Religion and Ecology in the Public Sphere

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A collection of essays from top scholars in the field of Religion and Ecology that stimulates the debate about the religious contribution to ecological debate.

Reviews

Ecology and Environment are among the most demanding global challenges of our era. It is time to mobilize the best religious and cultural energies of humankind to address this issue. Climate change, water pollution, exploitation of resources or intergenerational justice are examples for its urgency. This book gives a remarkable example for the necessary effort. It starts with a case study that is multidimensional in itself, namely the Baltic Sea . And it brings together a variety of scientific expertises and theological perspectives. It puts the topic as well as the plurality of approaches into the framework of public theology and proves the productivity of this theological concept. -- Wolfgang Huber, Presiding Bishop em. of the Protestant Church in Germany.
For decades, Christian ecotheology has tacitly assumed its own relevance on the basis of the weight of ecological concerns, the impact of religion in shaping environmental perceptions, attitudes and cultural habits (often for the worse), the ecological wisdom embedded in the biblical roots of Christianity and the presence of Christian-inspired campaigns for eco-justice and earthkeeping ministries. However, one also needs to ask whether and how such theological discourse has itself actually influenced political and economic decision making processes in the public sphere, leading towards the transformation of societies and thus influencing the biophysical environment. This is precisely the crucial question that the essays in this ground-breaking volume address. With this volume, discourse in ecotheology thus shifts into another gear. -- Ernst Conradie, University of Western Cape, South Africa
This is a landmark volume of essays. I cannot overstate its significance. It brings together two solo theological voices from the 20th century - green theology and public theology - in a compelling new choral work for the 21st century, a public theology of ecology. The contributors argue convincingly for the potential of religious traditions and their publicly translated theologies to inform and motivate action for the common good of the biosphere and the public sphere. After this publication, any public theology of the common good must now include the welfare of the planet as well as its people. And any public call to save the planet must now take seriously the contribution of religious traditions in that global endeavour. -- William Storrar, Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton
Because all contributors always bring in many interesting and original ideas, I believe Religion and Ecology in the Public Sphere is undoubtedly the strongest book in the sociology of religion I have read during the last decade. -- Theological Book Review, Volume 23, No.2

Author Bio

Professor Celia Deane-Drummond is Director of the Centre for Religion and the Biosciences at the University of Chester, UK. Professor Heinrich Bedford-Strohm ist Professor in Systematic Theology and Director of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Research Centre for Public Theology, University of Bamberg, Germany.