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263 Ecology in the Modern Context The goal of this paper is to establish two claims: first, that ancient Christianity is not based on concepts that permit humans to “abuse” nature and the environment, and second, that ecology and evolution as scienti fic disciplines are tightly linked and that a failure to recognize one or the other as valid will have significant societal impact. These views are synergistic : a harmonious relationship between humanity and nature can be founded upon the ancient teachings of the Church as much as upon the views of contemporary science. Today, the environmental crisis has come to play a critical role in public debate both in the political arena and in academic circles. One aspect of these discourses has been the blame that many non-Christians and even Christians have placed at the feet of Christianity for the existence of ecological problems. Many, including Sallie McFague and Elizabeth Johnson, have expressed the view that the ecological crisis is the direct result of an anthropocentric worldview that has led to an exploitative attitude toward the world and environment. According to this perspective, human beings are the center of the world, and the entire world is at their disposal to use in any way necessary to make humans more comfortable. This kind of anthropocentrism is often attributed to the influence of Christianity. The ecological problem has proved to be a means of polarizing society in the United States. On one side of the argument are those that support the use of nature solely for human gain, with no inclination toward conservation, protection, or even a slowing down of the pace of the exploitation of environPerspectives on Orthodoxy, Evolution, and Ecology Gayle E. Woloschak 264 G AY L E E . W O LO S C H A K mental resources. On the other side of the spectrum are the broad scientific community and a large component of the ecological movement itself. In taking the opposite view, they have often blamed Christians for environmental exploitation. This has been based partially on the statements of certain Christian contemporaries and partially on their belief that Christianity propounds an anthropocentric view of the world that can be (mis)interpreted as prescribing the use of all creation solely for the selfish purposes of humanity. This has even led some ecological conservatives to challenge such purportedly anthropocentric views of Christianity (and in fact anthropocentrism in all religions), stating that all of life is equal on earth and that any tendency toward anthropocentrism should be met with condemnation. These criticisms raise two questions as central to the issue: (1) is Christianity of necessity anthropocentric , and (2) is the idea that Christianity supports the abuse of creation solely for human gain an ancient, and thus original, idea within Christianity? First, we must consider the anthropocentric status of Christianity. Christianity is by definition Christ centered, and because Christ became Man, humans become a central focus of Christianity. Certainly, the creation stories in Genesis point to a human-centered creation; when God creates the world, only human beings are made “in the image and according to the likeness ” of God. Most of the early Church Fathers do not turn away from a view of humanity as in some way a special part of creation, although as will be pointed out later, this involves a humanity that lives in harmony with creation as a steward of all things. An anthropocentric view of the world, then, probably cannot be avoided in Orthodoxy, and it is consistent with the Church Fathers. Nevertheless, a human-centered creation is not necessarily a human-exclusive creation, which leads to the second issue raised above. The view that Christianity by nature permits the “use” (which allows the possibility of abuse) of the earth in order to serve humanity’s needs is another component of the modern critique of Christianity by environmentalists . Many believe that this has been a component of Christianity since the beginning and that it has led over the centuries to a continual exploitation of the environment that has, in turn, led to the current environmental crisis. Often, ecological problems are placed squarely at the feet of Christianity, along with the call to usher in a post-Christian era in order to save the environment from Christian teachings. I want to maintain, however, that any Christianity that warrants the name cannot be exploitative of the environment and that exploitation is not a teaching of the ancient faith but rather...

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