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 PrintableVersion Eco-theologyVain philosophyECO-THEOLOGY Eco-theology sounds like a good project, aiming ‘to uncover the theological basis for a proper relationship between God, humanity and the cosmos’. The aim of Eco-Theology ‘is to offer a resource book that highlights ... different contemporary eco-theologies’; it attempts ‘to map out a burgeoning field ... to introduce the reader to critical debates’. The book is an example of contextual theology. Before I go any further I had better explain. Contextual theology emerged around 40 years ago when academics began to take an interest in how different cultural contexts affected what people believed and did. They began to think of specific ‘theologies’: Latin-American liberation theology, or black theology. Now there is feminist theology, eco-theology, and many others, and contextual theology is the academic norm. The purpose is not to take, say, our eco-related questions to the Scriptures to discover the truth, because ‘the universal is not available for individuals or groups to claim complete knowledge’ (Bergmann, God in Context, p.10). Instead, the aim is to use our questions to stimulate our thinking and lead us into experiences that will shape an ‘eco-theology’ that makes sense in our own particular context. Our interpretation of the Bible will vary according to our perspective on it. So ‘there is no such thing as ‘theology’, there is only contextual theology’ (Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, p.3). Contextualism and liberalsContextual theology is the heir to liberal theology; they share the key Enlightenment assumption that man is the measure of all things. Truth is merely what I think. Our beliefs that the Scriptures stand above human contexts, and that the Spirit gives them clarity (perspicuity), have been lost. The emergent church is putting contextual theology into practice (see Carson’s Becoming Conversant). It is trying to assemble ideas and practices to construct new ‘theologies’ of its own for a postmodern world in which there is no absolute standard. ‘No theology can be final; it has to be formulated and reformulated, over and over, as cultural conditions change’ (Tomlinson, Post-Evangelical, p.132). Books of contextual theology are often intended to be pick-and-mix resources. Occasionally they may have insights into authoritative, true-for-all biblical teaching, but the authors themselves do not believe that there is any such thing. Honest evangelicals must confront and oppose such unbelief if they wish to engage with contextual theologians, not hide behind ‘shared understanding’. Now back to the book. So, after a cursory look at green issues and economic justice, it goes global in a search for inspiration: deep ecology, liberation theology, and Sophia (a recurrent theme). Then the author, a Roman Catholic from the University of Chester, draws together green-related ideas on biblical theology, Christ, theodicy, the Spirit, feminism and eschatology. It turns out that neither the book, nor much of the material it covers, is at all evangelical. ‘The vast literature that has mushroomed in both popular and academic texts on eco-theology commonly includes some reference or other to biblical literature’ — but little more. Indeed, ‘some eco-feminists have given up seeking inspiration in Scripture’. One turns to Mahatma Gandhi, another suggests that ‘just as humans are embodied, rather than existing as detached souls and bodies, so God too is embodied in the world’. The author weaves all this into her own eco-theology. Sadly, this textbook deals in vain philosophy and its guiding light is fallen reason. It is a painful reminder of the darkness in which we all once walked. Dr. Tim Mitchell,
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