The last two decades have seen the emergence of a new field of academic study that examines the interaction between religion and ecology. Theologians from every religious tradition have confronted world religions past attitudes towards nature and acknowledged their own faiths complicity in the environmental crisis. Out of this confrontation have been born vital new theologies based in the recovery of marginalized elements of tradition, profound criticisms of the past, and ecologically oriented visions of God, the Sacred, the Earth, and human beings. The proposed handbook will serve as the definitive overview of these exciting new developments. Divided into three main sections, the books essays will reflect the three dominant dimensions of the field. Part one will explore traditional religious concepts of and attitudes towards nature and how these have been changed by the environmental crisis. Part II looks at larger conceptual issues that transcend individual traditions. Part III will examine religious participation in environmental politics.
Abbreviations Contributors Introduction: Religion and Ecology-What Is the Connection and Why Does It Matter? Roger S. Gottlieb Part I: Transforming Tradition 1. Judaism Hava Tirosh-Samuelson 2. Catholicism John Hart 3. The Earth as Sacrament: Insights from Orthodox Christian Theology and Spirituality John Chryssavgis 4. The World of Nature according to the Protestant Tradition H. Paul Santmire and John B. Cobb Jr. 5. Jainism and Ecology: Transformation of Tradition Christopher Key Chapple 6. Hindu Religion and Environmental Well-being O. P. Dwivedi 7. The Greening of Buddhism: Promise and Perils Stephanie Kaza 8. Islam Richard C. Foltz 9. Daoism and Nature James Miller 10. Motifs for a New Confucian Ecological Vision John Berthrong 11. Religion and Ecology in African Culture and Society Jacob Olupona 12. Indigenous Traditions: Religion and Ecology John A. Grim Part II: Religion and Ecology: Conflicts and Connections 13. Population, Religion, and Ecology Daniel C. Maguire 14. Genetic Engineering and Nature: Human and Otherwise Thomas A. Shannon 15. So Near and Yet So Far: Animal Theology and Ecological Theology Andrew Linzey 16. Religious Ecofeminism: Healing the Ecological Crisis Rosemary Radford Ruether 17. Science and Religion in the Face of the Environmental Crisis Holmes Rolston III 18. Religion and Ecology: Survey of the Field Mary Evelyn Tucker 19. The Spiritual Dimension of Nature Writing David Landis Barnhill 20. Religion, Environmentalism, and the Meaning of Ecology Lisa H. Sideris Part III: Religious Environmental Activism 21. Religious Environmentalism in Action Roger S. Gottlieb 22. Religion and Environmental Struggles in Latin America Lois Ann Lorentzen and Salvador Leavitt-Alcantara 23. African Initiated Churches as Vehicles of Earth-Care in Africa Marthinus L. Daneel 24. The Scientist and the Shepherd: The Emergence of Evangelical Environmentalism Calvin B. DeWitt 25. Religion and Environmentalism in America and Beyond Bron Taylor Bibliography Index
Roger S. Gottlieb is Professor of Philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is the author or editor of fourteen books and more than 50 articles on political philosophy, religious life, the Holocaust, environmentalism, and disability, including A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet's Future (OUP 2006), This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment (second edition, 2003) and Joining Hands: Politics and Religion Together for Social Change (2002). He writes a column for the national magazine Tikkun and serves on the editorial boards of four scholarly journals.
Reviews for The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology
A main strength of this book is the broad perspective it offers on the main religious traditions in the world. It is well worth reading for the information on comparative aspects among the main religions and religious philosophies ... a most valuable document * Luc Hens, International Journal of Environment and Pollution *
