Response to James A. Nash, ‘The Bible vs. Biodiversity: The Case against Moral Argument from Scripture’.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v3i2.271Keywords:
Nash, biblical hermeneutics, environmental ethicsAbstract
This response to Nash’s paper, while appreciating his legitimate concerns, argues for the following. First with respect to hermeneutics, he counters the literal use of scripture to support biodiversity in ecclesial statements with literal examples of negative ethical practice. Both are hardly warrant for the total exclusion of scripture from moral arguments. Secondly, his own preference for the active appropriation of theological traditions is rooted in a history of interpretation of scripture. Thirdly, in his desire to be inclusive of ecological and scientific literature, it is not always clear which authority, if any, is setting the criteria for moral reasonableness. Fourthly, his sharp distinction between wilderness and pastoralia may not be as problematic as he believes to be the case.References
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Conradie, E. 2005. An Ecological Christian Anthropology: At Home on Earth (Aldershot: Ashgate).
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________. 2008b. Ecotheology (London: DLT).
The Earth Bible Team. 2000. ‘Guiding Ecojustice Principles’, in Habel 2000: 38-53.
Edwards, D. 2004. Breath of Life: A Theology of the Creator Spirit (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books).
Glacken, Clarence. 1967. Traces on the Rhodian Shore: Nature and Culture in Western Thought from Ancient Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century (Berkeley: University of California Press).
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________. 2000. ‘Geophany: The Earth Story in Genesis 1’, in Habel and Wurst 2000: 34-48.
Habel, N. (ed.). 2000. The Earth Bible Volume One: Readings from the Perspective of Earth (Shef_eld: Shef_eld Academic Press).
Habel, N., and S. Wurst (eds.). 2000. The Earth Bible Volume Two: The Earth Story in Genesis (Shef_eld: Shef_eld Academic Press).
________. 2001. The Earth Bible Volume Three: The Earth Story in Wisdom Traditions (Shef_eld: Shef_eld Academic Press).
Horrell, David, Cheryl Hunt, and Christopher Southgate. 2008. ‘Appeals to the Bible in Ecotheology and Environmental Ethics’, Studies in Christian Ethics 21.2: 219-38. doi:10.1177/0953946808094343.
Jenkins, W. 2008. Ecologies of Grace: Environmental Ethics and Christian Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
McFague, S. 2008. A New Climate for Theology: God, the World and Global Warming (Minneapolis: Fortress Press).
Northcott, M. 1996. The Environment and Christian Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
________. 2007. A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming (London: DLT).
Olley, John. 2000. ‘Mixed Blessings for Animals: The Contrasts of Genesis 9’, in Habel and Wurst 2000: 130-39.
Pieper, J. 1959. Prudence (trans. R. Winston and C. Winston; London: Faber & Faber).
Wallace, M. 2005. Finding God in the Singing River: Christianity, Spirit, Nature (Minneapolis: Fortress Press).
Watson, Francis. 1992. ‘Strategies of Recovery and Resistance: Hermeneutical Re_ections on Genesis 1–3 and its Pauline Reception’, Journal for the Study of the New Testament 45: 79–103. doi:10.1177/0142064X9201404504.
Wirzba, N. 2005. The Paradise of God: Renewing Religion in an Ecological Age (Oxford: Oxford University Press)
Wurst, Shirley. 2000. ‘“Beloved, Come Back to Me”; Ground’s Theme Song in Genesis 3?’, in Habel and Wurst 2000: 87-104.
Bauckham, R. 2009. ‘Reading the Sermon on the Mount in an Age of Ecological Catastrophe’, Studies in Christian Ethics 22.1: 76-88. doi:10.1177/0953946808100227.
Clark, S. 1993. How to Think About the Earth: Philosophical and Theological Models for Ecology (London: Mowbray).
Conradie, E. 2005. An Ecological Christian Anthropology: At Home on Earth (Aldershot: Ashgate).
________. 2009. Christian Faith and the Earth Project. Online: http://fore.research.yale.edu/religion/christianity/ChristianFaithandEarth/CFE%20Homepage.htm (accessed 30 January 2009).
Dawkins, R. 2006. The God Delusion (London: Bantam Press).
Deane-Drummond, C. 2004. The Ethics of Nature (Oxford: Blackwell). doi:10.1002/9780470773451.
________. 2008a. ‘Book of the Month: The Ethics of Global Warming, review of Michael S. Northcott, A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming’, Expository Times 120.1: 24-26. doi:10.1177/0014524608096268.
________. 2008b. Ecotheology (London: DLT).
The Earth Bible Team. 2000. ‘Guiding Ecojustice Principles’, in Habel 2000: 38-53.
Edwards, D. 2004. Breath of Life: A Theology of the Creator Spirit (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books).
Glacken, Clarence. 1967. Traces on the Rhodian Shore: Nature and Culture in Western Thought from Ancient Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Habel, N. 1998/99. ‘Key Ecojustice Principles: A Theologia Crucis Perspective’, Ecotheology 5 & 6: 114-25.
________. 2000. ‘Geophany: The Earth Story in Genesis 1’, in Habel and Wurst 2000: 34-48.
Habel, N. (ed.). 2000. The Earth Bible Volume One: Readings from the Perspective of Earth (Shef_eld: Shef_eld Academic Press).
Habel, N., and S. Wurst (eds.). 2000. The Earth Bible Volume Two: The Earth Story in Genesis (Shef_eld: Shef_eld Academic Press).
________. 2001. The Earth Bible Volume Three: The Earth Story in Wisdom Traditions (Shef_eld: Shef_eld Academic Press).
Horrell, David, Cheryl Hunt, and Christopher Southgate. 2008. ‘Appeals to the Bible in Ecotheology and Environmental Ethics’, Studies in Christian Ethics 21.2: 219-38. doi:10.1177/0953946808094343.
Jenkins, W. 2008. Ecologies of Grace: Environmental Ethics and Christian Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
McFague, S. 2008. A New Climate for Theology: God, the World and Global Warming (Minneapolis: Fortress Press).
Northcott, M. 1996. The Environment and Christian Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
________. 2007. A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming (London: DLT).
Olley, John. 2000. ‘Mixed Blessings for Animals: The Contrasts of Genesis 9’, in Habel and Wurst 2000: 130-39.
Pieper, J. 1959. Prudence (trans. R. Winston and C. Winston; London: Faber & Faber).
Wallace, M. 2005. Finding God in the Singing River: Christianity, Spirit, Nature (Minneapolis: Fortress Press).
Watson, Francis. 1992. ‘Strategies of Recovery and Resistance: Hermeneutical Re_ections on Genesis 1–3 and its Pauline Reception’, Journal for the Study of the New Testament 45: 79–103. doi:10.1177/0142064X9201404504.
Wirzba, N. 2005. The Paradise of God: Renewing Religion in an Ecological Age (Oxford: Oxford University Press)
Wurst, Shirley. 2000. ‘“Beloved, Come Back to Me”; Ground’s Theme Song in Genesis 3?’, in Habel and Wurst 2000: 87-104.
Published
2009-07-22
Issue
Section
CLOSED - Special Issue: Christianity, Nature, Scripture and Ethics
How to Cite
Deane-Drummond, C. (2009). Response to James A. Nash, ‘The Bible vs. Biodiversity: The Case against Moral Argument from Scripture’. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 3(2), 271-278. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v3i2.271
