Living water in Ezekiel 47: How eco-hermeneutics raise climate awareness among Christian youth

Abstract

This article examined the role of biblical interpretation amid the world’s water crisis. It aimed to make biblical texts accessible to non-specialist readers by using several methods of interpretation. The methods used were a combination of biblical interpretation, revisionist ecological hermeneutics and empirical research in the form of interviews with young adults in the Anglican Church in South Africa. This combination was applied to the role of water in Ezekiel 47. It showed that while traditional biblical interpretation is important for understanding the biblical context, revisionist ecological hermeneutics can help in understanding the ecological aspect of the text. This combination fitted the interview results, in which interviewees shared how learning about ecological aspects helped to make the Bible more relevant in today’s ecological crisis. A deeper biblical understanding, a combination of traditional interpretation and ecological hermeneutics, could lead to more awareness and responsibility among Christians to care for creation. This form of hermeneutics could be applied to other Bible texts to grow awareness.

Contribution: Interviewees argued that there is a lack of awareness in their environments about the causes and consequences of the ecological crisis. One of the main consequences of this crisis is related to water, with floods and droughts already becoming more severe. While this is often overlooked, the Bible could be of use in the water crisis in today’s world. This article has made a beginning in showing how biblical interpretation can effectively create climate awareness among churchgoers by speaking to their spirituality.