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Eco-Theology: Interrelationships of Religion, Nature, and Common Life
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Eco-Theology: Interrelationships of Religion, Nature, and Common Life

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (7 October 2023) | Viewed by 13217

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Maria Isabel Pereira Varanda

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Center for Theology and Religious Studies, the Catholic University of Portugal, 1649-023 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: theological anthropology; creation; evolution; religion; christianity; integral ecology; domus-polis; Laudato Si'; religious soteriologies
Dr. Franz Gassner

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Religious Studies and Philosophy, University of St. Joseph, Macao, China
Interests: ethics of consumption (social ethics); ethical principles for sustainable patterns of production and consumption; contributions of religion and spirituality for sufficient and sustainable lifestyles and institutions and bearing of the Catholic Social Teaching

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The encyclical letter Laudato Si'. On care of our common home, signed by Pope Francis on May 24, 2015, is inscribed in the global ecological upheaval. Francis, in an unprecedented way, calls everyone to responsibly reflect on what is happening to our common home, while substantiating the concept of integral ecology in word and deed.

This Special Issue of Religions welcomes contributions from different areas of knowledge, geographies, religions, cultures, and political systems, which may help to re-think the performativity of the metaphor common home in eco-theology and to articulate the concept of integral ecology as applied to planet Earth. Contributors are invited to explore the metaphor common home, and common life, and the danger of complacency of superficial ecologies (see LS 59), in view of  finding ways to foster an integral ecology that sustains the biological identity of planet Earth. Contributions shall aim to investigate how a common life is possible in our one common home, in a time when worldviews, epistemologies, and specifically theologies and ethics of the earth show a growing sensitivity and shift from anthropocentrism and anthropomorphism towards urgently needed integral and sustainable forms of a common life in our one common home.

In critical dialogue with contextual hermeneutics in regard to the concept of common home, researchers from different parts of the world are invited to identify and correlate concepts of religion and of nature that may configure new ways of how humans related to the natural world today; to study, in context, statutes and patterns of relationships between religion, nature, and the common life; and to explain strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, and obstacles of this relation in the contemporary context of our planetary ecological crisis.

We are genuinely looking forward to your contributions.

Abstract Submission Information

We request that interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing your intended contribution. Please send it to Professor Isabel Varanda ([email protected]) and Professor Franz Gassner ([email protected]) or to Ms. Joyce Xi, the Assistant Editor of Religions ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue.

Dr. Maria Isabel Pereira Varanda
Dr. Franz Gassner
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

 

Keywords

  • religion

  • nature
  • relationship
  • common home
  • common life
  • biodiversity
  • integral ecology
  • sustainable development
  • ecological conversion
  • planetary boundaries

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 264 KiB  
Article
Is the “Common Home” Metaphor Adequate and Useful for an “Integral Ecology” Theology in Modern Times?
by Maria Isabel Pereira Varanda
Religions 2024, 15(2), 198; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020198 - 5 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1369
Abstract
This essay argues that the “common home” metaphor, when applied to planet Earth, falls short in its ability to provide an accurate analogy with the complexity and diversity of the planet itself since it has a limited epistemological, heuristic, and hermeneutical horizon; it [...] Read more.
This essay argues that the “common home” metaphor, when applied to planet Earth, falls short in its ability to provide an accurate analogy with the complexity and diversity of the planet itself since it has a limited epistemological, heuristic, and hermeneutical horizon; it is an analogy that proves inadequate in expressing common human representations of home and the two principles that should inspire an Ecotheology: the ontological value of creatures (Gaudium et Spes) and the recognition of the intrinsic relationship between all beings (Laudato Si’). In order to methodologically support this enquiry, a reflexive analysis and a metadisciplinary discourse are used through Emmanuel Levinas, Hannah Arendt, and the concept of integral ecology, proposed in Pope Francis’s encyclical letter Laudato Si’. On care for our common home, 21 May 2015. The performativity of the “common home” metaphor is evaluated to review its use in Ecotheology. The conclusion reached is that the category of “common life” might be more appropriate than “common home” to characterize how humans inhabit the world for an Ecotheology, and to represent planetary and cosmic communion and interdependence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Theology: Interrelationships of Religion, Nature, and Common Life)
16 pages, 307 KiB  
Article
From Ecotheology to Ecospirituality in Laudato sí—Ecological Spirituality beyond Christian Religion
by Teresa Messias
Religions 2024, 15(1), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010068 - 4 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2870
Abstract
This article discusses the notion of ecotheology, its origins and the conceptual framework of meaning, particularly within Christian theology, in order to establish its relation to the notion of ecospirituality. The article researches how ecological theology may ground an ecological spirituality. Then, it [...] Read more.
This article discusses the notion of ecotheology, its origins and the conceptual framework of meaning, particularly within Christian theology, in order to establish its relation to the notion of ecospirituality. The article researches how ecological theology may ground an ecological spirituality. Then, it uses both notions to (1) analyze Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter Laudato sí, (2) identify what models of ecotheology are used in his approach, (3) trace significant ecotheological dimensions, proposals, practices and lifestyles conveyed, (4) investigate if it is possible to identify the presence of an ecospirituality, concluding affirmatively. Finally, it asks whether Laudato sí’s ecospirituality is only meaningful and operative within a Christian spiritual framework or if, in many respects, it may be also inspirational and significant beyond a Christian realm of meaning. It concludes that Laudato sí’s ecological spirituality offers common ground for synergies with other religious, non-religious and secular ecospiritualities which can be synergic contributors to the creation of networks of action and meaning that can be implemented in order to develop a common passionate and effective protection of our world on environmental matters. The methodology used is a critical and hermeneutical documental analysis by means of reviewing significant literature in this area of knowledge. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Theology: Interrelationships of Religion, Nature, and Common Life)
13 pages, 234 KiB  
Article
The Web of Life: A Critique of Nature, Wilderness, Gaia and the «Common Household»
by Anne Marie Reijnen
Religions 2024, 15(1), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010063 - 3 Jan 2024
Viewed by 2018
Abstract
A two-word summary of the following article might be «Words matter». It matters whether we conceive of the non-built world as nature, as «wilderness», as Gaia/Mother Earth, or as «our common home». We analyze the emergence of each of these four notions. Nature, [...] Read more.
A two-word summary of the following article might be «Words matter». It matters whether we conceive of the non-built world as nature, as «wilderness», as Gaia/Mother Earth, or as «our common home». We analyze the emergence of each of these four notions. Nature, by far the most multi-layered of the words, has a complex history rooted in the Greek word phusis. Nature is problematic because of its opposites: supernatural; nurture, culture and civilization. Nature seems to require dualism. Wilderness started out as something terrifying (the realm of the wild beasts), later acquiring a specific American understanding of an area conserved for recreation, of nature partially preserved, all desirable goals inspired by John Muir. In the Scriptures, wilderness becomes filled by promise. Gaia is short for the Gaia hypothesis of Earth as a living, self-regulating organism. It was coined by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis and discussed critically by Bruno Latour. Compared with the view of the Earth as dead matter, «Gaia» is conducive to respect for all living beings. When it is coupled with Mother Earth, the concept becomes problematic from a feminist point of view. The common home or household stem from the teachings of Pope Francis. Although Laudato si’ is rightly viewed as a prophetic text regarding ecology and spirituality, «common home» implies a domestication of all that lives in a worldview that remains anthropocentric (homes are artefacts). A better concept is the «web of life» of which humankind is a part, but not the master. It is such a decentering that may herald hope for the Earth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Theology: Interrelationships of Religion, Nature, and Common Life)
8 pages, 301 KiB  
Article
The Ecological Transition from the Perspective of the Poor
by Frédéric-Marie Le Méhauté
Religions 2023, 14(12), 1540; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14121540 - 14 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1379
Abstract
In the last few years, a theological trend has developed in France that is committed to listening to the words of people in precarious situations. In the tradition of Father Joseph Wresinski, founder of ATD Fourth World, this theological movement seeks to hear [...] Read more.
In the last few years, a theological trend has developed in France that is committed to listening to the words of people in precarious situations. In the tradition of Father Joseph Wresinski, founder of ATD Fourth World, this theological movement seeks to hear the joys, the struggles, the hopes, the dreams, and the faith of those who live on the margins of the world. They are the first to be affected by social and environmental injustices. They are the first to fight poverty. They are the first to invent a sustainable way of life. Listening to and taking seriously the experiences and words of the very poor opens up new perspectives for theology, especially in the ecological field. Indeed, the link between the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor has become commonplace. According to the World Bank, it is even “evidence”. Certainly “everything is linked”, as Pope Francis writes in Laudato Si’, but the characterization of this link must be deepened. It is not simply a matter of juxtaposing these two cries, but of perceiving that it is only from the most excluded that fair, effective, and sustainable solutions can be proposed. Bringing their words and thoughts into our modern agoras is an essential anthropological, political, and theological challenge for ecological conversion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Theology: Interrelationships of Religion, Nature, and Common Life)
14 pages, 816 KiB  
Article
Leviticus 25—Towards a Common Home and an Integral Ecology
by Marta García Fernández
Religions 2023, 14(12), 1501; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14121501 - 4 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1092
Abstract
This article aims to show the great potential of the biblical text of the Jubilee (Lev 25:8–22) from a socio-environmental interpretation. To do so, it uses two hermeneutical keys taken from the encyclical Laudato Si’: the common home and integral ecology. As a [...] Read more.
This article aims to show the great potential of the biblical text of the Jubilee (Lev 25:8–22) from a socio-environmental interpretation. To do so, it uses two hermeneutical keys taken from the encyclical Laudato Si’: the common home and integral ecology. As a preamble, this essay dedicates the first section to reinforcing the importance and the wisdom of the metaphor of the home—an image of creation that goes back to antiquity. In the next two sections, it reads the text from the perspective of these two great concepts. With regard to the common home, it starts from the premise that for creation to be a common home, it is necessary for each human being to enjoy a space. From there, it studies how the text of Lev 25 manages the necessary relationship between private property and the universal destination of goods. The second section addresses the need to legislate not only for behavior but for effective and comprehensive conversion. And it shows the mechanisms that the text of Lev 25 uses to achieve this. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Theology: Interrelationships of Religion, Nature, and Common Life)
23 pages, 1446 KiB  
Article
Generations and Life Worlds: The Case of Braga in Portugal
by Eduardo Duque and José F. Durán Vázquez
Religions 2023, 14(11), 1413; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14111413 - 11 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1239
Abstract
The objective of this research is to present the primary results of a study on generations and generational relationships in Braga, Portugal, specifically in the spheres of family, school, work, leisure and consumption, and religion. For this purpose, three generational cohorts were [...] Read more.
The objective of this research is to present the primary results of a study on generations and generational relationships in Braga, Portugal, specifically in the spheres of family, school, work, leisure and consumption, and religion. For this purpose, three generational cohorts were differentiated, belonging to those born in the decades 1940–1950, 1965–1975, and 1990–2000. This work will focus on the first of these generations, 1940–1950. To carry out this research, each generation was structured based on gender and social class, and qualitative (Life Stories) and quantitative (questionnaires) techniques were used. We started from the hypotheses suggested by previous research (blinded for review) and confirmed by the one being developed that it is possible to observe certain generational connections, despite the divisions related to gender and social class that exist within them (a division that gains greater visibility in the qualitative dimension), and that relationships between generations cannot be approached from theoretical models based on mere reproduction or opposition. Instead, we must grasp these relationships through more complex and dynamic processes, through which they will reconfigure and rework what is transmitted and what is received by each generation, resulting in a unique outcome that will be explored in this work. The religious dimension, which was previously a naturally assumed and lived tradition, ceased to be recognised as an identity determinant by the younger generations. As a result, the cultural heritage is no longer passed down as tradition. In this sense, there is a whole “integral ecology” (LS 159), in its broadest sense, recovering that is capable of cementing principles and values that unite generations and give meaning to life. To carry out this research, a theoretical and analytical framework has been established based on the following dimensions: transmissions (concerning the narratives and the people who appear as their referents); temporalities that articulate both the relationships within each generation and between generations; spaces, structures, and rituals that make up and give meaning to the transmissions; recognised debts, obligations, and interdependencies; expectations and achievements; and tensions between the expected and the achieved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Theology: Interrelationships of Religion, Nature, and Common Life)
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11 pages, 252 KiB  
Article
Kalikhasang Balaan: Elements of a Youth Specific Ecotheology in the Philippines
by Rito Baring and Jeramie Molino
Religions 2023, 14(6), 768; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060768 - 10 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1844
Abstract
Scientific consensus points to human activity as the primary cause of global warming triggering climate change. Mitigations include technology-assisted interventions and education of human agents, such as changing the human mindset and behavior, to avoid impending, irreversible environmental damage, among others. Among the [...] Read more.
Scientific consensus points to human activity as the primary cause of global warming triggering climate change. Mitigations include technology-assisted interventions and education of human agents, such as changing the human mindset and behavior, to avoid impending, irreversible environmental damage, among others. Among the competent sectors, religious communities can boost formative human interventions through religious ideas. The present study content analyzes the conceptual elements of “Kalikhasang Balaan” as a youth-specific ecotheological view drawn from a unidimensional Filipino measure on Christian Environmentalism. Our analysis is deductive in approach, drawing theological aspects of a peculiar youth ecotheology driven by the notion of “Kalikhasang Balaan”, framed within creation theology and Christian stewardship driven by environmental ethics. We discuss the unique attributes of this Filipino notion in the light of local Philippine church and government responses to understand how the youth ecotheological voice may correspond to institutional views. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eco-Theology: Interrelationships of Religion, Nature, and Common Life)
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