Early Ecotheology and Joseph Sittler

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Abstract

When did Christians begin to address environmental questions? This study reveals that already between 1910 and 1954 many theologians called for responsibility towards nature. The focal point is the work of Joseph Sittler (1904–1987), an American Lutheran and ecumenical theologian. For the first time, a relatively comprehensive overview of early ecotheology is given. The role of these early ecotheologians is discussed in relation to environmental history and education. The findings show that ecotheology was not as strongly separated from other environmentalism as it was after the 1960s.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Prof. Martin E. Marty
Preface

1. Studying Ecotheology and Sittler
Introduction
Ecotheology as a Field of Study
Defining Ecotheology
Typologies of Ecotheologies
Task, Method and Sources
Previous Research on Sittler and the History of Ecotheology
Structure of the Study

2. The Early Development of Sittler’s Theology 1904–1950: On the Road to Ecumenical Lutheranism
Childhood and Youth in Traditional American Lutheranism
Theological Studies and the Influence of John O. Evjen
Parish Ministry during the Depression
The Influence of Walter Marshall Horton and Realist Theology
Professor at the Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary
The Influence of Luther Studies and Scandinavian Theology
The Doctrine of the Word: Sittler’s First Major Study
Conclusions: Sittler and the Change in American Lutheranism

3. The Social Gospel and the “Soil Gospel”: Early American Ecotheology
Background: Transcendentalists, the Social Gospel and Agrarianism
Walter Rauschenbusch’s Ecotheological Sensibilities
Liberty Hyde Bailey: The Holy Earth
Walter C. Lowdermilk: The Eleventh Commandment
Early Agrarian Ecotheology: Luigi Ligutti and the Christian Rural Fellowship
Legacy of the Theology of the Soil

4. Ecotheological Groundwork in Britain
Background: Anglican Theology of Nature, Process Thought and William Temple
J.H. Oldham and the 1937 Oxford Conference
The Malvern Conference 1941: Pioneering Ecotheological Statements
Herbert H. Farmer: The World and God
Charles E. Raven: Christianity and Nature
A Forgotten Ecotheological Legacy

5. Post-liberal Beginnings of the Ecotheological Movement
Paul Tillich: The Religious Significance of Nature
Walter M. Horton: The Limits to Human Dominion of Nature
H. Richard Niebuhr: Responsibility towards All Creation
Bernard E. Meland: Kinship with Nature
Daniel Day Williams: Pioneering Process Ecotheology

6. A Theology for Earth: Sittler Proceeds into Ecotheology
The Influence of Earlier Ecotheology on Sittler
Sittler Finds His Theological Stance
Sittler’s Ecotheology in the Early 1950s
The Reception and Consequences of “A Theology for Earth”
A Glance at Sittler’s Later Ecotheology
Ecotheological Heritage of Post-liberal Theology

7. Conclusions: Analysis of Early Ecotheology
Legacy of Early Ecotheology
The Relationship between Early Ecotheology and Other Early Environmentalism
Further Developments of the “Schools” of Early Ecotheology
Environmental Education and Nature Experiences
Practical Goals and Methods of the Early Ecotheologians
Three Approaches to the Role of Nature in Theology
Theological Themes and Use of the Bible

8. Epilogue: Early Ecotheology on the Threshold of a New Era

Bibliography
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationZürich
PublisherLit Verlag
Number of pages312
ISBN (Print)978-3-643-90837-7
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2017
MoE publication typeC1 Scientific book

Publication series

NameStudies in Religion and the Environment
PublisherLit Verlag
Volume12

Fields of Science

  • 614 Theology
  • ecotheology
  • environmental history
  • environmental ethics
  • Environmental education
  • Church history

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