Difference between revisions of "Environmental ethics"

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There is a myth that Christianity is responsible for ecological destruction: by placing Man at the center of creation, by claiming dominion for him over the rest of the visible world, the Church has opened the door to widespread devastation of the environment.
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'''Environmental ethics''' is the part of environmental philosophy which considers the ethical relationship between human beings and the natural environment, according to the Wikipedia definition (28 February 2007).  This article will attempt to describe environmental ethics from the perspective of Orthodox theology, by exploring patristic and contemporary thought together with scriptural and liturgical evidence regarding a theology of creation.  We begin by examining the place of material creation within the whole of created order, continue with theological consideration regarding the relationship between man and material creation, and conclude with some practical aspects of this relationship.
  
But Christianity does not say that man can do whatever he wants to the environment, to other creatures. He is only a steward, and will be held accountable to God for his works. The world was not given for us to abuse or destroy, but to tend and nurture. The cosmos is alive with the glory of God, and the Christian teaching is that we should regard it with awe and wonder, and show reverence for all of life.
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==The Place of Material Creation in the Created Order==
  
The view that we may treat the world as a machine, to exploit to our own ends, is a product of the "Enlightenment" and the Industrial age, not of Christianity, and is ultimately self-destructive.
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Christianity is often blamed for the environmental problems that the world is facing today.  The accusation hinges on a particular understanding of Genesis 1:26 and 1:28:
 +
 
 +
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. [...] God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." 
 +
 
 +
In one interpretation, the two verses above are understood to say that man has been given power over the earth to modify it according to his will.  Some support for this world view can be gathered from writings of some Church Fathers.  Origen in the East and St. Augustine in the West each held the view that the material world would not be a part of the Kingdom of God.  For St. Augustine, this meant that in the Kingdom, only human souls would be present.  In contrast to the eternal soul, a temporary material creation is diminished in importance, resulting in an anthropocentric relationship between man and nature.  This approach has also, at times, been predominant in Orthodox countries.  Today, as we shall shortly see, Orthodox theologians are recovering the fullness of their theology, recognizing the presence of God in the whole of creation, and outlining the responsibilities we have towards that creation.
 +
 
 +
The understanding of material creation as illustrated above is, at the very least, incomplete.  Several Fathers, including Methodios of Olympus and St. Maximos the Confessor, affirmed the value of creation and the cosmological dimension of the Kingdom of God. Anestis Keselopoulos, in his study on St. Symeon the New Theologian, makes a powerful statement about the participation of nature in the Kingdom: "Belief in the ultimate transfiguration and renewal of the world offers a real possibility for extending the theology of holy relics to the rest of creation.  At the Second Coming, [...] the whole of material creation will be renewed as well.  Material objects that surround the saints participate in sanctification. (Keselopoulos, "Man and the Environment: a study of St. Symeon the New Theologian").
 +
 
 +
Psalm 104, read at every Vespers service, speaks of God's continued work in creation:
 +
 
 +
"You are clothed with honour and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent, you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind, you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers. You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken. You cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they flee; at the sound of your thunder they take to flight. They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills, giving drink to every wild animal; the wild asses quench their thirst. By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart. The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys. You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting."
 +
 
 +
Scriptural, patristic, and liturgical evidence also provide a much richer picture of the role of material creation.    This role includes praise of the Creator and joy at His work:  "Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and all that move in them" (Ps. 69:34), "The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones" (Ps. 89:5), "Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad" (Resurrectional apolytikion, tone Pl. 1), "let all creation bless and extol the Lord and let it exalt Him supremely to the ages" (Eirmos of the eighth ode of the katavasiae for Christmas).  Archimandrite Vasileios in "Ecology and Monasticism" states that the Paschal hymns represent reality for the Orthodox: "all the trees of the forest are rejoicing today; their nature has been sanctified because the Body of Christ was stretched upon a tree." 
 +
 
 +
Material creation also helps provide the means by which God interacts with, sanctifies and heals the world.  Old Testament include the snake made by Moses (Numbers 21:8-9) and Balaam's donkey (Numbers 22:21-30) while some relevant New Testament passages are the stirring of the waters at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-5), Jesus' baptism (Matthew 3:13-17), and St. James' exhortation that the elders anoint those who are ill with oil to aid in their healing (James 5:14).  The hymnography of the Church also portrays creation as a co-worker with God: "the earth offers a cave to Him Whom no man can approach" (Christmas kontakion).
 +
 
 +
Thus, we see that the Orthodox tradition affirms that creation has value in itself, by virtue of its being created by God, praising God, and working together with God.  In this context the Orthodox tradition regarding the relationship between man and nature falls mainly along two related and somewhat overlapping lines of thought.  The first bases this relationship on the idea of man as a microcosm, while the second identifies man as the 'priest of creation.' 
 +
 
 +
==The Relationship between Man and Material Creation==
 +
===Man as a microcosm===
 +
 
 +
The idea of man as a microcosm is most commonly associated with St. Maximos the Confessor.  In his Mystagogia he speaks of an indissoluble relationship and unity between man and world:  [St. Paul] put forward another suggestion, along the lines of the same imagery, that the whole world of visible and invisible things can be thought of as a man; and man, made up of body and soul, as a world" (Chapter 7).  Lars Thunberg, in his "Man and the Cosmos" relates St. Maximos' understanding of man as a microcosm by constitution and for the purpose of mediation.  Being both material and spiritual, all things in the world are reflected in man, who then has the vocation to bring together mortal and immortal creatures, rational and non-rational beings.  However, St. Maximos does not view this vocation of man in separation from God.  Rather, he states that it is Christ who achieved this unity.  Again Thunberg, analyzing the Ambigua, says that man needs to leave the sphere of creation behind and be united with God beyond his own nature.  Thus, man's mission in relation to creation can only be fulfilled in and through Christ: "Man created in the image of God is thus, according to Maximus, a key to understanding creation not only in order that he may understand it as it is, but also that by actively understanding it in his process of divinization he may elevate it to the supreme level of its full soteriological comprehension (Ambigua 10)." (Thunberg, "Man and the Cosmos, p.76).
 +
 
 +
St. Gregory of Nyssa also uses the image of man and microcosm, though his use of the expression is rather less uniform than for St. Maximos.  In his conception, the parallelism seems to be limited to a common praise of God": as the cosmos continuously lifts up a hymn of praise to God, so it is the duty of man to engage in continual psalmody and hymnody."  Metr. Paulos Gregorios postulates that St. Gregory's reservation regarding a more in-depth parallelism stemmed from a concern that man's high standing within creation not be attributed to his similarity to the universe (Gregorios, "Cosmic Man").  However, St. Gregory also views man as a mediator, between creation and God, whose mediation is made possible by the incarnation: "in Christ, Man, and through Man, the whole creation, directly and without intermediaries, participates in the creative energies of God Himself" (Gregorios, "Cosmic Man, p.103).
 +
 
 +
Fr. Stanley Harakas summarizes the Orthodox position thus far: "[t]he creation exists for the use of humanity; but humanity exists as a microcosm to sanctify creation and to draw it into the fullness of the life of the kingdom of God, to bring it into communion with its maker." (''The Integrity of Creation: Ethical Issues'', in "Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation," p.73) 
 +
 
 +
While both St. Maximos and St. Gregory note that the mediation of man is directly related to Christ's incarnation. the details of that mediation are filled in by modern day theologians.
 +
 
 +
===Man as Priest of Creation===
 +
 
 +
The Genesis passage which started this article is open to other interpretations.  One such interpretation, which gives man a certain responsibility towards the environment, presents the commission which was given to man as a stewardship.  K.M. George in his essay "Towards a Eucharistic Ecology" points out that good stewardship, in the sense of the Greek 'oikonomos:'—manager or administrator of a house,—requires trustworthiness, dependability, and wisdom.    He goes on to add: "[w]e offer the creation as a thank-offering to God in liturgy" (George, ''Towards a Eucharistic Theology'', in "Justice, Peace and the Integrily of Creation", p.46).  This statement contains within it the seed for the idea of that several contemporary theologians, among them Vigen Guroian, Metr. Paulos Gregorios, and Metr. John Zizioulas, consider as the most important in defining man's relationship to creation: man as 'priest of creation.'
 +
 
 +
Metr. Paulos Gregorios of the Orthodox Syrian Church of the East and one of the most ardent advocates of Christian ecology wrote, "Nature, man, and God are not three disjunct realities on the stage with a space-interval between their respective boundaries. [...] Christ has become part of creation, and in his created body he lifted up the creation to God, and humankind must participate in this eternal priesthood of Christ" (Gregorios, "The Human Presence").  Metr. John Zizioulas adds: "The priest is the one who takes in his hands the world to refer it to God and who, in return brings God's blessing to what he refers to God.  Through this act creation is brought into communion with God himself. [...] This role of the human being as the priest of creation, is absolutely necessary for creation itself, because without this reference of creation to God the whole created universe will die."  He goes on to argue that ethics, as commonly understood, cannot provide a solution for the environmental problem; this is the place of the Church.  Specifically, the metropolitan mentions fasting, respect for the material world and acknowledgement (within the Liturgy) that creation belongs to God as specific means by which the Church can effect change (Zizioulas, ''Man the Priest of Creation: A Response to the Ecological Problem,'' in "Living Orthodoxy in the Modern World").
 +
 
 +
The exercise of this priesthood encompasses both our lives within the church temple (the Liturgy) and outside of it (the liturgy before/after the liturgy).
 +
 
 +
==Man and Material Creation: Practical Aspects==
 +
 
 +
Within the liturgical context, the Church provides prayers for the blessing of material goods: homes, crops, vehicles.  There are prayers asking for rain and for deliverance from earthquakes and other calamities.  We see the presence of God everywhere in creation and we ask for His help in every endeavour.  Partially in acknowledgment of that fact and partially in response to the ecological crisis, Monk Gerasimos of the Skete of Saint Anne has composed a Vespers for the preservation of creation.  Even earlier, in 1934, Metropolitan Tryphon Turkestanov had composed an Akathist in Praise of God's Creation.
 +
 
 +
Additionally, the prayers of the Lesser Blessing of the Waters include the following petitions:
 +
 
 +
* That this water might be hallowed by the might, and operation, and descent of the Holy Spirit; let us pray to the Lord.
 +
 
 +
* That there may descend upon these waters the cleansing operation of the supersubstantial Trinity; let us pray to the Lord.
 +
 
 +
* That this water may be to the healing of souls and bodies, and to the banishment of every hostile power; let us pray to the Lord.
 +
 
 +
* That there may be sent down upon it the Grace of Redemption, the blessing of the Jordan; let us pray to the Lord.
 +
 
 +
In the prayer of sanctification of the same service, the priest asks: "do You, the same Lord and King Who loves mankind, Who has granted to us to clothe ourselves in the garment of snowy whiteness, by water and by Spirit: send down on us Your blessing, and through the partaking of this water, through sprinkling with it, wash away the defilement of passions."
 +
 
 +
These services and prayers illustrate one necessary aspect of our relationship with creation: prayer for the well-being and sanctification of the world.  It is our role as mediators between creation and God to ask for God's action in behalf of the world which "not of its own will" has been subjected to corruption. (Archimandrite Vasileios, "Monasticism and Ecology", cf. Rom 8:20).
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God's action in creation and creation's role in our journey towards God culminate in the gifts of bread and wine which are brought forth to be consecrated to become the Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  In the Eucharist, man, as the priest of creation, offers creation back to the Creator and then receives it back sanctified and transformed into the very God to Whom it was offered.  As Orthodox we believe that the Eucharist sanctifies the whole creation.  As Fr. Emmanuel Clapsis has said, in the Eucharist we embrace in prayer the whole creation and no longer seek our salvation apart from the world.
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In practical terms, we need to remember that the environmental problem is directly related to other ethical issues.  While there are several actions which have a direct effect on the environmental problem (e.g., recycling, re-use of materials such as plastic bags), the greater issue of the environment encompasses many facets of life.
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The main cause of the environmental problem is the increase in the consumption of goods in Western society over the last two centuries, without a corresponding concern for the disposal of resulting waste and the care and renewal of the natural raw materials needed to create the goods.  For a true solution to the environmental crisis, both sides of this main cause need to be addressed.  On the one hand, the Church needs to support efforts which are aimed at finding better waste-management system, more efficient technologies and at the replenishment of natural resources (e.g, reforestation efforts).  In this spirit,  Anestis Keselopoulos states: "The slogan of a return to some pre-scientific civilization is today not merely a utopia, but may be a disaster for humanity.  When man loses his ability to overcome nature, he does not attain to a true relationship with nature, nor does he preserve its purpose; he simply achieves a vegetative' state.  This word does not denote man's return to nature, but his identification with nature in the realm of decay and death." (Keselopoulos, "Man and the Environment: a Study of St. Symeon the New Theologian," p.60-61).
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On the other hand, the biggest contribution of the Church is her understanding of the need for an ascetic component to every person's life.  In terms of material goods, the Church has never embraced the slogan that "more is better."  While not dismissing material possessions, she has always stressed that the true treasure is spiritual in nature.  Thus, another responsibility of man in relation to creation is the implementation of this understanding into daily life.  For the Church as a body, the responsibility translates inot educating the world about the true value of possessions as a part of her ministry to God's creation.
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The report "Orthodox Perspectives on Creation" states that "the contemporary world must repent for the abuses which we have imposed upon the natural world.  In this context, we need to remember the Orthodox concept of repentance (metanoia), which implies a complete change of heart.  We need, therefore, not only to acknowledge our past mistakes, but to take action first to stop further abuses, and then, wherever possible, to revert the damage already done.  As Fr. Stanley Harakas states in "The Integrity of Creation: Ethical Issues:" "[h]umanity must come to see itself as intimately related to the non-human creation, to see itself as one with it in deep and profound community with it." (Harakas, ''The Integrity of Creation: Ethical Issues'', "In Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation," p.79)
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We started this look at an Orthodox perspective on environmental ethics by looking at the accusation that Christianity bears a great share of the responsibility for the current environmental problem.  However, we have seen that the sanctification of creation is part and parcel of the mission of Christianity.  Our attitude towards creation is well summarized by St. John of Damascus "I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake, who willed to take His abode in matter, who worked out my salvation through matter.  Never will I cease honoring the matter which wrought my salvation!  I honor it, but not as God... [but] because God has filled it with His grace and power." (On the Divine Images 1.16)
  
During an international Orthodox conference in 1995, held on the holy island of Patmos, the participating theologians came to the conclusion that pollution is a sin.
 
 
==Articles on Environmental Issues==
 
==Articles on Environmental Issues==
 
*[[Global Warming]]
 
*[[Global Warming]]
  
 
==Orthodox Books==
 
==Orthodox Books==
{{stub}}
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*''Ecology and monasticism'' by Archimadrite Vasileios of Stavronikita (Alexander Press 1996) (ISBN 1896800025)
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*''Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation: Insights from Orthodox'', Gennadios Limouris, Ed.(WCC Publications, 1990) (ISBN 2825409790)
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*''Man and the Environment: a Study of St. Symeon the New Theologian'', by Anestes Keselopoulos (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001) (ISBN 088141221X)
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*''On the Divine Images'', by St. John of Damascus (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1980) (ISBN 0913836621)
 +
 
  
 
==Other helpful articles==
 
==Other helpful articles==

Revision as of 17:07, February 28, 2007

Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which considers the ethical relationship between human beings and the natural environment, according to the Wikipedia definition (28 February 2007). This article will attempt to describe environmental ethics from the perspective of Orthodox theology, by exploring patristic and contemporary thought together with scriptural and liturgical evidence regarding a theology of creation. We begin by examining the place of material creation within the whole of created order, continue with theological consideration regarding the relationship between man and material creation, and conclude with some practical aspects of this relationship.

The Place of Material Creation in the Created Order

Christianity is often blamed for the environmental problems that the world is facing today. The accusation hinges on a particular understanding of Genesis 1:26 and 1:28:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. [...] God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

In one interpretation, the two verses above are understood to say that man has been given power over the earth to modify it according to his will. Some support for this world view can be gathered from writings of some Church Fathers. Origen in the East and St. Augustine in the West each held the view that the material world would not be a part of the Kingdom of God. For St. Augustine, this meant that in the Kingdom, only human souls would be present. In contrast to the eternal soul, a temporary material creation is diminished in importance, resulting in an anthropocentric relationship between man and nature. This approach has also, at times, been predominant in Orthodox countries. Today, as we shall shortly see, Orthodox theologians are recovering the fullness of their theology, recognizing the presence of God in the whole of creation, and outlining the responsibilities we have towards that creation.

The understanding of material creation as illustrated above is, at the very least, incomplete. Several Fathers, including Methodios of Olympus and St. Maximos the Confessor, affirmed the value of creation and the cosmological dimension of the Kingdom of God. Anestis Keselopoulos, in his study on St. Symeon the New Theologian, makes a powerful statement about the participation of nature in the Kingdom: "Belief in the ultimate transfiguration and renewal of the world offers a real possibility for extending the theology of holy relics to the rest of creation. At the Second Coming, [...] the whole of material creation will be renewed as well. Material objects that surround the saints participate in sanctification. (Keselopoulos, "Man and the Environment: a study of St. Symeon the New Theologian").

Psalm 104, read at every Vespers service, speaks of God's continued work in creation:

"You are clothed with honour and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent, you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind, you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers. You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken. You cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they flee; at the sound of your thunder they take to flight. They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills, giving drink to every wild animal; the wild asses quench their thirst. By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart. The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys. You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting."

Scriptural, patristic, and liturgical evidence also provide a much richer picture of the role of material creation. This role includes praise of the Creator and joy at His work: "Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and all that move in them" (Ps. 69:34), "The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones" (Ps. 89:5), "Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad" (Resurrectional apolytikion, tone Pl. 1), "let all creation bless and extol the Lord and let it exalt Him supremely to the ages" (Eirmos of the eighth ode of the katavasiae for Christmas). Archimandrite Vasileios in "Ecology and Monasticism" states that the Paschal hymns represent reality for the Orthodox: "all the trees of the forest are rejoicing today; their nature has been sanctified because the Body of Christ was stretched upon a tree."

Material creation also helps provide the means by which God interacts with, sanctifies and heals the world. Old Testament include the snake made by Moses (Numbers 21:8-9) and Balaam's donkey (Numbers 22:21-30) while some relevant New Testament passages are the stirring of the waters at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-5), Jesus' baptism (Matthew 3:13-17), and St. James' exhortation that the elders anoint those who are ill with oil to aid in their healing (James 5:14). The hymnography of the Church also portrays creation as a co-worker with God: "the earth offers a cave to Him Whom no man can approach" (Christmas kontakion).

Thus, we see that the Orthodox tradition affirms that creation has value in itself, by virtue of its being created by God, praising God, and working together with God. In this context the Orthodox tradition regarding the relationship between man and nature falls mainly along two related and somewhat overlapping lines of thought. The first bases this relationship on the idea of man as a microcosm, while the second identifies man as the 'priest of creation.'

The Relationship between Man and Material Creation

Man as a microcosm

The idea of man as a microcosm is most commonly associated with St. Maximos the Confessor. In his Mystagogia he speaks of an indissoluble relationship and unity between man and world: [St. Paul] put forward another suggestion, along the lines of the same imagery, that the whole world of visible and invisible things can be thought of as a man; and man, made up of body and soul, as a world" (Chapter 7). Lars Thunberg, in his "Man and the Cosmos" relates St. Maximos' understanding of man as a microcosm by constitution and for the purpose of mediation. Being both material and spiritual, all things in the world are reflected in man, who then has the vocation to bring together mortal and immortal creatures, rational and non-rational beings. However, St. Maximos does not view this vocation of man in separation from God. Rather, he states that it is Christ who achieved this unity. Again Thunberg, analyzing the Ambigua, says that man needs to leave the sphere of creation behind and be united with God beyond his own nature. Thus, man's mission in relation to creation can only be fulfilled in and through Christ: "Man created in the image of God is thus, according to Maximus, a key to understanding creation not only in order that he may understand it as it is, but also that by actively understanding it in his process of divinization he may elevate it to the supreme level of its full soteriological comprehension (Ambigua 10)." (Thunberg, "Man and the Cosmos, p.76).

St. Gregory of Nyssa also uses the image of man and microcosm, though his use of the expression is rather less uniform than for St. Maximos. In his conception, the parallelism seems to be limited to a common praise of God": as the cosmos continuously lifts up a hymn of praise to God, so it is the duty of man to engage in continual psalmody and hymnody." Metr. Paulos Gregorios postulates that St. Gregory's reservation regarding a more in-depth parallelism stemmed from a concern that man's high standing within creation not be attributed to his similarity to the universe (Gregorios, "Cosmic Man"). However, St. Gregory also views man as a mediator, between creation and God, whose mediation is made possible by the incarnation: "in Christ, Man, and through Man, the whole creation, directly and without intermediaries, participates in the creative energies of God Himself" (Gregorios, "Cosmic Man, p.103).

Fr. Stanley Harakas summarizes the Orthodox position thus far: "[t]he creation exists for the use of humanity; but humanity exists as a microcosm to sanctify creation and to draw it into the fullness of the life of the kingdom of God, to bring it into communion with its maker." (The Integrity of Creation: Ethical Issues, in "Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation," p.73)

While both St. Maximos and St. Gregory note that the mediation of man is directly related to Christ's incarnation. the details of that mediation are filled in by modern day theologians.

Man as Priest of Creation

The Genesis passage which started this article is open to other interpretations. One such interpretation, which gives man a certain responsibility towards the environment, presents the commission which was given to man as a stewardship. K.M. George in his essay "Towards a Eucharistic Ecology" points out that good stewardship, in the sense of the Greek 'oikonomos:'—manager or administrator of a house,—requires trustworthiness, dependability, and wisdom. He goes on to add: "[w]e offer the creation as a thank-offering to God in liturgy" (George, Towards a Eucharistic Theology, in "Justice, Peace and the Integrily of Creation", p.46). This statement contains within it the seed for the idea of that several contemporary theologians, among them Vigen Guroian, Metr. Paulos Gregorios, and Metr. John Zizioulas, consider as the most important in defining man's relationship to creation: man as 'priest of creation.'

Metr. Paulos Gregorios of the Orthodox Syrian Church of the East and one of the most ardent advocates of Christian ecology wrote, "Nature, man, and God are not three disjunct realities on the stage with a space-interval between their respective boundaries. [...] Christ has become part of creation, and in his created body he lifted up the creation to God, and humankind must participate in this eternal priesthood of Christ" (Gregorios, "The Human Presence"). Metr. John Zizioulas adds: "The priest is the one who takes in his hands the world to refer it to God and who, in return brings God's blessing to what he refers to God. Through this act creation is brought into communion with God himself. [...] This role of the human being as the priest of creation, is absolutely necessary for creation itself, because without this reference of creation to God the whole created universe will die." He goes on to argue that ethics, as commonly understood, cannot provide a solution for the environmental problem; this is the place of the Church. Specifically, the metropolitan mentions fasting, respect for the material world and acknowledgement (within the Liturgy) that creation belongs to God as specific means by which the Church can effect change (Zizioulas, Man the Priest of Creation: A Response to the Ecological Problem, in "Living Orthodoxy in the Modern World").

The exercise of this priesthood encompasses both our lives within the church temple (the Liturgy) and outside of it (the liturgy before/after the liturgy).

Man and Material Creation: Practical Aspects

Within the liturgical context, the Church provides prayers for the blessing of material goods: homes, crops, vehicles. There are prayers asking for rain and for deliverance from earthquakes and other calamities. We see the presence of God everywhere in creation and we ask for His help in every endeavour. Partially in acknowledgment of that fact and partially in response to the ecological crisis, Monk Gerasimos of the Skete of Saint Anne has composed a Vespers for the preservation of creation. Even earlier, in 1934, Metropolitan Tryphon Turkestanov had composed an Akathist in Praise of God's Creation.

Additionally, the prayers of the Lesser Blessing of the Waters include the following petitions:

  • That this water might be hallowed by the might, and operation, and descent of the Holy Spirit; let us pray to the Lord.
  • That there may descend upon these waters the cleansing operation of the supersubstantial Trinity; let us pray to the Lord.
  • That this water may be to the healing of souls and bodies, and to the banishment of every hostile power; let us pray to the Lord.
  • That there may be sent down upon it the Grace of Redemption, the blessing of the Jordan; let us pray to the Lord.

In the prayer of sanctification of the same service, the priest asks: "do You, the same Lord and King Who loves mankind, Who has granted to us to clothe ourselves in the garment of snowy whiteness, by water and by Spirit: send down on us Your blessing, and through the partaking of this water, through sprinkling with it, wash away the defilement of passions."

These services and prayers illustrate one necessary aspect of our relationship with creation: prayer for the well-being and sanctification of the world. It is our role as mediators between creation and God to ask for God's action in behalf of the world which "not of its own will" has been subjected to corruption. (Archimandrite Vasileios, "Monasticism and Ecology", cf. Rom 8:20).

God's action in creation and creation's role in our journey towards God culminate in the gifts of bread and wine which are brought forth to be consecrated to become the Holy Body and Blood of Christ. In the Eucharist, man, as the priest of creation, offers creation back to the Creator and then receives it back sanctified and transformed into the very God to Whom it was offered. As Orthodox we believe that the Eucharist sanctifies the whole creation. As Fr. Emmanuel Clapsis has said, in the Eucharist we embrace in prayer the whole creation and no longer seek our salvation apart from the world.

In practical terms, we need to remember that the environmental problem is directly related to other ethical issues. While there are several actions which have a direct effect on the environmental problem (e.g., recycling, re-use of materials such as plastic bags), the greater issue of the environment encompasses many facets of life.

The main cause of the environmental problem is the increase in the consumption of goods in Western society over the last two centuries, without a corresponding concern for the disposal of resulting waste and the care and renewal of the natural raw materials needed to create the goods. For a true solution to the environmental crisis, both sides of this main cause need to be addressed. On the one hand, the Church needs to support efforts which are aimed at finding better waste-management system, more efficient technologies and at the replenishment of natural resources (e.g, reforestation efforts). In this spirit, Anestis Keselopoulos states: "The slogan of a return to some pre-scientific civilization is today not merely a utopia, but may be a disaster for humanity. When man loses his ability to overcome nature, he does not attain to a true relationship with nature, nor does he preserve its purpose; he simply achieves a vegetative' state. This word does not denote man's return to nature, but his identification with nature in the realm of decay and death." (Keselopoulos, "Man and the Environment: a Study of St. Symeon the New Theologian," p.60-61).

On the other hand, the biggest contribution of the Church is her understanding of the need for an ascetic component to every person's life. In terms of material goods, the Church has never embraced the slogan that "more is better." While not dismissing material possessions, she has always stressed that the true treasure is spiritual in nature. Thus, another responsibility of man in relation to creation is the implementation of this understanding into daily life. For the Church as a body, the responsibility translates inot educating the world about the true value of possessions as a part of her ministry to God's creation.

The report "Orthodox Perspectives on Creation" states that "the contemporary world must repent for the abuses which we have imposed upon the natural world. In this context, we need to remember the Orthodox concept of repentance (metanoia), which implies a complete change of heart. We need, therefore, not only to acknowledge our past mistakes, but to take action first to stop further abuses, and then, wherever possible, to revert the damage already done. As Fr. Stanley Harakas states in "The Integrity of Creation: Ethical Issues:" "[h]umanity must come to see itself as intimately related to the non-human creation, to see itself as one with it in deep and profound community with it." (Harakas, The Integrity of Creation: Ethical Issues, "In Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation," p.79)

We started this look at an Orthodox perspective on environmental ethics by looking at the accusation that Christianity bears a great share of the responsibility for the current environmental problem. However, we have seen that the sanctification of creation is part and parcel of the mission of Christianity. Our attitude towards creation is well summarized by St. John of Damascus "I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake, who willed to take His abode in matter, who worked out my salvation through matter. Never will I cease honoring the matter which wrought my salvation! I honor it, but not as God... [but] because God has filled it with His grace and power." (On the Divine Images 1.16)

Articles on Environmental Issues

Orthodox Books

  • Ecology and monasticism by Archimadrite Vasileios of Stavronikita (Alexander Press 1996) (ISBN 1896800025)
  • Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation: Insights from Orthodox, Gennadios Limouris, Ed.(WCC Publications, 1990) (ISBN 2825409790)
  • Man and the Environment: a Study of St. Symeon the New Theologian, by Anestes Keselopoulos (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001) (ISBN 088141221X)
  • On the Divine Images, by St. John of Damascus (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1980) (ISBN 0913836621)


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