wfn.org | Re: LWI 2008-078 Climate Change Is Changing Theology

["LWFNews" <LWFNews@lutheranworld.org>]

>LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION  
>LWI News online:
>http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Welcome.EN.html 

Climate Change Is Changing Theology 

Theologians Consider the Shifts Needed in Thinking and Action

GENEVA, 30 October 2008 (LWI) –"Climate change is opening up
horizons that are deeply spiritual, theological and cosmic in
scope. [It] may literally be melting icebergs but it also exposes
metaphorical icebergs of how God, human beings and the rest of
creation have been conceptualized in ways that contribute to the
injustices that have only increased under climate change." This
observation from a background paper prepared by the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) Department for Theology and Studies (DTS)
set the stage for a consultation of biblical scholars,
theologians and ethicists working in this area, 2-4 October, in
Geneva. 

Background information for the consultation included the
grassroots survey initiated by DTS to get response to ordinary
people’s theological questions about climate change, and the
related extensive adaptation and mitigation work that the LWF
Department for World Service (DWS) field programs have long been
pursuing with local communities. (The LWF survey is presented in
the LWI special edition titled, "Climate Change - Facing Our
Vulnerability", available online at,
www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/OCS/LWI-2008-PDF/LWI-200805-EN-low.pdf)

Dr Sigurd Bergmann who teaches at the Norwegian University of
Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, emphasized the need
for a "spatial turn" in theology, taking Earth seriously as "our
home where the Holy Spirit takes place."

Such a spatial turn resonates with how indigenous people view the
sacred manifesting itself in space, added Rev. Tore Johnsen from
his own Sami perspective as a pastor in the Church of Norway. He
noted that indigenous people worldwide were the most vulnerable
to climate changes, and they do not separate nature and human
beings as in much of Western theology. Johnsen advocated pursuing
theology within a "circle of life" that includes God, human
beings and the rest of creation, proposing how this both relates
to and revises traditional Christian understandings. 

>Spiritual Resources

Giving an account of what his students heard when they went out
to local communities using the LWF survey, Dr George Zachariah,
who teaches at the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and
Research Institute in Chennai, India, focused on the spirituality
of those displaced from their land and livelihood because of
climate change. He argued that many prevailing climate change
discourses were an attempt to "absolve the sins of neo-liberal
capitalist plunder," and called for attention to the spiritual
resources of subaltern communities that can "decolonize our
minds, our faiths, our communities, and our planet."

Awareness raising and advocacy are crucial at grassroots level as
pointed out in two presentations. Dr Colette Bouka Coula, DWS
program officer for Central and Francophone Africa, spoke of how
logging companies in her home village in Cameroon, select and cut
down trees without consulting with the local people who have
managed the forests for centuries. Deserts result from such
corporate greed, she argued. Dr Chiropafadzo Moyo from the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe said the desperation
resulting from the bleak economic and political situation in her
country was driving people to cut down trees, thus destroying
nature. 

Re-reading the Bible is essential in times of climate change, as
a source for wisdom and survival rather than for Christian
doctrine, insisted Dr Christof Hardmeier, a retired professor of
Old Testament who has worked on the upcoming climate change
declaration of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). He noted
similarities between indigenous views today and the early
chapters of Genesis. 

LWF Executive Committee member Rev. Dr Barbara Rossing, who
teaches New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at
Chicago, USA, spoke of the need to re-passages in Revelation and II Peter 3, to counter scriptural
interpretation of climate changes as God’s punishment. What needs
emphasizing instead is healing a world that is ill due to climate
change, she said. 

Ethical criteria and guidelines for policy advocacy related to
climate change were set forth by Dr Christoph Stückelberger of
the Geneva-based global network on applied ethics, Globethics,
and by Dr James Martin-Schramm of Luther College, Decorah, Iowa,
USA, who emphasized the importance of moving beyond cynicism and
despair to effective action, especially with regard to energy
policies. 

Papers presented at the consultation and other related resources
are being developed for a book to be published in the Theology in
the Life of the Church series in early 2009, as well as a
discussion resource for use in local communities. (725 words)

For further information, contact DTS director Rev. Dr Karen
Bloomquist at Bloomquist@lutheranworld.org or DTS intern Rev.
Rolita Machila at, Machila@lutheranworld.org

>*        *          *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF
currently has 141 member churches in 79 countries all over the
world, with a total membership of over 68.3 million. The LWF acts
on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such
as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information
service. Unless specifically noted, material presented does not
represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various
units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation
(LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.] 

>LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
>P. O. Box 2100 CH-1211 
>Geneva 2 Switzerland

>Tel.: +41/22-791 63 69 
>Fax: +41/22-791 66 30