: Oxford University Press, 2009.
The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology. NY: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Grim, John A., ed. Indigenous Traditions and Ecology: The Interbeing of Cosmology and Community. Series: Religions of the World and Ecology, Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.
Hallman, David G., ed. Ecotheology: Voices from North and South. Geneva: WCC; Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1994
Hargrove, Eugene C. Foundations of Environmental Ethics. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989.
The Animal Rights/Environmental Ethics Debate: The Environmental Perspective. Albany: SUNY Press, 1992.
Hart, John. The Spirit of the Earth–A Theology of the Land. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1984.
What Are They Saying About…Environmental Theology? Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2004.
Sacramental Commons: Christian Ecological Ethics. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006.
“Cosmic Commons: Contact and Community,” Theology and Science, Nov 2010, 8: 4, 371-392.
“The Poor of the Planet and the Planet of the Poor,” University of St. Thomas Law Journal (Environmental Law issue), Winter, 2008, Vol. 5, No. 1.
Haught, John F. The Promise of Nature: Ecology and Cosmic Purpose. New York, Paulist Press, 1993.
Hessel, Dieter and Larry Rasmussen, ed. Earth Habitat: Eco-Justice and the Church’s Response. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002.
Hessel, Dieter T. and Rosemary Radford Ruether, ed. Christianity and Ecology: Seeking the Well-Being of Earth and Humans. Series: Religions of the World and Ecology, Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000.
Hessel, Dieter T., ed. Theology for Earth Community: A Field Guide. Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books, 1996.
After Nature’s Revolt: Eco-Justice and Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992.
Hiebert, Theodore. The Yahwist’s Landscape: Nature and Religion in Early Israel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Hill, Brennan R. Christian Faith and the Environment: Making Vital Connections. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1998.
Johnson, Elizabeth A. Women, Earth, and Creator Spirit. New York: Paulist Press, 1993.
Johnson, Lawrence. A Morally Deep World: An Essay on Moral Significance and Environmental Ethics. New York: Cambridge U. Press, 1991.
Johnston, Carol. The Wealth or Health of Nations: Transforming Capitalism from Within. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1998.
Katz, Eric. Nature as Subject: Human Obligation and Natural Community. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997.
Kellert, Stephen R. The Value of Life: Biological Diversity and Human Society. Washington: Island Press/Shearwater Books, 1996.
Louv, Richard. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2008.
Maguire, Daniel C. and Larry Rasmussen, Ethics for a Small Planet: New Horizons on Population, Consumption and Ecology. Albany: SUNY Press, 1998.
Martin-Schramm, James. Population Perils and the Churches’ Response. Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1997.
Maguire, Daniel C. Sacred Energies. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000.
Maguire, Daniel C. and Howard Coward, ed. Visions of a New Earth: Religious Perspectives on Population, Consumption, and Ecology. Albany: SUNY Press, 2000.
McCagney, Nancy. Religion and Ecology. Blackwell, 2001.
McDaniel, Jay B. Of God and Pelicans: A Theology of Reverence for Life. Philadelphia: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989.
With Roots and Wings: Christianity in an Age of Ecology and Dialogue. Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books, 1995.
McFague, Sallie. The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993.
Life Abundant: Rethinking Theology for a Planet in Peril. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001.
A New Climate for Theology: God, the World, and Global Warming. Fortress Press, 2008
Super, Natural Christians: How We Should Love Nature. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997.
McGrath, Alister. The Reenchantment of Nature: The Denial by Religion and the Ecological Crisis. NY: Doubleday, 2002.
Merchant, Carolyn. Ecological Revolutions: Nature, Gender, and Science in New England. Chapel Hill: U. of North Carolina Press, 1989.
Moltmann, Jurgen. God in Creation: A New Theology of Creation and the Spirit of God. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985.
Nash, Roderick. The Rights of Nature: A History of Environmental Ethics. Madison: U. of Wisconsin Press, 1989.
Newton, Lisa H. Ethics and Sustainability: Sustainable Development and the Moral Life. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
Newton, Lisa H. and Catherine K. Dillingham. Watersheds: Classic Cases in Environmental Ethics. Belmont CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1994.
Northcott, Michael. The Environment and Christian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge U. Press, 1996.
A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2007
Oelschlager, Max. Caring for Creation: An Ecumenical Approach to the Environmental Crisis. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.
The Wilderness Condition: Essays on Environment and Civilization. Washington: Island Press,1993.
Ophuls, William and A. Stephen Boyan, Jr. Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity Revisited: Unraveling of the American Dream. New York: W.H. Freeman , 1992.
Pinches, Charles and Jay B. McDaniel. Good News for Animals: Christian Approaches to Animal Well-Being. Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books, 1993.
Robb, Carol S. and Carl J. Casebolt. Covenant for a New Creation: Ethics, Religion, and Public Policy. Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books, 1991.
Rockefeller, Steven C. and John C. Elder, ed. Spirit and Nature: Why the Environment Is A Religious Issue: An Interfaith Dialogue. Boston: Beacon Press, 1992.
Rolston, Holmes, III. Environmental Ethics: Duties to and Values in the Natural World. Philadelphia: Temple U. Press, 1988.
Rosenbaum, Walter A. Environmental Politics and Policy, 2nd ed. Washington: CQ Press, 1991.
Roszak, Theodore. The Voice of the Earth. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992.
Roszak, Theodore, Mary E. Gomes, and Allen D. Kanner. Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1995.
Ruether, Rosemary Radford. Gaia and God. San Francisco: Harper, 1992.
Women Healing Earth: Third World Women on Ecology, Feminism, and Religion. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, Books, 1996.
Santmire, H. Paul. Nature Reborn: The Ecological and Cosmic Promise of Christian Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000.
The Travail of Nature: The Ambiguous Ecological Promise of Christian Theology. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985.
Sittler, Joseph. Essays in Nature and Grace. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972.
Spencer, Daniel T. Gay and Gaia. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1997.
Taylor, Paul W. Respect for Nature: A Theory of Environmental Ethics. Princeton: Princeton U. Press, 1986.
Thomashow, Mitchell. Ecological Identity: Becoming a Reflective Environmentalist. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995.
Tirosh-Samuelson, Hava, ed. Judaism and Ecology: Created World and Revealed Word. Series: Religions of the World and Ecology, Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002.
Tucker, Mary Evelyn and Duncan Ryuken Williams. Buddhism and Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds. Series: Religions of the World and Ecology, Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.
Tucker, Mary Evelyn and John Berthrong. Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans. Series: Religions of the World and Ecology, Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.
Van Dyke, Fred et al. Redeeming Creation: The Biblical Basis for Environmental Stewardship. Downers Grove IL: Intervarsity Press, 1996.
Wensveen, Louke van. Dirty Virtues: The Emergence of Ecological Virtue Ethics. Amherst NY: Humanity Books, 2000.
Wenz, Peter. Environmental Justice. Albany: SUNY Press, 1988.
Wilson, Edward O. The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth. W.W. Norton, 2006.
The Social Conquest of Earth. W.W. Norton, 2012.