Sustainability of Nature and Mission of the Church: Towards an Integral Eco-Theology Revd George Abraham Kallooppara, Austin Ecology in general refers to the living animals and organisms that live on earth and their influence on each other. Ecology is the science of the symphony of life, and the science of survival. Ecology, economics and ecumenism comes from the same root word ‘oikos,’ they are inter connected but in real life this togetherness is missing. There is a terrible imbalance in ecology because of the imbalance in economics, which in turn affects the unity among the whole creation. The world is moving towards a culture of accumulation of wealth, which is against the natural law of eco-system. The result is an unwarranted and irresponsible exploitation of plants, animals and natural resources resulting in land conversion and habitat destruction, land degradation, resource conversion and wastes, hazards in means of production, pollution of air in the form of acid rain, ozone depletion, greenhouse effect, pollution of seas, rivers and lakes because of toxins, chemicals, pesticides, oil contamination, nuclear pollution, thermal pollution etc. It is not possible for the individual to live without being concerned about the environment as the individual lies with it and in it and by it. The role of religion is very interesting when seen in the light of ecology. Every religion holds nature in high esteem. Ecology from a theological perspective was not part of traditional theological schools as exploitation of natural resources was considered as a God given right justified by scripture. Modern theologians however use the same scripture to show how the Bible views ecology and its interpretation of creation. Theological Task The word “theology” literally means simply “words about God.” A Cosmo centric theology must be theocentric: theology is about God and the world. The responsibility of theologians is to bring the perspectives of the Christian faith to bear on the current and pressing issues of our day. The distinctive voice of theology is the voice that speaks of God in relation to the pains and pleasures, the crisis and opportunities, the dilemmas and despairs of life on planet Earth. Theology is an aspect of discerning God’s will, and hence cannot be done apart from ethics and spirituality: thinking, doing and praying belong together. One cannot think about God or act rightly in the world apart from being grounded in God. The important character of any theology is the context in which it occurs. A theology that begins with the statement that we live to give God glory by loving the world has two foci: a theocentric and a
Cosmo centric one. The cosmological context says that theology should be done from the perspective of the wellbeing of the entire planet and all its creatures in which each one of us are a subject in a community of subjects, both human and earth subjects, all of whom have value. “To turn toward God (theocentrism) was simultaneously “to turn toward God’s beloved world (geocentrism)” (Larry. L. Rasmussen, Earth Community- Earth Ethics, New York: Orbis Books, 1996). The integrity of creation refers to the value of all creatures in themselves, for one another, and for God, and their interconnectedness in a diverse whole that has unique value for God. To forget the integrity of creation is to forget that the earth itself is a splendid whole.
The rising privatization of the land by the rich, the elite and by the ruling class for ‘development’ projects results in the victimization of the poor. The ecological movements today, noted that the poor masses are fighting for their survival and the right to homeland. ‘Land is life’. Hence a theology of creation should also be a theology of land. Claus Westermann refutes the traditional interpretation of ‘dominion’ as ‘right to exploitation.’ God expects human beings to act like viceroys, to be just and responsible and render real services to the created order. Viceroys are forbidden to exploit people on the earth. What is expected for God’s viceroy on earth is to: defend the cause of the poor and be concerned about the fertility of land (Psalms 72:4-6). Christian love is not the kind of selfish possessiveness, which is lavished solely on our children and grandchildren, but is given to all household of God, all the children of the one and the same parent. It is the divine ‘agape’, which is applicable not just to people with whom we share values or our generation but also to all people in all time. By doing so we keep right relationship with nature and the whole creation of God as stewards and caretakers of everything that is given to us for our use. There is a need for each one of us to live differently in order to love nature, and to live differently we need to think differently- especially about ourselves and who we
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