The first line of the Bible tells us that the world is created by a loving, personal God. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The world is good in itself; God contemplates what He has done and found that “it was good.” (Gen 1:10, 13, 18, 21, 26). This statement is very important. Israel grew up cheek by jowl with cultures which maintained that the spirit world was created by a God or a good spirit and that matter came from an evil spirit. The Genesis story rejects this radical dualism.
Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a comes from a liturgical source. The text has a ritual cadence and structure, finely tuned by decades of use in the temple worship. Even in translation one can sense the majesty and rhythm, “God said, let there be light… God said, let there be a vault in the waters,” building up to a climax in 2:3, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on that day He had rested after all his work of creating.”
In reading the text or better still listening to it being read aloud, it is obvious that the author did not set out to give a scientific account of creation in either an ancient or modern sense. While it builds on the cosmology of the day, it was written to answer the more basic questions – who created the world and why? The answers were clear and emphatic. God created the world and sustains it by His power. There is nothing hidden from His domain. God’s creative outpouring reaches its zenith in the creation of man and woman.
“Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild beasts and the reptiles that crawl upon the earth…. God blessed them, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it.’” (Gen 1:26-28) (JB).
A CHALLENGE TO IMITATE GOD
The repercussions of this command “to fill the earth and conquer it” has had a profound impact on the way Jews and Christians have related to the natural world. The New Jerusalem Bible uses the phrase “subdue it,” others render it “have dominion over it.” Some people, like the American historian Lynn White, maintain that our modern ecological problems stem from “the orthodox Christian arrogance towards nature.” But does the Genesis text support such human arrogance towards nature? First of all, the injunction makes sense in the light of the urge within many Middle Eastern cultures to control the chaos and wilderness. Nevertheless, many modern biblical scholars insist that the divine command cannot be interpreted as a license for humans to change and transform the natural world according to any human whim or fancy. The commission is, in fact, a challenge to human beings to imitate God’s loving kindness and faithfulness and act as His viceroy in relationship with the non-human component of the earth.
This, White argues, is the original meaning of the Hebrew word radah used in the text. Like viceroys of the king, men and women are expected to be just, honest and render real service. They were forbidden to exploit the people or the earth.
Exegetes today remind us that the first account does not end at Gen 1:31 with the creation of humans. It ends rather in Gen 2:3 with the Sabbath, rest of God. The sabbath was a very important institution for the people of Israel both for human and animal well-being. (Gen 2:4 – 3:24).
The second account of creation (Gen 2:4 – 3:24) is much older than the first account. In this story the author set out to situate this history of God’s saving activity on behalf of Israel within the broader parameters of human and cosmic history. For the author, the same God who brought Israel out of Egypt and bestowed on her the land was the One who had created the world and all human cultures. In this creation story, the author deals with themes which were common among cultures of the Near East. These included the creation of the world, an initial state of paradise, the origins of tribes, institutions such as marriage, and universal questions like the origin and meaning of suffering, evil and death.
Given Israel’s unique experience of Yahweh, the reality of evil demanded a special answer. Israel knew from experience that Yahweh is full of loving kindness and compassion and that he had rescued them from oppression in Egypt. Yet evil is an ever-present reality in the world around them and even in their own collective and personal lives. The question arose, how can one explain the emergence of evil if God is good? It could not originate from a rival spirit co-equal with Yahweh; therefore, it had to have come from some primordial disobedience by humans themselves.
THE KEEPER OF THE GARDEN
In comparing the two accounts of creation, the first thing that strikes one about the second account is that it is more earthy. Humans are created from the earth, God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Humans come alive because Yahweh breathes a living spirit into them. Yahweh’s involvement with humans does not end with creating and setting them loose to do as they please. Immediately “the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east and there he put the man he had formed” (Gen 2:8).
In Gen 2:15 God “took man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying you may eat of every tree of the garden; but the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you will die.”
Human activity was circumscribed by God’s command to till and keep. The Hebrew words used here are abad and shamar. Abad means work or till, but it also has overtones of service, while shamar means keep, with overtones of preserving and defending from harm. This account cautions about the limits of the earth, with the command not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis, Chapter 3 goes on to recount how Adam and Eve transgressed God’s command and ate of the fruit of the tree. In their pride and arrogance, they wished to take complete control of their own destiny and be “like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:5). These fantasies were quickly dashed. Their act of disobedience severed their intimate friendship with God (Gen 3:8) and transformed their human situation. Pain, suffering and death entered into the human condition (Gen 3:16, 19b).
Moreover, the fall also ruptured their relationship with nature. It was no longer the bountiful and fruitful garden (Gen 2:9), but it became antagonistic and inhospitable:
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
Painfully will you get your food from it as long as you live.
It will yield brambles and thistles
as you eat the produce of the land.”
(Gen 3:17b-19)
THE COVENANT WITH LIFE
The Noah story (Gen 6:11 – 9:17) has a profound message for the modern world where so many creatures are facing extinction because of human activity as I outline in my book The Death of Life: The Horror of Extinction. God commanded Noah to conserve nature. In the wake of the flood, Yahweh renews the command of Gen 1:28. This time the covenant is entered into not merely with humans but with all creation (Gen 9:8-17): God spoke to Noah and to his sons. “I am now establishing my covenant with you and with your descendants to come, and with every living creature that was with you; birds, cattle and every wild animal with you; everything that came out of the ark…”
“And this,” God said, “is the sign of the covenant which I now make between myself and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come. I now set my bow in the clouds and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” (Gen 9:8-14) (NJB)
Yahweh, the Creator, is also the Savior of Israel. Therefore, He is not a remote prime mover, uninvolved in the world. Yahweh is a caring God; He practices good husbandry and looks after all His creatures by “giving them their food in due season” (Ps 104:27). It recalls that “You visit the earth and make it fruitful, You fill it with riches; the river of God brims over with water, You provide the grain” (Ps 65:9). He is also a God who is faithful both to the human community and to all creation (Gen 8:22; 9:9-13).
RESPECT FOR ALL CREATURES
The community of Israel was not born out of a common language or a common cultural experience. Rather, Yahweh chose as His people a group of oppressed slaves; He liberated them and bound them to Himself by covenant relationship (Ex 19:3-9; 24:3-8). For this reason, the covenant and its renewal was to play a dominant role in the history of Israel down through the ages. At crucial moments in its history, such as when it entered the land of Israel, the community renewed the covenant (Jos 24:1-28). Prophets like Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel reminded the people that they had been unfaithful to the covenant and challenged them to return to its spirit. (Jer 31:31; Ez 36:26-32).
The Law covered not just religious observance and moral behavior but every aspect of life (Ex 20:1-17). Much of the Law, or Torah, deals with Israel’s relationship with God, with fellow Israelites and with outsiders; its attention is focused on humans’ relationship with God and with one another. Nonetheless, the demand for stewardship and respect for animals is not completely lacking. Respect for Yahweh’s sovereignty, care for the earth, concern for the poor, sensitivity to the needs of both wild and farm animals, all come together in Ex 23:10-12, which decrees that: “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild beasts may eat.” (RSV). Respect for birds and domestic and wild animals was also enjoined in the Law. “You must not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain” (Dt 25:4). This thoughtful and respectful attitude is extended further to include all wildlife: “If you chance to come upon a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; you shall let the mother go, but the young you may take to yourself: that it may go well with you, and that you may live long” (Dt 22:6-7) (RSV).
THE STEWARDS OF CREATION
Despite what I have written above, some commentators stress that the Jewish tradition gives more prominence to human-divine and inter-human relationships. There is no denying this; the insights emerged at a time when the impact of human agency on the natural world was nowhere as noticeable or destructive as it is today. Nonetheless, it is worth remembering that the Jewish tradition is flexible and adaptable. Covenants in Israel and elsewhere in the ancient Middle East were sealed by ritual activity. In Exodus 24, the covenant between Yahweh and His people was sealed through the sacrifice of oxen, the sprinkling of blood (3-8) and finally a meal (9-11).
The same urge to seal the covenant with a meal spills over into the New Testament. Before His sacrifice, Jesus breaks bread and shares the cup (Mk 14:17-25; Mt 26:20-29; Lk 22:14-23; 1 Cor 11:23-33). The early Church continued to recall the death and resurrection of Jesus “by breaking bread” (Acts 2:46). Down through the ages, members of the Christian community have brought to the Eucharist the fruits of the earth transformed by human labor. As with the ancient covenants in Israel, the Eucharist calls to mind the graciousness of God in creating and redeeming His people. In the Eucharist, the Christian community is recreated by recalling the mighty deed of God. Like the father who, in answer to his son’s query – what does this ritual mean? – Exodus (12:26) recounts the haggadah or story of liberation, the Christian community in celebrating the Eucharist recalls the story of God’s faithfulness and loving kindness in creating our world and redeeming His people.
Unfortunately, in the present Roman Missal, the focus on creation is often hurried and perfunctory. Eucharistic Prayer II is a good example. We glide over the stupendous reality of creation in a single line: “He is the Word through whom You made the universe.” The Preface of Sundays in Ordinary Time V is more sensitive: “All things are of Your making, all times and seasons obey Your laws, but You chose to create men and women in Your own image, setting them over the whole world in all its wonder. You made them the stewards of creation, to praise You day by day for the marvels of Your wisdom and power through Christ our Lord.”
PEACE TO HUMANITY AND EARTH
It is obvious that the creation theme offers extraordinary opportunities for Christian communities in different parts of the world to praise God from the depths of their own experience of nature and in the most appropriate idiom of their culture. Here, too, each region, or more accurately each bioregion, will celebrate a different dimension of creation in their Eucharistic celebration. People living in mountain regions will obviously incorporate that experience with all the creatures that live with them in the mountain into their hymn of praise. Those living on the seashore in tropical regions can incorporate the world of wonder, beauty, symmetry and abundance that is revealed in the coral reefs and the mangrove forests.
In recalling God’s graciousness in the context of the life, death and resurrection of the Lord, our gifts are transformed into His Body and Blood. Christians believe that as members of a community, we share the gifts of Christ’s Body and Blood. But this breaking of the bread and pouring out of the cup reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice – that His life was poured out for others to bring salvation, wholeness and peace to humanity and the earth.
THE PROPHETS’ WARNINGS
The prophets in Israel were not seers who gazed into a crystal ball to foretell the future, but men who were called by Yahweh to remind Israel, often in blunt and uncompromising language, to be faithful to the covenant. The aim of the prophet was to help people see the designs and call of God in the present moment. They challenged, cajoled and inspired Israel with hope when the sky was full of black clouds and no bright dawn seemed to be spreading from the horizon. The prophets were very much aware of the fact that the earth will also punish those who, by their extravagant consumption, oppress the poor and destroy the earth (Joel 1:4).
“Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
The seed shrivels under the clods,
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are ruined
because the grain has failed.
How the beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep are dismayed.”
(Joel 1:16-18) (RSV).
Prophets challenged the political and religious leadership of their time. For this reason, they were often not made welcome by people caught up with institutions like kings or priests. Amos was seen as a troublemaker (Am 7:10-14). Unfortunately, the various institutional watchmen, including religious leaders, have failed to understand the magnitude of the ecological crisis that was unfolding during the past 50 years. Prophets like Rachel Carson, E. F. Schumacher, for example, were largely ignored. Only in the late 1980s have politicians and religious leaders begun to wake up to what is happening. Yet, even at this late stage, they have little positive guidance to offer beyond vague generalities. How different from the concrete options laid out before the people by the prophets.
THE PRAISE OF CREATION
In its prayers and hymns, we capture Israel’s deepest aspirations and feelings as it responds to Yahweh’s manifestation of Himself in its history. These outpourings of praise, thanksgiving and supplication afford us a unique insight into the living faith of Israel, especially as the community joined together for common worship. In worship Israel celebrated in song its deepest faith in who Yahweh was and how He related to Israel as a people and to the world which He created.
“For Yahweh is a great God,
a king greater than all gods.
In His power are the depths of the earth;
the peaks of the mountains are His;
The sea belongs to Him, for He made it;
and the dry land, molded by His hands.”
(Ps 95:1-5) (NJB).
The praise of God was not confined to humans alone. In Ps 148:1, 2-4, 7-12, the psalmist invites all creation, animate and inanimate, human and non-human, to praise God, conscious of the fact that without this vast symphony, fitting praise of God would be lacking. The praise which that particular creature renders to God is silence for ever and thus the chorus of creation is impoverished.
“Praise Yahweh from the heavens…
Praise Him, sun and moon,
praise Him, all shining stars!
praise Him, highest heavens
praise Him, waters above the heavens…
Praise the Lord from the earth,
sea monsters and all the depths,
fire and hail, snow and mist,
storm winds that obey His command!
mountains and every hill,
orchards and every cedar,
wild animals and all cattle,
reptiles and winged birds!” (Ps 148:2-4, 7-10) (NJB)
Nowhere is Yahweh’s concern for His creation and knowledge of its intimate working better expressed than in Psalm 104. The author begins with a picture of Yahweh working meticulously, like the careful tent maker, to create the heavens and the clouds and the winds. These become vehicles of God’s purposes on earth.
“Bless Yahweh, my soul,
Yahweh, my God, how great You are!
Clothed in majesty and splendor,
wearing the light as a robe!
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
build Your palace on the waters above,
making the clouds Your chariot,
gliding on the wings of the wind,
appointing the winds Your messengers,
flames of fire Your servants.”
(Ps 104:1-4) (NJB).
JESUS’ RESPECT TOWARDS NATURE
A Christian theology of creation has much to learn from the attitude of respect which Jesus displayed towards the natural world. There is no support in the New Testament for a throw-away consumer society which destroys the natural world and produces mountains of non-biodegradable garbage or, worse still, produces toxic waste when, for example, plastics or styrofoam cups which are used once are eventually destroyed. The disciples of Jesus are called upon to live lightly on the earth: “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics” (Lk 9:1-6). Jesus constantly warned about the dangers of attachment to wealth, possessions, or power. These in many ways are what is consuming the poor and the planet itself. “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God” (Mk 10:23; Lk 16:19-31; cf. Mt 19:23-24; Lk 18:18-23). “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?” (Lk 12:16-21).
Jesus shows an intimacy and familiarity with a variety of God’s creatures and the processes of nature. He is not driven by an urge to dominate and control the world of nature. Rather He displays an appreciative and contemplative attitude towards creation which is rooted in the Father’s love for all that He has created: “Think of the ravens. They do not sow or reap; they have no storehouses and no barns; yet God feeds them’” (Lk 12:24) (NJB). We need not be constantly fretting about acquiring more goods. God will provide for our legitimate needs: “are you not worth more than the birds?” (Lk 12:24).
The Gospels tell us that nature played an important role in Jesus’ life. At His birth, Luke tells us that “He was laid in a manger in a cave, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Lk 2:7). He was first greeted by people who were “keeping watch over their flocks by night” (Lk 2:8). Mark tells us that the spirit drove Him into the wilderness. “And He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him” (Mk 1:13) (RSV).
BETWEEN DESERT AND MOUNTAIN
The time Jesus spent in the desert was most formative for the messianic ministry He was about to embrace. In order to be fully open and receptive to His call, Jesus forsook the company of people. He regularly returned to the hills to pray and commune with the Father (Mt 17:1; Mk 6:46; Mt 14:23). He prayed on the hills before making important decisions like choosing the disciples (Lk 6:12). His ministry was not carried out just in synagogues or in the temple. In Matthew’s Gospel, the beatitudes and subsequent teaching are delivered on a mountain (Mt 5:1 – 7:29). Much of His teachings and miracles took place on the shores of the Sea of Galilee (Mt 13:1-52; Mk 4:35-41; Jn 21:1-14). The miracle of the loaves occurred in a ‘lonely place’ (Mt 14:15-21; Lk 9:10-17; Jn 6:1-13).
Many of His parables centered on sowing seed (Mt 13:4 – 9,18-23; Mk 4:3-9, 13-20; Lk 8:5-8, 11-15), vines (Jn 15:1-17; Mk 12:1-12; Mt 21:33-44; Lk 20:9-19), lost sheep (Lk 15:4-7; Mt 18:12-14), or shepherds (Jn 10:1-18). His teaching is regularly interspersed with references to the lilies of the field (Lk 12:27), the birds of the air (Mt 6:26), and the lair of foxes (Lk 9:58). He was Lord of creation and could calm the waves (Mk 4:35-41; Mt 8:23-27; Lk 8:22-25), or walk on the water (Mk 6:48-49), or when food was needed multiply the loaves (Mt 14:13-21; Mk 8:1-10; Lk 9:10-17; Jn 6:1-13).
Like most great religious personalities, He was a great healer. He cured the sick and restored them to health (Mt 12:9-14; Mk 3:1-6; Lk 6:6-11). He cured the paralytic (Mk 2:1-12), the man with a withered hand (Mk 3:1-6), the woman who had been stooped for many years (Lk 13:10-17), and the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years (Jn 5:1-15), and restored sight to the man born blind (Jn 9:1-41). While individuals are restored to health in each act of healing, the healing ministry of Jesus was not confined to individuals. Each healing was a sign that challenged social or religious prejudices, and it also aimed at sowing the seeds of healing within the community itself as it opened to the transforming power of God’s compassion and graciousness.
In His preaching also, Jesus identified Himself with the natural elements of water (Jn 4:13-14), bread (Jn 6:48) and light (Jn 8:12). He presented Himself as the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:11; Mk 6:30-44) who came that ‘they may have life and have it abundantly’ (Jn 10:10b). He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey (Mt 21:1b-5). In Mark’s Gospel (16:15), the disciples were called to take the Gospel to all creation. Finally in and through His death, Jesus participated in the most radical way in one of the key processes of nature.
FAITH AS CENTER OF CREATION
The ministry of Jesus was not confined to teaching, healing and reconciling humans and all creation with God. Paul tells us that He is the centre of all creation: “He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Col 1:15-18) (RSV).
Jesus is the word and wisdom of God who existed with God from the beginning. In the prologue of John’s Gospel, the birth and life of Jesus is framed within the widest context of cosmic history. He is active in bringing forth creation; through Him the universe, the earth and all life was created (Jn 1:3-5). All the rich unfolding of the universe from the first moment of the fireball, through the formation of the stars, the molding of planet Earth, the birth and flowering of life on earth and the emergence of human beings, is centered on Christ. Hence all of these crucial moments in the emergence of the universe have a Christic dimension.
In the man Jesus, God who was active from the beginning in bringing forth the universe “became flesh” (Jn 1:14). The redemption which He accomplishes does not come by way of discarding, denigrating or abandoning the material world, but by transforming it from within. In John 3:16, Jesus’ incarnation is seen as an outpouring of God’s love for the world – “for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (RSV).
The leadership which Jesus gives in the New Testament is always a leadership of service. This leadership involved accepting death joyfully. Paul in Philippians goes on to say:
“And being in every way like a human being,
He was humbler yet,
even to accepting death, death on a Cross.”
(Phil 2:6-8) (NJB)
In the contemporary situation, Christian service must mean working for a more just world and preserving the earth. Only in this way can people of this and future generations experience the abundant life which Jesus promised (Jn 10:10).
ALL CREATION WAS TRANSFORMED
The resurrection of Christ is the beginning of the new creation (2 Cor 5:17-19). All the writers of the New Testament are at pains to affirm the visible, bodily nature of Christ’s resurrection. Through the reality of Christ’s resurrection, all visible-created reality is touched, given a new significance and transformed. Paul states: “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor 5:19, cf. Col 1:20). In this text Paul is affirming that all reality is both interconnected, sequentially linked over time and ultimately grounded in God. The Preface of Easter IV in The Roman Missal echoes this belief: “In Him a new age has dawned, the long reign of sin is ended, a broken world has been renewed and man is once again made whole. The joy of the resurrection fills the whole world.”
The resurrection is the cosmic sign of hope. All creation is united in Christ and, therefore, everything has a future in God, through Christ. This hope for wholeness or redemption is anchored in the presence in the world of the spirit, who despite past human failures and sins, can bring forth new things (Is 43:19; Ez 37). This grace allows the believer to look forward confidently to the future and not be mired in the past of either our own individual or our collective failures. This is a profoundly liberating experience for the believer and can release new energies to work to bring about a healing of creation.
In the classic text of Romans 8:22-24, Paul likens the yearnings of creation for redemption with similar human desires. Within the plan of God realized in the resurrection of Christ, humans can help bring about this cosmic redemption. “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
NATURE AS A BOOK
The Fathers of the Church, beginning with the early apologists like Justin Martyr, Theophilus of Antioch and Tatian, developed a theology of creation. Very often, this was elaborated in opposition to the prevailing Gnostic dualism which depicted the created world as radically deficient and often insisted that the body was evil. The Fathers affirmed the goodness of creation since it was created by the one God. To distinguish the Christian understanding of creation from that current in some of the philosophical schools at the time, the apologists stress that God did not create the world through the mediation of spirits or from pre-existent matter, but that the world was created out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo).
The Fathers did not neatly seal off natural theology from the doctrines about Christ (or Christology). In much of the patristic literature, Christ is portrayed as the ruler of the universe. The theology of Irenaeus of Lyons is one of the best examples of the Fathers’ setting Christ at the centerpoint and culmination of creation.
One of the most important features of the patristic period was the rise of monasticism. One could easily interpret the flight from the world as a radical rejection of every aspect of the created order and, therefore, argue that the patristic period had little to add to a theology or spirituality of creation. There is no doubt that the ‘athletes of God’ were fleeing what they saw as the decadence especially of urban life. Yet, the early monks or hermits sought out the wilderness precisely because it had an inherent capacity to reveal the presence of God. When St. Anthony, the father of monasticism, was asked, “How dost thou content thyself, Father, who art denied the comfort of books?” Anthony answered, “My book, philosopher, is the nature of created things, and as often as I have a mind to read the words of God, it is at my hands.”
FRIENDSHIP WITH WILD ANIMALS
Many legends tell how the monks also developed friendships with the animals, even predators like wolves and lions. The feeling of dread which a human might normally be expected to have towards a lion is often replaced by an attitude of mutual help and friendship. There is a profound moral and religious message in the fact that holy people were considered to have friendly relationships with wild animals, even lions. The authors of these stories may wish to call the attention of Christians to the fact that holiness of life can even be appreciated by the ‘wildest’ of creatures and that, in living out the life of the new Adam, the monks were recapturing the original friendly relationship, which existed between all the animals in Paradise prior to the fall. The Isaiah text (1.1:6-7) obviously helped spread this belief in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
The sensitivity of the Greek Church to the created world can be seen in a prayer which is attributed to St. Basil the Great (c.330-379): “O God, enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, our brothers, the animals, to whom Thou gavest the earth as their home in common with us. We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high dominion of man with ruthless cruelty, so that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to Thee in song, has been a groan of travail. May we realize that they live not for us alone but for themselves and for Thee and that they love the sweetness of life.”
Local Churches in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales have much to learn from early Celtic spirituality which was very much aware of the presence of the Divine in the world of nature. This spirituality grew out a marriage between the pre-Christian and the Christian traditions.
As in the Eastern monastic tradition, friendship with animals marked the lives of holy people. St. Columban was well known for the austerity of his monastic rule, yet was also known to be friendly to animals. Legends which grew up around him at Luxeuil picture squirrels and doves playing in the folds of his cowl. Birds also approached him and nestled in the palms of his hands and even wild animals obeyed his commands. In his sermon, Concerning the Faith, he tells the reader that: If you wish to understand God, learn about Creation.
At this point, it might be worth looking briefly at some approaches to the natural world which are inspired by the biblical perspective and which, in varying degrees, have helped shape Christian consciousness through the centuries. The first two approaches emerge from the Benedictine monastic tradition and the experience of St. Francis of Assisi. Many people are familiar with these visions of the natural world because they have left an indelible stamp on Western European agricultural and aesthetic traditions. The third strand arises from the writings of Hildegard of Bingen. Her writings have only become well known in recent years; hence her impact, to date, is still very limited.
CULTIVATE IN A RENEWABLE WAY
From the seventh century onwards, a network of Benedictine monasteries was established in Western Europe. St. Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism, decided that his monks should live together in a stable community. The rhythm of the monastic life written into his famous Rule included liturgical and other forms of prayer, manual work and study. This inclusion of manual work was in a sense a revolutionary departure.
Greek and Roman scholars, in general, showed a disdain for manual work. They felt that it was degrading for the scholar to engage in such a lowly task. By combining work and prayer, Benedict ennobled all kinds of manual work. He also insisted that each monastery should be self-sufficient, so the range of manual work included domestic chores, crafts, garden work, tilling the soil and caring for domestic animals. The stability of the monastery meant that the monks had to learn to cultivate the soil in a renewable way.
The Benedictine model of relating to the natural world was marked by gratitude for the good things of the earth and respect for the earth in order to ensure its continued fruitfulness for human beings. Humans were called to be faithful stewards of the world and not to abuse the earth. But the point of departure was always the human perspective. The drive to domesticate nature and to bring it under human control was very much at the centre of the Benedictine tradition.
FELLOWSHIP WITH ALL CREATION
Unlike St. Benedict, St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) was a nomad at heart. He and his friars, who were street preachers, were constantly on the move. They had no possessions and were expected to live lightly on the earth, a burden neither to the earth nor to those who met their subsistence needs. In opting for the nomadic life, Francis abandoned any homo faber (humans as artisans) role for the brothers. There was no urge to remake the world, not even in the garden tradition of the Benedictines. The natural world was not seen from a utilitarian perspective, as providing food, clothing and shelter for human beings. Rather there was a sense of joy, wonder, praise, and gratitude for the gift of all life. For Francis, every creature in the world was a mirror of God’s presence and, if approached correctly, a step leading one to God. What emerges here might be called a fellowship approach to creatures. There was no will to dominate or to transform nature.
In his Canticle of the Creatures Francis showed a kinship with and deep insight into the heart of all creation – animate, and inanimate – which was probably unique in the whole European experience.
A SENSUOUS LOVE FOR THE EARTH
The approach of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1178) adds a unique dimension to those of both Benedict and Francis. Unfortunately, her writings are not widely known. Selections from her writings have only been published in English in the past few decades. This remarkable woman – poet, musician, painter, visionary, botanist, herbalist, counselor to popes, princes and councils of the Church – has a unique contribution to make to the Western Christian’s appreciation of the natural world. Her approach to the earth delights in its ‘greening.’ The Divine is present in the ‘greening’ of the earth in a way reminiscent of the fertility poetry of the pre-Christian Celtic religion of much of Europe. Hildegard captures and celebrates in her writings the uniquely feminine experience of the most intimate processes of the natural world. The taming, organizing skills of Benedict and even the fraternal solicitude for all creatures of Francis are valuable elements of a masculine approach to reality. But Hildegard celebrates the feminine, fertility dimension. Her poetry pulsates with a rapturous, sensuous love for the earth. It is full of ardor and passion. In the following poem she delights in the love of the Creator for his creation and does not feel constrained to shy away from explicitly sexual language: “I compare the great love of Creator and creation to the same love and fidelity with which God binds man and woman together. This is so that together they might be creatively fruitful.”
THE GREENING OF THE CHURCH
It is a fact of recent history that the Catholic Church has been slow to recognize the gravity of the ecological problems facing the earth. She has not been alone. Most of the institutions of society – schools, governments, the media, financial and industrial corporations – have also refused to see what is happening to the delicate fabric of the earth. They have been lulled into a false sense of security by some of the successes of modern technology and have failed to understand the urgent need to face the despoilment of creation. Unless they become aware quickly, human beings and the rest of the planet’s community will be condemned to live amid the ruins of the natural world. At last the Church is beginning to wake up to what is at stake. Sollicitudo Rei Socialis No. 34 addresses the issue.
It is not easy to find any reference to the environment among the mountains of documents that have come from Rome in recent decades. In fact, recent Church teaching on the role of people, vis-à-vis the rest of creation, has failed to take into account an important strand within biblical literature found, for example, in the Book of Job, especially Chapters 38 and 39. This, too, rejects an exclusively human-centered view of creation. Despite its great achievement in helping bring the Catholic Church into the modern world, Vatican II did not pick up on this issue. It subscribes to what is called a ‘domination’ theology: the natural world is there for mankind’s exclusive use. “For man, created to God’s image, received a mandate to subject to himself the earth and all that it contains, and to govern the world with justice and holiness” (Gaudium et Spes, no. 34). It did not challenge humans to respect other life forms, obey ecological laws and work to establish more just human societies within the limits of the natural world. Only in Sollicitudo Rei Socialis in 1988 do we find any serious caution about the “consequences of haphazard industrialization.” But even there, the momentum to pollute the earth which is built into our modern industrial consumer society is not examined in any detail.
On 1 January 1990, Pope John Paul II published his 1 January 1990 World Day of Peace Message, Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All Creation. This is the first papal document devoted exclusively to environmental concerns. It is written in a lively style; its coverage is comprehensive; the analysis is incisive and the text reverberates with a note of urgency. Throughout the document, the Pope insists that environmental degradation must be a concern of every individual and every institution: ultimately, it has an essential moral and religious dimension.
Ecological problems are named in a much more detailed manner than in previous documents. Not content with enumerating ecological problems, the Pope looks below the surface, at the root causes of the devastation. “First among these is the indiscriminate application of advances in science and technology.” This critique of technology constitutes a major shift in emphasis in recent papal teaching that I am sure will not be welcomed by the captains of industry.
Equally unpalatable for many environmental consultants is the reminder that the standard of living which many people in the First World enjoy is obtained at the expense of Third World people and the earth itself. The Pope warns that “modern society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyle… Simplicity, moderation, and discipline, as well as a spirit of sacrifice, must become part of everyday life, lest all suffer the negative consequences of the careless habits of a few.”
Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All Creation is a landmark in the greening of the Church. One hopes and prays that the Pope’s voice will be heard and acted upon in parishes, Church schools and dioceses around the world.
The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church was published in 2004 by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Chapter 10 is devoted to protecting the environment. It is one of the shortest and least competent chapters in the book as it fails to capture the magnitude of the ecological crisis and the urgency with which it must be faced. The extinction of species only merits half a paragraph and global warming a single paragraph.
The biosphere recognizes no “divisions into blocs, alliances or systems.” In ecclesiastical terms, this means that there are no Catholic lakes, Protestant rivers or Muslim forests. We all share a common earth and, in the face of a threat to the survival of the ‘planet,’ we should unite to adequately address the crisis for the sake of all future generations.
