Original Research - Special Collection: Theology and Nature
Moving beyond confessional theologies and secular philosophies about the world: Towards an ecodomic public attitude about nature
Submitted: 14 March 2020 | Published: 27 July 2020
About the author(s)
Corneliu C. Simuț, Department of Dogmatics and Christian Ethics, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South AfricaAbstract
This article is firstly an investigation of traditional Christian thought about the world with the purpose of establishing whether Christianity’s three main confessions (Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism and mainline Protestantism) share similar concerns about the current situation of nature. Secondly, the investigation is followed by a comparison between the common features of these three confessional theologies and similar patterns of thought in the secular world, with the intention of finding ecological issues that are common not only to the three confessional theologies but also to secular philosophies. Thirdly, the initial investigation of Christianity’s three main confessional theologies, followed by the comparison between these confessional theologies and secular philosophies of nature, is completed by the concrete proposal that, in order for contemporary ecological issues to be met with viable solutions, a common public attitude about nature, which goes beyond confessional theologies and secular philosophies, needs to be pursued globally in an ecodomic (constructive and edifying) manner.
Contribution: Despite the numerous theories about concrete ways to improve the current state of nature, this article is an attempt to go a step beyond the established theological and philosophical perspectives on the world towards a constructive public attitude which is meant to be characterised by the real possibility of immediate action.
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Crossref Citations
1. A faith-based environmental approach for people and the planet: Some inter-religious perspectives on our Earth-embeddedness
Antonino Puglisi, Johan Buitendag
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies vol: 78 issue: 2 year: 2022
doi: 10.4102/hts.v78i2.7582