Theology, Ecology, and Natural Science

Daniel Castillo, Loyola University of Maryland, dpcastillo@loyola.edu

Julia Feder, Creighton University (Nebraska), juliafeder@creighton.edu

The Theology, Ecology, and Natural Science section invites papers and panels that address the intersections among theology, ecology and the natural sciences and their relationship to the conference theme.  Below are three areas that could be explored:

1) How can we think ecotheologically about the nexus of agriculture, labor, and the environment? Here, one might think especially about the legacy of Caesar Chavez, the land reform movements in Latin America, and/or Catholic social teaching on labor and the environment.   

2) What is the role of the theological imagination in shaping political protest of and resistance to environmental destruction?

3)  How should developments in biology and/or anthropology in the last 50 years impact theological understandings of the human person?  Here, one might think here of the increasing interest in the human microbiome or the emergence of niche construction theory in evolutionary research.

4) How should ecotheology incorporate readings of “the book of nature” and “the book of scripture” into its theological method? Here, one might consider Lynn White Jr.’s critique of the Judeo-Christian worldview and contemporary debates about whether the science of ecology can play a normative role in environmental ethics.