Ecological Theology

The Global Compact for the common home can be understood as proposing anew the "lex naturae," traceable to the "Noahite Alliance." This is the original pact, the most universal one, stipulated, not only with the whole of humankind, but also with every living being together with humankind. Humankind, "God's vicar in the work of creation," is tasked with renewing this alliance. "Home" is a relative concept: "the usefulness of the home is in its non being," namely in its being endowed with rooms, doors, and windows; wherefore nature is a home because it is a space available, not only for some thing but for for someone. Outwith the privileged perspective of a place of abode, the ecological question does not exist, given that evolution, on its own, is blind, and is indifferent to any result. Yet who are the dwellers in this home? In eschatological perspective, the created order is to become "the dwelling place of God with human beings." The feeling of emptiness that we perceive in a secularised world may be understood also as a need for God. Inhabiting (from the frequentative of the Latin habere, to have) the common home means, not only being there, but having-being, namely making a habit of it, using it, being accustomed to it. Yet, in order for it to be inhabited, and inhabited together, the common home that is the world must be managed with oikonomía, on three levels: the natural (ecology), the man-made (technology and the economy), the cultural and religious (ecumenism and dialogue). The emptiness that we find in the world points to a fulness, the absence to a presence; just as a footprint points to a tread (vestigium). In this manner, the finitude of the world itself is a "trace" of the "passing through" of the Creator. Searching for Wisdom (Sapientia) means retracing His vestigia, both by abduction and by imitation or following. The "invisible" traces of God in History and in Nature are revealed to Christian faith to be vestigia Trinitatis: As Bonaventure says, the metaphysician considers God as the originating principle, the exemplary centre, and the fulfilling end of all things; the believer contemplates Him as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If the vestigia are the void that in every thing refers to the fulness, then every thing is, not only in relationship to every other thing, but is, most of all, in relationship to the Creator, acknowledging Whom leads to thanksgiving.. Knowledge without acknowledgement and thanksgiving is Luciferian; it is to presume, to demand without waiting for an answer, it is taking for oneself the fruit of the tree of knowledge, rather than accepting the fruit of the tree of Life.

With the global warming and environmental crisis, ecological paradigm shift happens throughout various fields of study such as philosophy, science, art, and theology. In the spirit of the second Vatican Council to embrace philosophy and science and the recent ecumenical movement, an ecological theology comes to the fore to create an ecological discourse within Christian denominations and also to facilitate ecological interfaith communication between different religions. This ecological trend in the theological field tends to criticize the hierarchical dichotomous Platonist thought structure within Christianity and emphasizes the immanent inter-relational aspects, which the modern philosophy of Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze shares great similarity with. The goal of this research is 1) to compare the ecological thought system within various trends of ecological theology and modern philosophy, and 2) to study the various inter-relational aspects of modern religious architecture, and 3) to review the possibility of the architectural discourse based upon the ecological thought system from the ecological theology and the modern philosophy.

Remnant Afromontane forests in northern Ethiopia are under threat from development
pressures both within Ethiopia and from international interests. These biodiversity hotspots
are currently protected by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC), which views
the forests as sacred. The academic literature is divided on how to provide food security in
this drought-prone nation. This article examines these tensions in the academic literature
before turning to the eco-theology of the Ethiopian Orthodox, which both protects these
forest fragments and strengthens the communitarianism of traditional Ethiopian society. A
case is then made for the continued management of these forests by the EOTC.

©SPRINGER PUBLISHING | RITA D. SHERMA | OVERVIEW
The devastation of the ecosphere is inextricably linked to unsustainable economic, societal, racial, geopolitical, and cultural relationships. To enable the restoration and flourishing of the ecosystems of the biosphere, human societies need to be reimagined and reordered in terms of economic, cultural, religious, racial, and social equitability. The epistemic paradigms that have led to climate change and the ravaging of the earth, are not likely to lead the healing of the same. As such, ways of knowing that are embedded in religion, culture, and tradition are essential resources for the human transformation necessary for environmental regeneration and renewal. Sustainable Nature Requires Sustainable Societies.

The discourse on Sustainability has gained traction globally and in an intersectoral manner. However, the transdisciplinary field of Sustainability Studies has not embraced the principles, practices, ethics, and insights of the religious worlds of humanity. Sustainability Studies has, as its three pillars, equity and justice in Social, Economic, and Environmental spheres. The conversion of current human behaviors and actions into the transformative paradigms, that will alter the currently destructive trajectory, need internal reorientations of heart and mind that are the ultimate concern of religions. This volume brings the discipline of Sustainability Studies into creative and constructive conversation with the multidisciplinary context of Theology & Religious Studies.

Intercultural theology is increasingly a major subject matter of 21st-century scholarly inquiry. This results in an interreligious discourse and encounter at different levels. However, gone are the days when the aim is to identify or even to fuse certain overlapping magisteria. A linguistic-cultural approach takes us beyond mergers or grand unified theories. To speak of reality as a whole is not to talk about the whole of reality. Creatio continua, the radical newness of each moment and phase unfolds in unpredictable ways. The ecological crisis of planet earth has forced all responsible researchers to engage with the Anthropocene by establishing space for a common earth religion. Through ressourcement, it appears that the sophiology of theologians of the Russian Silver Age (e.g., Solovyov, Bulgakov, and Florensky) can open up a vista in the spirit of aggiornamento to a meta-religious approach recognising the infinite capacity of humanity to transcend particularised religious identities and so belong in different ways too, with, and in God. In the end, sophiology is a form of progressive Christianity that puts together philosophy and faith by promoting an ecological public theology that is concerned about raising society’s awareness about creation as material nature.