CHRISTIANITY - environmental ethics Flashcards
What is stewardship?
Showing genuine care and concern for the environment
What is justice?
Doing what is good, right and just and overcoming inequality through fair and equitable distribution of resources
What is sacramentality of the universe?
The belief that God created the earth and continues to dwell within it and therefore it is sacred
Explain the teaching of stewardship 3
- Adherents have a responsibility to care for the environment as the Bible tells them that God left the earth to be cared for by them
- the way they treat the environment is a reflection of the way they treat God
- God endowed humanity with intellectual reason and a physical capacity beyond other species –> with such privileges comes responsibility the responsibility to ‘take care’ of all creation
Give 2 quotes for stewardship
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (Gn. 2:21)
the environment is a “wonderful gift that God has given” humanity, the Christian strives to “love God” by being “a protector of creation”. (Pope Francis, 2014)
Explain justice 3
- intergenerational justice/equity: pertains to ensuring the actions of the present don’t bear inequitable consequences for our descendants
- This teaches that Christians need to overcome ego and materialism as well as the desire to consume mindlessly in order to be advocates for justice
- In Laudato Si, Pope Francis addresses the inequities experienced the developing nations which are the result of ‘human abuse’ –> adherents carry a responsibility to help environmentally vulnerable nations such as Bangladesh and Kiribas
Give 3 quotes for justice
“what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
Love for the poor is certainly “incompatible with immoderate love of riches or their selfish use” (CCC, 2445)
‘no one can serve two masters’ - Mt 24:6
Explain sacramentality of the universe 4
- It is as if the environment is Church in that it requires reverence, respect, sanctity and sacredness
- the way that adherents treat the environment is a reflection of the way they treat God
- A sacrament is any action or sign which makes God present
- just as humans are created in the image of God, so is the environment and therefore it deserves the same respect and dignity
Give 3 quotes for sacramentality of the universe
- “thou shall not kill” (Exodus 20)
- “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (Jn. 1:14)
- “In his image he created them” - genesis 1:27
E.g. for stewardship
Anglican Communion on Environmental Network (ACEN) –> 2018 Lenten focus on fasting for creation and 2019 Lenten focus on using less plastic, helps adherents become habitually accustomed to making small sacrifices for the environment. Aims at educating Anglicans to live sustainably, supporting local initiatives and sharing information and resources, to be better informed to make an environmental impact
Eg for justice
Catholic Earthcare (an ecological program under Caritas). It promotes 7 ways to live out Laudato Si such as encouraging adherents to shop ethically to reduce their consumption and waste production as well as to live simply by embodying sustainable practices, especially when it comes to recycling and water and energy consumption. These simple practices help to reduce their personal and national carbon footprint, in this way reducing the effects of climate change on environmentally vulnerable communities.
Eg for sacramentality of the universe
Fasting and abstinence - fasting during Lent is obligatory upon most Christians, including Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox. By reducing their consumption during, especially their meat consumption, they are respecting the sacramentality of the universe in understanding that it shouldn’t be excessively destroyed for the selfish benefits of mankind. Even if only 50% of the worlds’ 2.4 billion Christians participated for 16 days of Lent this would reduce carbon emissions by 165 pounds. By adopting a vegetarian diet, or at least eating vegetarian a few times a week, this demonstrates that God’s creation are worthy of living a full life.
The Traditional Saint Augustine’s Prayer Book, a companion to the Book of Common Prayer –> “usually meaning not more than a light breakfast, one full meal, and one half meal, on the forty days of Lent”
Canon 1251 Abstinence from eating meat or another food according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops is to be observed on Fridays throughout the year unless they are solemnities; abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. - Code of Canon Law Catholic Church
