scholarly journals An Orthodox perspective on hamartology and ecology: Assessing John Chryssavgis’ contribution to current discourse

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Newton Cloete
Keyword(s):  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Concise Overview ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
Christian Discourse

This article is a sequel to my earlier paper entitled ‘Hamartology and Ecology: An assessment of Aruna Gnanadason’s contribution to the contemporary debate’. Christian ecotheology presents a Christian critique of ecological destruction while also offering an ecological critique of Christianity. It entails a reinterpretation of all the classic Christian symbols, in this case the doctrine of sin, specifically the nature of sin, explored in the light of ecological discourse. Considering the contemporary ecological crisis, this article highlights Orthodox theologian John Chryssavgis’ contribution to the current debate. Following a concise overview on Christian discourse on ecology, as well as the Christian understanding of the nature of sin and the ways in which it is re-described in contemporary ecotheological terms, this article explores John Chryssavgis’ position on ecotheological discourse through a discussion of anthropocentrism, domination in the name of differences of species, consumerist greed, alienation of humans from the earth community as well as denial and disdain. The Orthodox tradition is an important factor in the formulation of his ecotheology. The method employed here encompasses ecclesial scrutiny, namely Chryssavgis’ assessment of the Christian tradition’s role in contributing to the contemporary crisis, followed by theological reflection on his interpretations of ecological sin and finally, alternative courses of action to appropriately address the issues in question. In closing, the article offers an assessment of Chryssavgis’ overall contribution to current ecotheological discourse.

scholarly journals O Debate Contemporâneo Sobre o Princípio de Soberania na Literatura Ocidental de Relações Internacionais l The Contemporary Debate on the Principle of Sovereignty in the Western Literature of International Relations

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. e58704
Author(s):  
Alice Castelani de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
Western Literature ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
American Authors ◽  
Contemporary Context

A soberania representa uma das articulações políticas mais importantes da Modernidade, a qual convencionou a separação entre as políticas interna e externa. Posto isso, entendemos que para compreender o mundo em que vivemos é necessário pensar essa categoria à luz do contexto contemporâneo, então, com o objetivo de contribuir para o estudo desse conceito, no presente artigo apresentaremos uma revisão do debate atual sobre a categoria de soberania. Para esse fim, nos apoiaremos em um exame da literatura ocidental de Relações Internacionais (RI), com foco em autores americanos, considerando que a produção de conhecimento dos Estados Unidos (EUA) é preponderante dentro deste campo. Esclarecemos que o debate na esfera destacada pode ser dividido em duas linhas de pesquisa que serão exploradas neste texto. A primeira aborda o aprofundamento da globalização e os efeitos desse processo sobre soberania e a segunda discute como são socialmente construídos os discursos sobre essa categoria.Palavras-Chave: Teoria; Relações Internacionais; Soberania.ABSTRACTSovereignty represents one of the most important political articulations of Modernity, which established the separation between internal and external policies. That said, we understand that in order to understand the world in which we live, it is necessary to think about this category in the light of the contemporary context, so, in order to contribute to the study of this concept, in this article we’ll present a review of the current debate on the category of sovereignty. To that end, we’ll rely on an examination of the Western International Relations (IR) literature, focusing on American authors, considering that the production of knowledge from the United States (USA) is predominant within this field. We clarify that the debate in the highlighted sphere can be divided into two lines of research that will be explored in this text. The first addresses the deepening of globalization and the effects of this process on sovereignty and the second discusses how the speeches about this category are socially constructed.Keywords: Theory; International Relations; Sovereignty. Recebido em: 27/03/2021 | Aceito em: 18/05/2021. 

Vibration, Difference, and Solidarity in the Anthropocene

Resonance ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-241
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Chung
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Sound Studies ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
New Materialism ◽  
Moral Standing ◽  
Departure Point ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Black Skin

Taking the new materialist and climate change themes of Ashley Fure’s The Force of Things: an Opera for Objects as a departure point, this article examines sound studies’ recent invocations of new materialist philosophy alongside this philosophy's foundational concern toward the Anthropocene ecological crisis. I argue that new materialist sonic thought retraces new materialism’s dubious ethical program by deriving equivalencies of moral standing from logically prior ontological equivalencies of material entities and social actors rooted in their shared capacities to vibrate. Some sonic thought thus amplifies what scholars in Black and Indigenous decolonial critique have exposed as the homogenizing, assimilative character of new materialism’s superficially inclusional and optimistic ontological imaginary, which includes tendencies to obscure the ongoingness of racial inequality and settler-colonial exploitation in favor of theorizing difference as a superfice or illusion. As I argue in a sonic reading of Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks, some of new materialism’s favored analytical and ecological terms such as objecthood, vibrationality, and connection to the Earth are also terms through which anti-Blackness, colonial desire, and the universalization of Whiteness have historically been routed. This historical amnesia in new materialism enables its powerfully obfuscating premises. As a result, I argue that new materialist sound studies and philosophy risk amplifying the Anthropocene’s similarly homogenizing rhetorics, which often propound a mythic planetary oneness while concealing racial and colonial climate inequities. If sound studies and the sonic arts are to have illuminating perspectives on the Anthropocene, they must oppose rather than affirm its homogenizing logics.

The Vanishing Absolute and the Deconsecrated God: A Theological Reflection on Revelation, Law, and Human Dignity

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Beattie
Keyword(s):  
Human Dignity ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Original Sin ◽  
Homo Sacer ◽  
Divine Justice ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Cross

Drawing on Giorgio Agamben’s idea of homo sacer and on the Catholic natural law tradition, Beattie explores the paradoxes and tensions inherent in the Christian understanding of divine justice and human laws. While natural law resists the pessimism of some Protestant theologies and their secularized postmodern derivatives, the doctrine of original sin means that all human laws are flawed in their quest to maintain justice through the imposition of order. Beattie argues that Christ is homo sacer in whom God is profaned, the human is made sacred, and the crucified body of the dehumanized other on the cross becomes the bearer of an absolute dignity outside the law.

An Ecocentric Reading of אמת‎, חסד‎, and דעת אלהים‎ in Hosea 4.1-6

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-360
Author(s):  
Olugbemiro O. Berekiah
Keyword(s):  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Hebrew Text ◽  
Human Action ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Human Relationship ◽  
The Earth ◽  
English Translations

Many critics have blamed the current ecological crisis on an interpretation of the biblical text that legitimates human abuse of the earth’s resources, through a misconstruction of the human relationship with the rest of the created order. The Hebrew text of Hosea 4.1-6 documents a tacit knowledge of the consequence of human action on the ecosystem, evidence that has been eclipsed in various English translations due to the contextual gap between the text and the English recipient. This paper attempts a reconstruction of the Hebrew text, and undertakes a fresh translation that exposes the cosmological underpinnings of the text. The passage is then interpreted from an ecocentric perspective in a synchronic reading with other passages. This reveals an awareness of an intricate relationship among humanity, the earth, and non-human inhabitants of the earth, a relationship that Hosea describes with the terms אמת‎, חסד‎, and דעת אלהים‎.

“White Man Got No Dreaming Him Go “Nother Way” — Albert Muta

1994 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-345
Author(s):  
John Hilary Martin
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Essential Value ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Christian Understanding

Land is an essential value for the Australian Aboriginal people, intimately associated with the Dreaming, which is best characterized as a religious value. It was during the Dreaming that the earth was formed and particular land was assigned to particular communities as a permanent responsibility and trust: you were to take care of the land and the land would take care of you. The attitude of immigrant settlers to the land has been different: Australia is a place tto be settled, planted and worked. This matches the Christian understanding that religious identity is not located in a physical place, since the Eucharistic assembly is the central locus of Christian identity. But it is also at the breaking of bread that Christians find their attachment to the earth. The article argues that Christians need to learn to live in and with the land they inhabit, since it is the land which provides the ultimate context for the Eucharistic assembly.

scholarly journals Moderne diskoerse in die teologie vandag

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J.H. Van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Research ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Human Society ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Theological Debate

In hierdie artikel word aandag gevra vir enkele moderne diskoerse in die teologie vandag. Volgens die outeur staan die vrae oor God, Jesus, die mens en die aarde in die sentrum van belangstelling en oorheers dit in ’n groot mate die teologiese debat. Die opkoms van die moderne aggressiewe ateïsme, die wetenskaplike navorsing oor die historiese Jesus, die groeiende vrae oor die mens en die menslike samelewing, asook die dreigende ekologiese krisis op aarde, sorg vir nuwe debatte van ongekende omvang. Die outeur bespreek hierdie debatte oorsigtelik, met kritiek waar nodig, en sluit af met enkele rigtingwysers van wat hy as ‘goeie teologie’ verstaan.In this article attention is paid to some modern discourses in theology today. According to the author the questions about God, Jesus, man and the earth are in the centre of interest and to a large extent dominate the theological debate. The rise of modern aggressive atheism, the scientific research on the historic Jesus, the growing questions about man and human society as well as the threatening ecological crisis on earth, provide new discourses of unparalleled magnitude. The author provides a broad summary of these discourses, with criticism where necessary, and concludes with some indicators of his view what can be called ‘good theology’.

scholarly journals Greening education as a foundation sustainable development of the environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 937 (4) ◽  
pp. 042007
Author(s):  
S Anzorova ◽  
S Sarbassova ◽  
Z Dzhubalieva ◽  
A Meldebekova ◽  
M Zhapanova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Problem ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Nature Management ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Ecological Culture ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract The complex and contradictory situation in the relationship between society and the environment has raised a number of important problems, the solution of which lies in the field of environmental education. The environmental problem is one of the most exciting and dramatic human problems of the 21st century. Signs of the global ecological crisis of humanity, set before each individual the task of mastering the principles of managing their lives, which are in constant interaction with the environment, the tasks of rational nature management and awareness of the role, place and importance of man in the evolution of the Earth and Space. The priority of any educational system is the formation of a holistic worldview and ecological culture of the individual and society, within which it is necessary to perform a socio-ecological function. The growing interest and concern of both the public and State institutions to the problems of nature surrounding humans in developed countries is becoming obvious.

Separation and Unity: Zen Koan in Environmental Theory and Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
David Chang
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Education ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Western Culture ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Sensory Experience ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Ecological Ethics ◽  
Pedagogical Innovation ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Environmental Educators

Abstract The ecological crisis has been traced to a rupture in the human-nature relationship, which sees the natural world as inert materials that serve human utility. This prevailing sense of separation is thoroughly embedded in Western culture through engrained metaphors that reinforce a view of the Earth as a subject of human mastery. To counter the disjuncture between humans and nature, some theorists have suggested a unitive view of nature, while others have argued for more expansive forms of identification that engender a more responsive ecological ethics. Despite these efforts, the human-nature dichotomy remains a perennial issue of debate, especially for environmental educators who strive to cultivate a more harmonious relationship with the earth. This article examines the Zen Koan (case or example) as a pedagogical innovation that hones the learner’s ability to entertain opposing propositions. Humans are both united with and separate from nature at the same time. The Koan encourages an epistemological fluidity and openness to ambiguity that can enrich and deepen inquiry. In the context of environmental education, this contemplative approach to investigation can complement immersive pedagogies that enjoin somatic and sensory experience in explorations of the natural world.

Ecological awareness and education of the society in the light of sustainability idea – selected aspects

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Kociszewska
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Ecological Education ◽  
Life Changes ◽  
Clear Water ◽  
Ecological Awareness ◽  
Knowledge And Attitudes ◽  
The Earth

Abstract The 20th century has left in its inheritance not only magnificent technological inventions, but also deteriorated environment of human life. Changes caused by human activity deteriorate the condition of our environment at the intimidating pace. “Mountains” of rubbish become a frequent sight, we begin to lack clear water and air, animal species become extinct, forests are thoughtlessly cut down. Human health and life gets more and more endangered. Contemporary civilization, due to the unusual pace of transformations undergoing within it, acts negatively and destructively on natural environment. Ecological crisis deepens. No one today will claim that ecological education is pointless. What the Earth will look like in the future, depends exclusively on us and the ideas we will pass on to our children. Therefore, undoubtedly developing ecological awareness and the active attitude of care towards nature can and should be done in the earliest years of a child’s life. Small, seemingly insignificant experiences that involve children, attitudes they encounter, messages they accumulate, everything that the child meets and experiences, shapes their relationship to nature. Under the guidance of parents, teachers and other older people, as well as under the influence of peers, child’s interests, knowledge and attitudes should take into account the needs of time and the conditions in which he or she lives and which will be their future

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