Theology and Ecological Crisis

1. Theology and Ecological Crisis Introduction

2. Today human beings are facing a deep environmental crisis.The Planet is undergoing profound and serious damages ever experienced in its history. • 1) Some species are endangered • 2) Natural resources: water, air, soil that sustain life on the planet is being polluted or depleted alarmingly

3. 3) The world population is growing exponentially. • This means that the population growth causes the degradation and depletion of natural resources, • 4) The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture and chemicals in animal husbandry, irreparably destroy life by causing dreadful diseases

4. 5) The large-scale deforestation of many regions in the World causes droughts and desertification,6) The production of toxic wastes pollutes air and water,7) The ozone depletion causes greenhouse gases leading to the global warming ,There is a need to take to take urgent and drastic measures, otherwise our planet goes straight to its death and with it humans disappear.

5. II. Man's relationship to nature • The biblical and theological point of view is that man is part of the natural world but at the same time he is separated from it.The Bible makes it clear that man is from the earth, "you are dust and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3: 19). He is in full compliance with his natural surroundings. Unfortunately man will forget his limits and will consider himself as an infinite creature.

6. However man is distinguished from the rest of creation, because he was created in the image of God. His special relationship with the Creatr sets him apart. He is the king of creation.

7. III. The Bible and Creation • - The Bible teaches from the beginning that God is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1: 1; Job 38: 4; Psalm 8: 3; Hebrews 1: 2; Revelation 4: 11)- All things belong to him: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the World and who live in it” (Psalm 24:1), “The land must not be sold permanently , because the land is mine and your are but aliens and my tenants” (Leviticus 25:23).

8. - God’s creation is good: "God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1: 10,12, 18, 21,25, 31);- Man is a special creature for he is created in the image of the Creator (Genesis 1: 27);- God entrusted his creation to man for management purpose (Genesis 1: 28)

9. IV. Man as a steward of God's creation. What does that mean? • In 1967 the American historian Lynn White wrote a book entitled "Roots of our Ecological Crisis". This book was of a resounding success and has greatly influenced the Greens in their interpretation of the current environmental crisis. White says in that book that the cause of the ecological crisis comes from the Bible and Christianity. In fact from the time when God gave his creation to man to dominate it, we had to expect a crisis of this kind. • In 1972 Carl Amery reinforced this indictment against Christianity and the Bible;

10. The Environmentalists / "Deep ecological movement" also say that the Bible contains the “anthropocentric” vision. And this is the root cause of Ecological crisis of today. They propose instead to emphasize the “biocentric” vision. • For them humanity is equals to creation. In 1992 Earth-Carta of Rio de Janeiro said: "we are the earth, the earth we venerate as home of all living creatures." This is the real divinization of creation (cf. pantheism)

11. -Eco-Feminism: the earth is exploited and oppressed in the same way as women by the patriarchal system. • They are both dominated by patriarchal institutions established by men. How can they be delivered from oppression? Simply by changing these institutions.

12. V. What is the response to this Point of view? • - In 1972, Francis Schaeffer a Christian philosopher reacted to this accusation by saying that the cause of this crisis is to look more in the Renaissance, humanism and the Enlightenment, which put too much trust in man and in technical development without any ethical consideration.

13. - JürgenMotmann: prolongs this reflection in his teaching on creation. The secular Christianity, he says, has become the ally of economic development unrelated to ethics- Other Theologians emphasized stewardship, not domination. They even propose to set up what they called "ecotheology" (Hans Lassen Martensen / Danish).

14. God has entrusted his creation to man because he is the only creature he created in his image. This means that man is somehow above other creatures.But the stewardship of God's creation does not mean "ownership or possession." God did not abandon it. He remains the owner of it.Man is asked to keep the earth for the glory and honourof God and that God's laws are respected.But also man must be the Manager of God's creation for his own sake.

15. Why churches are not much interested in the Ecological question? • -Spirituality that disregards the body.The churches in Africa are too influenced by the spirituality which considers the world as evil and which does not deserve any respect. This spirituality has caused a lot of damage not only on the development plan but also on the level of environmental protection.- Our theological seminaries did not integrate in their curriculum "theology of creation".

16. Conclusion • - The Environmental crisis is not only a technical problem, it is also an ethical issue; (Our relationship to nature)We need to revisit the Bible to better understand the role of man vis-a-vis God's creation- We should emphasize the environmental ethics and ensure that it is included in the laws of governments knowing that man is capable of good as well as bad things.

17. - We need to challenge the theology and spirituality which dispise the body and the physical world instead of preserving it up for the glory of God.- Finally it is imperative to include in the programs of theological seminaries "theology of creation and environment«