Earth and Its Distress: Ecological Ethics in Christian Perspective

Course Goals

* To attain familiarity with the breadth and depth of Christian theological reflection upon the ecological crisis, and to understand the resources of the Christian faith for responding creatively to this crisis.

* To develop an understanding of environmental issues as justice issues and as theological and ethical issues of deep concern to Christians.

* To learn about the environmental challenges of the Chicago region and some of the resources and groups working to address these challenges.

* To listen to unfamiliar voices from within and without the Christian tradition and to be educated by these voices from the margins about our responsibilities toward the creation and the other beings with whom we share the planet.

Required Texts

Adams, Carol J. (ed.). Ecofeminism and the Sacred (Continuum, 1993)

Greenberg, Joel. A Natural History of the Chicago Region (U. of Chicago, 2002). (Available more cheaply on Amazon.com than in the Seminary bookstore.)

Hessel, Dieter and Larry Rasmussen (eds.). Earth Habitat: Eco-Injustice and the Church’s Response (Fortress, 2001)

Hessel, Dieter and Rosemary Radford Ruether (eds.). Christianity and Ecology (Harvard, 2000)

Krueger, Frederick W. A Cloud of Witnesses: The Deep Ecological Legacy of Christianity (The Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation, 2002)

Rasmussen, Larry. Earth Community, Earth Ethics (Orbis, 1996)

Shiva, Vandana. Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge (South End, 1997)

The Worldwatch Institute. State of the World 2002 (W.W. Norton, 2002)

Weaver, Jace (ed.). Defending Mother Earth: Native American Perspectives on Environmental Justice (Orbis, 1996)

Recommended Texts

Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force. Words That Come Before All Else: Environmental Philosophies of the Haudenosaunee (Native North American Travelling College, n.d.)

Roberts, Elizabeth and Elias Amidon (eds.). Earth Prayers From Around the World (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991)

Spencer, Daniel T. Gay and Gaia: Ethics, Ecology, and the Erotic (Pilgrim, 1996)

Schedule of Classes and Assignments

Lesson 1: Introductions; Video: “Keeping the Earth”

Lesson 2: Earth and Its Distress

  • Greenberg, A Natural History of Chicago, ch. 1, “The Great Forces,” 1-15.
  • Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, Preface, Introduction, Part I, “A Slow Womb,” “Sweet Betsy and Her Avalanche,” “Three Revolutions or Four?”, 23-74
  • The Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2002, Preface, xix-xxii; ch. 1, “The Challenge for Johannesburg: Creating a More Secure World,” 1-23.
  • United Nations Environment Programme, “North America’s Environment: A Thirty-Year State of the Environment and Policy Retrospective,” Foreword, Preface, Key Conclusions, Executive Summary. On reserve.
  • Handouts on Johannesburg Summit 2002/World Summit on Sustainable Development

Lesson 3: Points of Christian Moral Reference

  • Environmental Autobiography paper due
  • Sign-up sheet distributed to indicate interest for group projects.
  • Adams, Carol J., ed., Ecofeminism and the Sacred, Adams, Introduction, Ruether, “Ecofeminism: Symbolic and Social Connections of the Oppression of Women and the Domination of Nature,” and Williams, “Sin, Nature, and Black Women’s Bodies,” 1-29.
  • Hessel and Rasmussen, eds., Earth Habitat, Preface, xi-xii; Rasmussen, Introduction “Eco-Justice: Church and Community Together,” 1-19; Part I, Chapters 1-2: Cone, “Whose Earth Is It Anyway?” and Pedersen, “Inclusion and Exclusion: Reflections on Moral Community and Salvation,” 23-52.
  • Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, Part II, “The Vine Languishes, the Merry-Hearted Sigh,” 188-194.
  • Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), A Small World After All: Women Assess the State of the Environment in the U.S. and Beyond, Foreword, 5; Introduction, 6-7; “Women Shaping the Future,” 8-9; “Sustainable Development and Peace,” 12-13.Recommended Reading:
  • Spencer, Gay and Gaia, “Starting the Journey: Initial Reflections,” 3-18, and “Humanity: Rethinking Human Nature and the Natural,” 56-75.

Lesson 4: Earth

  • Video: In the Light of Reverence
  • *Time allotted for research groups to meet the last hour of class.
  • Adams, Carol J., ed., Ecofeminism and the Sacred, McFague, “An Earthly Theological Agenda,” 84-98.
  • Hessel and Ruether, Christianity and Ecology, Hiebert, “The Human Vocation: Origins and Transformations in Christian Traditions,” 135-154.
  • The Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2002, Halweil, ch. 3, “Farming in the Public Interest,” 51-74.
  • Weaver, Jace, ed., Defending Mother Earth: Native American Perspectives on Environmental Justice, Weaver, Introduction “Notes from a Miner’s Canary,” 1-28. Fixico, ch. 1 “The Struggle for Our Homes: Indian and White Values and Tribal Lands,” 29-46.
  • Krueger, A Cloud of Witnesses, “St. Anthony the Great,” 54-57; “St. Athanasius,” 63-70; “St. Gregory of Nazianzus,” 94-99.
  • Recommended Reading: Spencer, Gay and Gaia, “Earth: Rethinking Nature and the Nature/Culture Split,” 76-104; Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, Words That Come Before All Else, Williams, “Creation,” 1-7; and Benedict, “Mother Earth,” 15-24.

Lesson 5: Earth II

  • Time allotted for research groups to meet the last hour of class.
  • Adams, Carol J., ed., Ecofeminism and the Sacred, Johnson, “New Moon over Roxbury,” 251-260.
  • Choose one of the following two chapters of Greenberg, A Natural History of Chicago: Ch. 3, “In Quality Diminished: Prairie Settlement and Conservation”, 37-63, or Ch. 10, “Lake Michigan’s Rim: Beaches, Dunes and Bluffs,” 242-271.
  • Hessel and Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology, Berry, “Christianity’s Role in the Earth Project,” 127-134; Chryssavgis, “The World of the Icon and Creation: An Orthodox Perspective on Ecology and Pneumatology,” 83-96.
  • Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, Part I , “Environmental Apartheid,” “Ecumenical Earth,” and “Creation’s Integrity,” 75-110.
  • Recommended Reading: Spencer, Gay and Gaia, “Shifting Our Grounding: From Social Location to Ecological Location,” 293-320.

Lesson 6: Water

  • A 1-2 page draft proposal for the group research projects should be submitted to the professor.
  • Greenberg, A Natural History of Chicago, ch. 7, “The Last Wilderness: Lake Michigan,” 140-176.
  • Hessel and Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology, Keller, “No More Sea: The Lost Chaos of the Eschaton,” 183-198; Miller-Travis, “Social Transformation through Environmental Justice,” 559-572; and Rossing, “River of Life in God’s New Jerusalem: An Eschatological Vision for Earth’s Future,” 205-224.
  • Krueger, A Cloud of Witnesses, “St. Ambrose of Milan,” 107-109; “St. Columba,” 155-156.
  • Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), A Small World After All: Women Assess theState of the Environment in the U.S. and Beyond, “Environmental Health,” 16-17. On reserve.
  • Recommended Reading: Spencer, Gay and Gaia, “God: Sensing the Divine in Right Relation,” 105-127.

Lesson 7: Water II

  • Adams, Carol J., ed., Ecofeminism and the Sacred, Gupta, “Ganga: Purity, Pollution, and Hinduism,” 99-116.
  • Patchett and Wilhelm, “The Ecology and Culture of Water,” 1-13. On reserve.
  • Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, Part I, “The Big Economy and the Great Economy,” “Message from Chiapas,” “Message from Geneva,” and “Fish Stories,” 111-173.
  • Weaver, Jace, ed., Defending Mother Earth: Native American Perspectives on Environmental Justice, Young, ch. 5, “”Beyond the Water Line,” and Sam-Cromarty, ch. 6, “Family Closeness,” 85-106.
  • Recommended Reading: Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, Words That Come Before All Else, Ransom, “The Waters,” 25-43; and Patterson, “The Fish,” 44-50.

Lesson 8: Air and Fire

  • Adams, Carol J., ed., Ecofeminism and the Sacred, Keller, “Talk about the Weather,” 30-49.
  • Hessel and Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology, Hallman, “Climate Change: Ethics, Justice, and Sustainable Community,” 453-471; and French, “Ecological Security and Policies of Restraint,” 473-491.
  • Krueger, “St. Catherine of Siena,” 262-265; “Patriarch Bartholomew,” 454-460.
  • The Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2002, Dunn and Flavin, ch. 2, “Moving the Climate Change Agenda Forward,” 24-50.
  • United Nations Environmental Programme News Release, “Regional and Global Impacts of Vast Pollution Cloud Detailed in New Scientific Study,” handout.
  • Recommended Reading: Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, Words That Come Before All Else, Benedict, “The Four Winds,” 117-134.

Lesson 9: Animals

  • Adams, Carol J., ed., Ecofeminism and the Sacred, Sanchez, “Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral,” 207-228; Adams and Procter-Smith, “Taking Life or ‘Taking On Life’? Table Talk and Animals,” 295-310.
  • Greenberg, A Natural History of Chicago, ch. 13, “Of Extinction and Resurrection,” 347-370.
  • Hessel and Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology, Cowdin, “The Moral Status of Otherkind in Christian Ethics,” and DeWitt, “Behemoth and Batrachians in the Eye of God,” 261-316.
  • Pollan, “This Steer’s Life: The Highly Unnatural Journey of No. 534, from Calf to Steak,” The New York Times Magazine, 31 March 2002. Handout.
  • Recommended Reading: Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, Words That Come Before All Else, Arquette, “The Animals,” 82-101.

Lesson 10: Biodiversity

  • Krueger, A Cloud of Witnesses, “St. Augustine,” 129-138; and “St. Francis of Assisi,” 219-224.
  • Shiva, Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, Introduction, chs. 1-3.
  • Weaver, Jace, ed., Defending Mother Earth: Native American Perspectives on Environmental Justice, Tinker, ch. 10, “An American Indian Theological Response to Ecojustice,” 153-176.
  • Recommended Reading: Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, Words That Come Before All Else, Arquette, “The Small Plants and Grasses,” 51-63; Cook, “Berry Plants,” 64-68.

Lesson 11: Group Presentations/Biodiversity II

  • Krueger, A Cloud of Witnesses, “St. Hildegard of Bingen,” 212-217; “St. Thomas of Aquinas,” 236-242.
  • Shiva, Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, chs. 4-7.
  • Recommended Reading: Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, Words That Come Before All Else, LaFrance, “The Three Sisters,” 69-75; and Brant, “The Medicine Plants,” 76-81.

Lesson 12: Group Presentations/Population-Consumption Debates

  • Hessel and Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology, Maguire, “Population, Consumption, Ecology: The Triple Problematic,” 403-427.
  • The Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2002, Engelman, Halweil, and Nierenberg, “Rethinking Popluation, Improving Lives,” 127-148.
  • Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), A Small World After All: Women Assess the State of the Environment in the U.S. and Beyond, “Population and Consumption,” 18-19. On reserve.

Lesson 13: Reading Week

Lesson 14: Conversion to Earth: The Constructive Tasks

  • Group Reports due
  • Hessel and Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology, Mische, “The Integrity of Creation: Challenges and Opportunities for Praxis,” and Ruether, “Conclusion: Eco-Justice at the Center of the Church’s Mission,” 591-614.
  • Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, “Midges and Cosmologies,” 181-187; “Adam, Where Are You?” 227-247; “Returning to Our Senses,” and “The Cross of Reality,” 270-294.
  • Weaver, Defending Mother Earth, Fassett, “Afterword: Where Do We Go From Here?” 177-191.
  • Recommended Reading: Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, “Song of Songs,” 295-316; Spencer, Gay and Gaia, “Erotic Ecology: Interconnection and Right Relation at All Levels,” and “Gay and Gaia: Features of an Erotic Ethic of Ecojustice,” 321-361.

Lesson 15: Conversion to Earth: The Constructive Tasks II

  • Greenberg, A Natural History of Chicago, Conclusion, “Entering the New Century: Prospects for the Future,” 460-471.
  • Hessel and Rasmussen, eds., Earth Habitat, Hessel, “Conclusion: The Church Ecologically Reformed,” 185-206.
  • Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, Part III, “Earth Action,” 319-354.
  • Recommended Reading: Hessel and Rasmussen, eds., Earth Habitat, Shepard, “Issues of Community Empowerment,” and Messenger, “These Stones Shall Be God’s House: Tools for Earth Liturgy,” 159-183; The Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2002, French, “Reshaping Global Governance,” 174-198. Strongly recommended.

Lesson 16: Final Papers due

This syllabus pertains to when the course was offered in 2002