Eco-Theology and the Scriptures: A Revisit of Christian Responses

The book is a special endeavor for readers of any sector to enable them to reread the Biblical Texts entirely from non-traditional Ecological perspectives and motivate them to join hands with the people who have genuine concern for the Creation.

Starting with the more cautious attitude of many countries shown at the 'Rio+20' Conference and comparing them with the heady promises made at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, the Author shows that for many modern economies, implementation of 'Green' movements has become a hard task as the issue of eradication of poverty comes into conflict and in that, the latter often wins. So, the question is left with these economies to decide whether they want to head towards Green Economy, or Great Economy, or Big Economy.

He boldly addresses the Colonial character of Christianity imposed on the Indian sub-continent, which stressed the dualist concept of the Earth and Heaven, which puts emphasis on the salvation of the soul rather than that of Creation. The Author has tried to show linkage between Colonialism and Environmental damage, he further proposes for the review of inherited mindset of Indian Christians, that has become indifferent towards the Ecological Problems.

He then charts the development of Indian Christian Theology and its great thinkers with particular reference to the second half of the 20th century and proposes a complete review for its deconstruction and replacement with a sound Biblical and Theological Methodology.

This informative and thoughtful work also deals with Socio- Economic and Historical subjects and is thus meant for Ecologists,Historians, Economists, Christian Laity, Church Clergies, andStudents & Researchers. An ordinary person will be left less informedwithout having read the book.

Solomon Victus holds a Ph.D in Religion and Philosophy from Madurai Kamaraj University and a Post Graduation in Social Analysis from Serampore University; being a William Paton Visiting Fellow of Birmingham University; and also an Active Member of International Study Group on Religions, Cultures and Traditions of SIPCC, Germany. Having 25 years' experience in teaching and guiding theological students from Graduate to Doctoral level, he is a Professor of Social Analysis in Tamilnadu Theological Seminary, Madurai, currently.

Till date, he has authored seven books including substantial ones like: Jesus and Mother Economy: An Introduction to the Theology of J. C Kumarappa (Delhi: TTS/ISPCK, 2007), Religion and Eco- economics of J. C. Kumarappa: Gandhism Redefined (Delhi: TTS/ ISPCK, 2003). He has also contributed several articles to various Journals and Periodicals of different secular institutions and theological seminaries.

The topic of Ecology or Environment is a one day affair for manyChristian Pastors, occurring only on 'Ecological Sunday'. Most of the Christian Pastors are unconscious that every day they deal with issues of life and death, disease and decease which are directly connected with the aggressive processes of industrialization, modernization and urbanization. Christian ministry is not simply a comforting ministry as many believers think, but it ought also to be a task of 'destroying the sting of the death' (I Cor. 15:26, 55). Although, Christianity has contributed to the Ecological issues of the world in so many ways, the majority of Christians have understood and interpreted the Bible only from other-worldly perspectives, helping the Earth to decay faster than it should. Using scriptures of ancient ages for modern problems is a problematic solution; however when such scriptures are utilized for creative liberation, freedom and responsible care it becomes bliss.

Although the root cause of the Ecological problem has been attributed to Christian theology in general, especially by Lynn White: I realize deeply that it has very much to do with the Colonial Mission Theology and their textual interpretations and the patronizing modern consumerist mindset in the context of Asia. From the Third World Countries' perspective one can easily understand how this other-worldly nature of theology and hermeneutics went hand in hand with the Imperial or Colonial political power structures.

It is a privilege for me to contribute a foreword to this very informative book, Reading it, is like taking a delightful University course, full of gems in each lecture, without even travelling or paying any fee. But don't try to read it all at once. It is so rich in information; my suggestion for the readers is too take one section at a time. I was familiar with Christianity (having attended a Church school) before reading it, but had never noticed that the Bible says a good deal more about Ecological matters than the traditional liturgy does.

I had heard of Isaiah's prophecy of the wolf no longer killing the lamb, but hadn't known that his vision of "the Earth ... full of knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" comes right after a prophecy that God's creatures would "neither hurt nor destroy on all my holy mountain". I hadn't noticed the unmistakably vegetarian drift of Genesis 1: 29, and had never read (in Deuteronomy) the order for soldiers to bury their night soil (human waste) so as to protect the health of people living nearby and to fertilize the fields naturally. Dr. Victus has given many more examples like this in the book.

Then, he provides an up to date account of fascinating array of relevant theological tendencies in the history of Christianity. He reports fairly, and has tried to analyze everything. (I especially appreciated his remarks in Chapter 2 about various kinds of dualism.) And then he goes beyond Christianity, venturing sympathetically into insights from other religions and philosophical persuasions. He is not the kind of Christian who claims to know what God intends for the departed souls of the heathens. He obviously regards all those folks as neighbors (in this era of globalisation) whom he is charged (by Jesus) to love and respect. And, in the first paragraph of Chapter 8 he brilliantly turns the spotlight of Jesus' teaching, "Why... observe the in your brother's eye and never notice the plank in your own?", on historical Christianity for having given Ecologists reason to see it as "more of a problem than a friend". His own Christian knowledge is lovable.

If you are a Christian I warmly recommend this book to you as a way of learning good things about your religion that you may not have known before. If you are (like me) not a Christian, I recommend it as a very informative account which you can read without feeling proselytized.

**Contents and Sample Pages**