Reading The Book of Jonah through the Eco-Spiritual Perspective

Six entries on ecology and the Bible, including Hebrew Bible, Rabbinic Judaism, modern Judaism, Christianity, Islam. My entry is the second one here (II. A.), pp.974-81, with other sections by Ellen Bernstein, Russell Butkus, David Johnston, Gaye Ortiz.

2009

As chair of the candidate's graduate committee, I have read the thesis of Candice D. Wendt in its final form and have found that (1) its format, citations, and bibliographical style are consistent and acceptable and fulfill university and department style requirements; (2) its illustrative materials including figures, tables, and charts are in place, and (3) the final manuscript is satisfactory to the graduate committee and is ready for submission to the university library. Master of Arts Since the advent of the environmental crisis, some writers have raised concerns with the moral influence of Christian scripture and interpretive traditions, such as the medieval book of nature, a hermeneutic in which nature and scripture are "read" in reference to one another. Scripture, they argue, has tended to stifle sacred relationships with nature as a non-human other. This thesis argues that such perspectives are reductive of the sacred quality of scripture. Environmental perspe...

Relations, 2017

The aim of this paper is double. On the one hand, it focuses on the relationship between Christian religion and ecology in order to inquire into the most common charges that environmentalist movements address to Christians and to evaluate them showing their historical roots. On the other, this study will show how some recent suggestions taken from Catholic authors-who, at the same time, are the traditional ones-and from the teachings of the Church, could be useful to encourage and to promote ecological ethics founded on human responsibility. In order to do so, an historical method will be used. In the first part, some authors from the Patristic-Scholastic age will be take into consideration, with particular care to Augustine. In the second part an article by Lynn White will be presented as an emblematic turning point in the relationship between Christian religion and ecologists, paying attention first, to the Puritan context of his writings, and, second, to the birth of contemporary environmentalist theories. In the last part Romano Guardini's work and Francis' "Laudato si'" will be considered. My attention will be focused on the interpretation of some relevant verses taken from the Bible book of Genesis.

Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology, 1996

The Bible is not a book of science, and therefore not of ecology. It does, however, sketch a vision of human ecology, and contemporary readers encounter claims about how to value nature. The Bible's vision is simultaneously biocentric, anthropocentric, and theocentric. The Hebrews discovered who they were as they discovered where they were, and their scriptures can be a catalyst in our ecological crisis.

Landscapes: the journal of the international centre for landscape and language, 2019

Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions, 2013

The book of Jonah concludes with a puzzling rhetorical question by God, connecting plants, animals, and the people of Nineveh (4:10–11). This essay attempts to explain the logic of this rhetoric and to lay out its precise force, thereby clarifying the literary message of the book.

During this century, humans must learn to live in ways that are sustainable, both ecologically and morally. The global community already consumes more ecological resources than Earth can generate; population growth and increasing development are widening that gap. We suggest that paths to sustainability can be found by mindful reflection on meanings discerned in the convergence of a scientific understanding of nature, religious naturalism, and biblical understandings of creation. The patterns of ecological sustainability observed in natural systems and the wise ways of relating to the land discerned in the Hebrew Bible suggest that sustainability must be grounded in social and ecological justice and that just ways of living can emerge from a deep sense of the ways in which nature and all of humanity are interdependent. We conclude that the twentieth-century emphasis on individual control of our future must make room for the emergence of a new understanding of mutuality. There can be no flourishing apart from mutual flourishing.

Earth is facing an environmental crisis. This crisis threatens the very life of the planet. The atmosphere we breathe is being polluted. The forests that generate the oxygen we need to survive are being depleted at a rapid rate. Fertile soils needed to provide food are being poisoned by salinity and pesticides. Waters that house organisms essential to the cycle of life are being polluted by chemicals and waste. Global warming has become a frightening threat and the list goes on. Lynn White's article, "The historical roots of our ecological crisis" placed the blame for the modern ecological crisis upon Western Christianity and its anthropocentric traditions. According to White 1 , Christianity is the most anthropocentric religion the world has ever had as it establishes a dualism between humanity and nature, insisting that it is God's will that human beings exploit nature for their own ends. The development and rise of ecological hermeneutics is due to ecological crisis witnessed in the world, the Lynne's White Article on the anthropocentric and the marginalization of Biblical exegesis. The Ecological hermeneutics attempts to retrieve the ecological wisdom in biblical traditions as a response to the ecological crisis. At the same time it tries to reinvestigate, rediscover and renew the Christian traditions in the light of the ecological challenges 2. This task urges interpreters to go beyond what has commonly been seen as the meaning of the biblical text in order to generate new possibilities of understanding biblical texts.

Christian Theocentric Environmentalism, 2023

Theocentrism is the position that places God at the center of discourse; God is the Landlord and Manager of everything that exists. Analogous to other environmental theories such as anthropocentrism, zoocentrism, biocentrism, ecocentrism, and eco-feminism, theocentrism posits that God owns the universe and so the best manual on how to come to terms with the universe emanates from Him. God's commands are contained both in written scriptures and in oral traditions. While the former includes the Bible, Qur'an, and Bhagavad Gita, amongst others, the latter includes proverbs, myths, taboos, totems and rituals observed by different cultures across the globe. Unfortunately, a prevailing misinterpretation of scriptures considers theocentrism as nothing but ontological anthropocentrism, of which anthropocentric position in all its strands is egoistic. It is the moribund environmentalist position humanity has ever devised. The argument of this paper is that the authentic theocentric position is anti-anthropocentric. This position is embedded implicitly or explicitly in the Scriptures if it can be carefully unraveled. It continues thenceforth to establish that theocentric position is distinctly different from every other position. It is yet the most environmentally friendly position, without necessarily being at the expense of humans.

Can the bible function as a theological authority for eco-theology given its conflicting messages concerning the earth and humanity’s relationship to it and in particular the deeply anthropocentric character of some passages? This article critically examines five approaches to the Bible that seek to affirm its theological authority while recognising its problematic character. It then proposes criteria for an alternative model.