Skip to main content

Ecology and Christianity

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion
  • 285 Accesses

But ask the animals, and they will teach you;

the birds of the air, and they will tell you,

ask the plants of the Earth, and they will teach you;

and the fish of the sea will declare to you.

Who among these does not know

That the hand of the Lord has done this?

In his hand is the life of every living thing

and the breath of every human being

(Job 12: 7–10 NRSV).

Recently, Christianity has reflected deeply on its commitment and engagement with the ecological quandaries and crisis of our modern, technological world. Environmentalists have opened up awareness of the negative impact Christianity has had on the environment through the interpretation of passages such as “… fill the Earth and subdue it; and have dominion over… every living thing…” as a license to harm the planet (Gen 1:28 NRSV). Christianity has been charged with contributing, actively or passively, to the ecological crisis including pollution, extinction of many plants and animal life, and climate change (Leiss 1994; White 1967...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Attfield, R. (2006). Environmental sensitivity and critiques of stewardship. In J. R. Berry (Ed.), Environmental stewardship: Critical perspectives (pp. 76–91). New York: T. & T. Clark International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauckham, R. (2010). Bible and ecology: Rediscovering the community of creation (Sarum theological lecture series). Waco: Baylor University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bookchin, M. (2005). The ecology of freedom: The emergence and dissolution of hierarchy. Oakland: AK Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouma-Prediger, S. (1995). The greening of theology: The ecological models of Rosemary Radford Ruether, Joseph Sittler, and Jürgen Moltmann. Atlanta: Scholars Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clinebell, H. (1996). Ecotherapy: Healing ourselves, healing the Earth. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, J. B., Jr. (1992). Sustainability: Economics, ecology, and justice. Maryknoll: Orbis Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deane-Drummon, C. (1997). Ecology in Jürgen Moltmann’s theology (Vol. 75). Lewiston: Edwin Mellen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feuerbach, L. (1957). The essence of Christianity. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, D. J. (1986). Imaging God: Dominion as stewardship. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leiss, W. (1994). The domination of nature. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGrath, A. E. (2002). The reenchantment of nature: The denial of religion and the ecological crisis. New York: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKibben, B. (2005). The Christian paradox: How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong. Harper’s Magazine, 8, 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moltmann, J. (1985). God in creation: A new theology of creation and the spirit of God (trans: Kohl, M.). San Francisco: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moo, D. J. (2006). Nature in the new creation: New Testament eschatology and the environment. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 49(4), 449–488.

    Google Scholar 

  • Næss, A., & Rothenberg, D. (1989). Ecology, community, and lifestyle: Outline of an ecosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruether, R. R. (2000). Ecofeminism: The challenge to theology. In D. T. Hessel & R. R. Ruether (Eds.), Christianity and ecology: Seeking the well-being of Earth and humans (pp. 97–112). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sittler, J. (1972). Essays on nature and grace. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorrell, R. D. (1988). St. Francis of Assisi and nature: Tradition and innovation in Western Christian attitudes toward the environment. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, L. (1967). The historic roots of our ecological crisis. Science, 155, 1203–1207.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kirsten S. Oh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Oh, K.S. (2014). Ecology and Christianity. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9300

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9300

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6085-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6086-2

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

Publish with us

Policies and ethics