I saw YOU in the wild


I hope you all had a blessed Easter. As we patiently journeyed through Lent I mentioned I was excited to talk about some other dimensions of the Trinity.
With that in mind, I would like to discuss how our image Trinity affects our ecological attitude. Given, that lately I've been focusing on Moltmann, I will begin our thoughts with a quote by him (which, this time I do not apologize for my reliance upon him).

Rather than laying out the argument about Christianity's history of an abusive relationship with the earth, I will build off the assumption that we all agree about this history. If, however, any readers are curious about the history, I commend Lynn White's wonderful essay, The Historical Root of Our Ecological Crisis.

Anyway, how are Christians to begin living into a new attitude? Moltmann suggests something quite easy and historical:

"We need only return to the original wisdom of our own religious tradition and rediscover what was repressed by the absolutist and masculine modern image of God. This is the rediscovery of the triune God."

(By absolutist image, Moltmann is discussing the "almighty," and "transcendent" dimension of God. By masculine image, Moltmann is discussing the particular seizure of power by the male over and against the female, i.e. "penetrating the virgin forest." By modern image, Moltmann is critiquing the objectifying of the modern technological process of verification and reproduction for the human end.)

The triune God is a tenable route for Moltmann because this route emphasis the symmetry of the whole, rather than strictly favoring the individual, supposedly detached from the whole.

"The triune God -as the very name indicates- is not a lonely Lord in heaven incapable of feelings, who subjects all things to himself (sic), but a God who is rich in relationships and capable of relationships, a God in community: 'God is Love'."

We can unpack this more later, right now I am curious to hear everyone's thoughts at this point in time about ecology and the Trinity.

Comments

  1. The 'ToidApril 7, 2010 at 9:00 AM

    My perspective on the Trinity and ecology is influenced by sophia - feminine wisdom who moved over the waters at creation, etc. My senior thesis at Luther dealt with the notion that it is possible Jesus was sophia personified, rather than logos.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RCosgroveApril 12, 2010 at 11:51 AM

    This is an interesting idea. I've come across it in modern feminist ecology writings. From your point of view, though, I would be interested in hearing exactly how this understanding of Jesus is ecological, and/or affects one's understanding of the Trinity.
    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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