User:Neptunus Camelopardelius/Environmental theology

Environmental theology pertains to "the God-environment relationship and divine expectations of human behavior in relation to the environment".

History
The history of Environmental Theology is often regarded as a new age idea developed in the last one hundred years, however, evidence shows that its roots can be traced back to Saint Francis of Assisi. His sermon to the birds is referred too often when discussing early Environmental Theology. It is also discussed for its radical ideas for the time period.

“The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis” is the most prominent citation in a literature review on Environmental Theology. Written by Dr. Lynn White Jr. in 1967, "The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis" remains one of the core pieces of literature to all environmental theologians. In this infamous publication, Dr. Lynn White Jr. proposed the idea that the current ecological crisis can trace its roots back to the Bible and mans interpretation of Gods words. He discusses his ideas that Western Christianity over emphasizes an anthropocentric view of the environment that has led to the destruction of the environment over millennia. He instead proposes that Christianity to move towards a more nurturing approach to nature. At the end of his essay, Dr. Lynn White Jr. nominated Saint Francis of Assisi to be the patron saint of ecologists.

Writings in environmental theology normally cover two veins of thought. One sector being a belief system and the other sector being a behavior system. It is commonly found that documents closely associated with environmental theology do not directly define the term. A definition for Environmental Theology was finally proposed in 2001- "a term used to describe the God-environment relationship and divine expectations of human behavior in relation to the environment".

Discussions In Environmental Theology
Many discussions have been held since the publication of "Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis". In fact the number of articles written regarding Environmental Theology increased substantially in the years after its publication. The peak number of publications occured in 1971 with 80 articles written regarding Environmentalism in the Judeo-Christian traditions. A vast majority of publications foucuses on the concept of anthropocentracism being the driving force of our ecological crisis. There are some articles that have been written that support the concept of anthropocentrasim. Constance Cumbey and David Hunt both published books in 1983 that refuted the ideas of Dr. Lynn White jr. and other theologians, they instead discussed the idea that God did not care for the earth and that it was not up to man to care for it. There are also those who believe that the teachings of Environmental Theology are too radical to have real world effects. The Cornwall Alliance is a group that has formed to protest the idealogy that anthropocentrism is the issue and instead teach it as the solution.