Born-Again Witch: The Pope, Pagans, and Evangelical Environmentalists

Last updated on: June 22, 2015 at 5:12 pm by Annika Mongan

Born-Again Witch: The Pope, Pagans, and Evangelical Environmentalists 2015-06-22T17:12:51+00:00 Annika Mongan

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Having established a biblical view of man’s place in the world, the question remains of God’s relationship to the cosmos. Psalm 24 makes it clear that we are but stewards of creation, the earth and everything in it does not belong to man, but to God, its creator. God’s ownership is illustrated by the relationship between the people of Israel and the land of Israel. The land was promised to Israel by God, yet scripture makes it clear that the people are but tenants (Lev 25:23), God remains the owner of the land (Wright 240). What man does to the land, he does to God’s property. The implication of course is that nature is “intrinsically valuable because it is part of God’s creation” (Smith 71).

The wilderness near Mt. Shasta / Annika Mongan

God not only owns his creation, he also shows great care for it, he continues to sustain and nurture it. “Creation has therefore also to be understood as an expression of the love of God who remains faithful to what he has created in love” (Schwöbel 157). The Mosaic regulations are testimony to God’s concern for the land. God’s desire for “shalom”, the Hebrew concept of an all-encompassing peace and well-being, extends beyond men to non-human creation (Santmire 43-44). The command to keep the Sabbath benefits not only men, but the land as well. God provides rest for the land and thus prevents it from being exploited (VanDyke 78).

God’s concern for his creation is seen most fully in his plan of redemption. The Gnostic idea of separating the spiritual and material and giving preference to the spiritual is negated by Christ’s incarnation. Colin E. Gunton writes “the status of the material world is, for Christian theology, very much bound up with the incarnation, the affirmation that in Jesus of Nazareth the Son of God takes part of that world to himself, and, consequently, dies and is raised in order that God should redeem all of it (Ephesians 1.1-10)” (9).

Not only did Christ affirm the goodness of the material world by becoming part of it, he also took on the entire cosmos to redeem it. All of creation came under the curse of the fall through Adam’s sin, but through Christ’s sacrifice all of creation is being redeemed. VanDyke asserts that “Christ’s death began the redemptive process that will be fully realized in the future. His death will change not merely you and me but also the entire cosmos in which we live” (35). This idea, called “recapitulation”, is found throughout the writings of the New Testament. Loren Wilkenson contents that “The cosmic concern of salvation is a central theme of the New Testament” (29). Evangelical ethicist Oliver O’ Donovon stresses the implications of the idea of cosmic redemption for a Christian view of the environment: “it might have been possible, we could say, before Christ rose from the dead, for someone to wonder whether creation was a lost cause” (39). But because of the redemptive work of Christ, “the good news [is] declared not only to men and women on earth, but to all created things under heaven” (Wilkenson, 29).

Lastly, the theocentric view of the environment that recognizes man’s place as steward, God as the owner and the one who cares for and redeems creation leads to a unique understanding of the purpose of creation. Rather than being an extension of God, as the biocentric view would argue, or merely a backdrop for human history, in a theocentric view creation’s purpose is to bring glory to God, its creator and sustainer. Schwöbel writes on the importance of this perspective:

“The immediate implication of seeing the glory of God as the end of creation is an explicit restriction of human interaction with the world of creation… Perhaps the ecological crisis has heightened our awareness of an understanding of the end of creation where one interpretation is definitely excluded: that it may be seen as directed to the greater glory of the human” (169).

David Toolan summarizes: “to degrade the earth is to interfere with the message of its Creator” (37).

Go back Continue Reading

Previous Post

June 20, 2015

The Rantin' Raven: Songs for the Old Religion, in Context

Next Post

June 23, 2015 The Busy Witch: Reviewing Jane Eyre's Sisters by Jody Gentian Bower

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Lakeside Hearth Adventures in Wortcunning Alone In Her Presence Arts, Crafts & Cooking Birthing Hereditary Witchcraft Book of Blackbirds Book Reviews Born-Again Witch Cauldron, Sword, Spear, & Stone Cermony and Liturgy Columns Community Dandelion Seeds Dear Jasmine Druid Thoughts Editor's Picks Everyday Pagan Family & Household Practice Family Traditions Full Frontal Magic Gateway Goddess Guest Articles Happily Heathen Health and Wellness Hearth of Hellenism Heathen Woman Hills of the Horizon History Holidays Horse Goddesses Interfaith Interviews Irish-American Witchcraft Jewish Witch Lamp & Labyrinth Letters from Midgard Literature, Media, Film, Music Loop of Brighid Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Making Light Naturalistic Traditions Nature News Outside The Circle Pantheisticon Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Queer Femme Mystic Queer of Swords Recipes Ritual and Practice Science and Research Seekers and Guides Seeking the Grail Socially Responsible Magic Spear of Athena Star Made Witch Syncretic Electric Technology The Blooming Staff The Busy Witch The Cartomancer The Crow's Nest The Dance of Pagan Recovery The Hearth of Hellenism The Lady's Quill The Other Side of the Hedge The Path of She The Rantin' Raven The Witches Next Door The Zen Pagan Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Tree City Witch Urban Earthwitch Wayfaring Woman Witch on Fire Wyrd Words

Select a Month January 2026 March 2025 December 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What city did the wise men visit to see King Herod before finding Jesus?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Nazareth Bethlehem Hebron Jerusalem