Christian Faith in Creation for Environmental Ethics and Climate Protection


Ulrich H.J. Körtner(1*)

(1) Institut für Systematische Theologie und Religionswissenschaft, Universität Wien, Austria
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


The paper examines the practical consequences of the Christian faith in the creation for environmental ethics and climate protection. Both are interpreted as a practical form of faith in creation, distinguishing between faith in creation and reflected theology of creation. Methodologically, the article proceeds by interpreting classical statements of the Bible and the Christian tradition in light of modern insights. The article pays special attention to the conversation between creation theology and modern evolutionary theory. In this context, the problem of theodicy is posed in a new way. The author criticizes tendencies to reduce faith in creation to ethics. In the Christian tradition, he interprets faith in God as a form of courage based on presuppositions that are not absorbed in anthropology and ethics. Christian faith does not produce but proclaim a meaning of life and of the world, which can come to both only from God and will endure even in view of the possible self-destruction of mankind. This conviction has ethical implications and consequences for a realistic commitment to environmental protection. On the one hand, it is motivating, on the other hand, it is critical of an apocalyptic view of the world and its consequences.


Keywords


Climate protection; creation faith; environmental ethics; evolution; preservation of creation.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Arbuckle, M. B., & Konisky, D. M. (2015). The Role of Religion in Environmental Attitudes. Social Science Quarterly, 96(5), 1244–1263. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12213

Beukes, J. W. (2021). Youth, faith and environmental consciousness in Africa: A Practical Theology research imperative. Stellenbosch Theological Journal, 7(2), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.17570/stj.2021.v7n2.a9

Bogner, A. (2021). Die Epistemisierung des Politische. Wie die Macht des Wissens die Demokratie gefährdet. Ditzingen: Reclam.

Bonhoeffer, D. (2010). Letters and Papers from Prison (J. W. De Gruchy & Wayne W. Floyd, Eds.). Minneapolis; Minn.: Fortress Press.

Clough, D. L. (2019). Method in the Doctrine of Creation. In The Oxford Handbook of Karl Barth (p. 341). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Davies, O. (2007). Hermeneutics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199245765.003.0028

Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland. (2018). Geliehen ist der Stern, auf dem wir leben. In Die Agenda 2030 als Herausforderung für die Kirchen (EKD-Texte 130). Hannover: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland.

Feuerbach, L. (1966). Notwendigkeit einer Veränderung (1842/43). In K. Löwith (Ed.), Idem, Kleine Schriften (pp. 220–235). Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.

Frey, C. (1989). Neue Gesichtspunkte zur Schopfungstheologie und Schopfungsethik? Zeitschrift Für Evangelische Ethik, 33(3), 217–232.

Gaard, G. (2014). What’s the story? Competing narratives of climate change and climate justice. Forum for World Literature Studies, 6(2), 272–292. Wuhan Guoyang Union Culture & Education Company.

Guth, J. L., Green, J. C., Kellstedt, L. A., & Smidt, C. E. (1995). Faith and the Environment: Religious Beliefs and Attitudes on Environmental Policy. American Journal of Political Science, 39(2), 364. https://doi.org/10.2307/2111617

Gutmann, W. F., & Bonik, K. (1981). Kritische Evolutionstheorie. Ein Beitrag zur Überwindung altdarwinistischer Dogmen. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg.

Harink, D. (2009). Barth’s Apocalyptic Exegesis and the Question of Israel in Römerbrief , Chapters 9–11. Toronto Journal of Theology, 25(1), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.3138/tjt.25.1.5

Hefner, P. (1999). Art. Emergenz. Religion in Geschichte Und Gegenwart, 2(4).

Koch, T. (1991). Das göttliche Gesetz der Natur. In Zur Geschichte des neuzeitlichen Naturverständnisses und zu einer gegenwärtigen Lehre von der Schöpfung (pp. 7–12). Zürich: Theologischer Verlag.

Körtner, U. H. J. (2020). Religion und Klimaschutz. Zeitschrift Für Evangelische Ethik, 64(1), 3–7. https://doi.org/10.14315/zee-2020-640102

Loughlin, G. (1999). Telling God’s Story: Bible, Church and Narrative Theology. Pro Ecclesia: A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology, 8(4), 496–498. https://doi.org/10.1177/106385129900800412

Luther, M. (2008). Luther’s Small Catechism: with Explanation. St. Louis, MO.: Concordia Publishing House.

Luther, M. (2017). Luther’s Small Catechism. St. Louis: Concordia.

Mok, B. K. M. (2020). Reconsidering Ecological Civilization from a Chinese Christian Perspective. Religions, 11(5), 261. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11050261

O’Brien, K., Clair, A. L. S., & Kristoffersen, B. (2010). Climate change, ethics and human security. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rasmussen, J. D. S. (2016). Kierkegaard’s Biblical Hermeneutics: In Volume 1, Tome II: Kierkegaard and the Bible - The New Testament (pp. 263–293). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315234915-35

Samely, A. (2002). Hermeneutic Orientation and Introduction. In Rabbinic Interpretation of Scripture in the Mishnah (pp. 2–30). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198270317.003.0001

Sauerbrey, A. (2019). ‘Fridays for Future’ als Religion?: Alle verehren Greta. Retrieved 12 May 2022, from Tagesspiegel website: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/fridays-for-future-als-religion-alle-verehren-greta/24238760.html

Schlosberg, D., & Collins, L. B. (2014). From environmental to climate justice: climate change and the discourse of environmental justice. WIREs Climate Change, 5(3), 359–374. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.275

Schneider, R. (2003). Winter in Wien. Aus meinen Notizbüchern 1957/58. In Mit der Grabrede von Werner Bergengrün, einer Porträtaufnahme sowie einer Wiedergabe der Totenmaske des Dichters. Freiburg: Herder.

Tilling, C. (2016). From Adams’s critique of Wright’s historiography to Barth’s critique of religion: A review essay of Sam Adams’s The Reality of God and Historical Method. Theology Today, 73(2), 168–177. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040573616642121

Westermann, C. (1976). Genesis 1–11 (BK I/1). Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag.

White, L. (1967). The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis. Science, 155(3767), 1203–1207. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.155.3767.1203

Zwolski, K. (2010). The EU as an international security actor: a comprehensive approach. Salford: University of Salford.

Zwolski, K. (2013). The European Union and International Security: Developing a Comprehensive Approach. In European Security, Terrorism and Intelligence (pp. 17–39). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314734_2




DOI: https://doi.org/10.15575/kt.v4i2.19991

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2022 Ulrich H.J. Körtner

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.