What are the ecological crises facing the present generation?
What are the cultural, historical, and theological roots of the environmental and social issues we face?
What are the most important biblical resources (and obstacles) for shaping faithful approaches to these issues?
What shape might faithful ecological hermeneutics take?
What is the human calling with regard to the creation? (Are we necessary? For what?)
In what ways are the foundational practices of the church ecological? (or is the Creation incidental to Christian practices?)
Is the church sustainable? (Is “eco-“ an essential part of ecclesiology?) What are the practices of sustainable Christian community?
What resources might we develop for working with congregations and young people on environmental issues?
Required Texts:
- Lester Brown, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. WW Norton, 2008.
- Carol J. Dempsey & Mary Margaret Pazdan, eds., Earth, Wind, and Fire: Biblical and Theological Perspectives on the Creation. Liturgical Press/Michael Glazier, 2004.
- Michael Northcott, A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming. Orbis, 2007.
- Edward O. Wilson, The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth. Norton, 2006.
- Michael Schut, Ed., Simpler Living, Compassionate Life: A Christian Perspective. Living the Good News, 1999.
Recommended:
Frederic L. Bender, A Culture of Extinction: Toward a Philosophy of Deep Ecology. Humanity/Prometheus Books, 2003.
Wendell Berry, Life Is a Miracle. Counterpoint, 2001
Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture. Avon, 1977.
Carol J. Dempsey & Russell A. Butkus, All Creation is Growning: An Interdisciplinary Vision for Life in a Sacred Universe. Liturgical Press/Michael Glazier, 1989.
Andres Edwards, The Sustainability Revolution. New Society Publishers, 2005.
Denis Edwards, Ecology at the Heart of Faith. Orbis, 2006.
Tim Flannery, The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2005.
Robert R. Gottfried, Economics, Ecology, and the Roots of Christian Faith. Rowman & Littlefield, 1995.
Roger S. Gottlieb, A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet’s Future. Oxford, 2006.
Roger S. Gottlieb, A Spirituality of Resistance. Crossroad, 1999.
Mary C. Grey, Sacred Longings: The Ecological Spirit and Global Culture. Fortress, 2004.
Norman C. Habel, ed., The Earth Bible, Volume 1: Readings from the Perspective of Earth. Pilgrim Press, 2000.
Norman C. Habel & Vicky Balabanski, eds., The Earth Bible, Volume 5: The Earth Story in the New Testament. Pilgrim Press, 2002.
Paul Hawken, The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability. HarperBusiness, 1993.
Dieter Hessel & Rosemary Radford Reuther, eds., Christianity and Ecology. Harvard, 2000.
John Houghton, Global Warming: the Complete Briefing, 3rd ed. Cambridge, 2004.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change synthesis reports: AR4 (2007): “Summary for Policymakers” Willis Jenkins, Ecologies of Grace: Environmental Ethics and Christian Theology. Oxford, 2008.
Elizabth Kolbert, Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Change. Bloomsbury, 2006.
Sallie McFague, A New Climate for Theology: God, the World, and Global Warming. Fortress, 2008.
Sallie McFague, The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Fortress, 1993.
Sallie McFague, Life Abundant: Rethinking Theology and Economy for a Planet in Peril. Fortress, 2000.
Sallie McFague, Super, Natural Christians. Fortress, 2000.
Bill McKibben, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. Holt, 2007.
Bill McKibben, The End of Nature. Random House, 1994.
James Martin-Schramm and Robert L. Stivers, Christian Environmental Ethics: A Case Method Approach. Orbis, 2003.
Millenium Ecosystem Assessment 2005: “Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Synthesis” and “Living Beyond Our Means” (World Resources Institute).
Emilio Moran, People and Nature: An Introduction to Human Ecological Relations. Blackwell, 2006.
Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Penguin Press, 2006.
Larry L. Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics. Orbis Press, 1996.
Michael Schut, ed., Food and Faith: Justice, Joy, and Daily Bread. Living the Good News, 2002.
Christopher Southgate, The Groaning of Creation: God, Evolution, and the Problem of Evil. WJK, 2008.
James Gustav Speth, The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, The Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability. Yale, 2008.
Margaret Swedish, Living Beyond the ”End of the World”: A Spirituality of Hope. Orbis, 2008.
Barbara Brown Taylor, The Luminous Web: Essays on Science and Religion. Cambridge/Cowley, 2000.
David Toolan, At Home in the Cosmos. Orbis, 2003.
Laura Ruth Yordy, Green Witness: Ecology, Ethics, and the Kingdom of God. Cascade Books, 2008.
Proposed Schedule:
Lesson 1 Course overview; community building (who and where are we?); premises
Lesson 2 State of the Earth I (“Everything’s Cool” video); Readings: Northcott, A Moral Climate, 1-44. IPCC Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report, see the IPCC website, “Reports” https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf or “AR4_syr_spm.pdf” on Class Angel site.; Suggested Readings: Millenium Ecosystem Assessment reports: “document.429.aspx.pdf” on the Class Angel site. https://www.milleniumassessment.org/documents/document.429.aspx.pdf or https://www.milleniumassessment.org/documents/document.356.aspx.pdf
Lesson 3 State of the Earth II: Dabney Dixon; Readings: Northcott, A Moral Climate, 44-80.
Lesson 4 Why are we in trouble? Habits of thinking, economic practices, materialism, individualism, etc.; Readings: Northcott, A Moral Climate, 81-119. “Elizabeth A. Johnson, “Losing and Finding Creation in the Christian Tradition,” in Hessel and Radford Reuther, Christianity and Ecology, 3-21; Suggested Readings: “New Ways of Knowing and Being Known,” pp. 21-45, “Christian Values, Technology, and the Environmental Crisis,” pp. 58-76, and “Mental Cartography in a Time of Environmental Crisis, pp. 99-125 in Carol J. Dempsey and Russell Butkus, eds., All Creation is Groaning.
Lesson 5 Why are we in trouble? The Perspectives of Deep Ecology; Reading: Northcott, A Moral Climate, 120-156; Lynn White, Jr., “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis”; Suggested Reading: McKibben, Deep Economy; McFague, The Body of God, 99-129 or McFague, Super, Natural Christians, 45-117.
Lesson 6 The Creation: Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Readings: Dempsey, “Creation, Evolution . . .”; Laffey, “Priestly Creation Narrative . . .”; Bowe, “Soundings in the NT . . .”; and Reid, “Sabbath, the Crown of Creation,” in Dempsey & Pazdan, Earth, Wind, and Fire, 1-24, 57-76.
Lesson 7 The Creation: Genesis 2:4b-3:24; Readings: Brown
Lesson 8 Job 38-41 and Psalm 104; Readings: O’Connor, “Wild, Raging Creativity: Job . . .” in Dempsey & Pazdan, Earth, Wind, and Fire, 48-56; Brown, “Joy and the Art of Cosmic Maintenance . . .” in And God Saw That It Was Good: Essays on Creation and God in Honor of Terence E. Fretheim. Word and World Supplement Series 5. April 2006: 23-32.
Lesson 9 The Earth in Eschatological Imagination: Revelation and Apocalyptic Scenarios of the End; Readings: Barbara K. Rossing, “River of Life in God’s New Jerusalem: An Eschatological Vision for Earth’s Future,” in Hessel and Radford Reuther, eds., Christianity and Ecology, pp. 205-224; Suggested Reading: Yordy, Green Witness.
Lesson 10 The (Ecological) Sermon on the Mount; Readings: Wiley, “Creation Restored . . .” in Dempsey & Pazdan, Earth, Wind, and Fire, 77-102. Vicky Balabanski, “An Earth Bible Reading of the Lord’s Prayer,” in Habel, ed., Readings from the Perspective of Earth, 151-161; Suggested Reading: Adrian Leske, “Matthew 6:25-34: Human Anxiety and the Natural World,” in Habel and Balabanski, eds., The Earth Story in the New Testament, 15-27.
Lesson 11 Paul and the New Creation; Readings: McGinn, “All Creation Groans,” in Dempsey & Pazdan, Earth, Wind, and Fire, 114-123. Brendan Byrne, “Creation Groaning: An Earth Bible Reading of Romans 8:18-22,” in Habel, ed., Readings From the Perspective of Earth, 193-203.
Lesson 12 The Bible as Problem and Resource: Toward an Ecological Hermeneutic; Reading: Norman Habel, et.al., Readings from the Perspective of Earth, 24-71
Lesson 13 Assessment
Lesson 14 The Bible and Plan B; Reading: Lester Brown, Plan B 3.0. Written response to Brown’s book due.
Lesson 15 E. O. Wilson and Wendell Berry; Reading: Wilson, The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth; Suggested Reading: Wendell Berry, Life is a Miracle.
Lesson 16 Sustainable Church? Simplicity, Hospitality, Community, and Witness; Reading: Northcott, A Moral Climate, 157-187. Schut, Simpler Living, Compassionate Life; Suggested Reading: McFague, Super, Natural Christians, 118-175
Lesson 17 Sustaining Light; Reading: Northcott, A Moral Climate, 188-212. (East Lake Commons? Southface?)
Lesson 18 The Pace of Life; Reading: Northcott, A Moral Climate, 213-231.
Lesson 19 Food and Faith; Reading: Northcott, A Moral Climate, 232-285.
Lesson 20 Open Session
Lesson 21 Evaluating the Resources: Book Reviews due
Lesson 22 Project Presentations
Lesson 23 Project Presentations, Course Evaluation