Toward a Lutheran theology of nature: An ecological ethics of the cross.

摘要

This dissertation seeks a theological foundation for addressing the ecological crisis from a Lutheran Christian perspective. It uses a method of critical correlation to relate the science of ecology to the Christian symbols. This method builds on Paul Tillich's method of correlation by claiming that the existential question: the question that humanity is to itself, must now be augmented to include the ecological question: the question that humanity has become to the planet..;Two existential questions that arise from the ecological literature are the question of the future and the question of place. A third and related question is the question of ethics. In order to build a theological response, the dissertation then proceeds to expose the ecological theology and ethics of Jurgen Moltmann, followed by several Lutheran eco-theologians and ethicists. It creates three schools of Lutheran ecotheology: 1) the historical revisionist school: Sittler and Santmire, 2) the science-theology school: Pannenberg, Peters, Hefner and Gregersen and 3) the theo-ethical school: Larry Rasmussen, Cynthia Moe-Lobeda and Vitor Westhelle.;What follows is an analysis of current thinking in environmental ethics and proposals for a green energy future, including an ecological economics that grounds human activity in the rhythms and cycles of the earth, both globally and locally, to benefit the earth and it creatures in interdependence. Theologically, the question of the future is answered in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is the world's future, and the question of place is answered by two symbols: the community of creation and the tree of life, which posit that earth is our home. Although this could be seen as a limitation, the Lutheran theology of the cross, in combination with a theology of nature, positions Christians---especially Lutherans---to see the goodness of creation as a gift. Lastly, the question of ethics is answered in the symbol of kenosis and in Christ-like self-emptying before the nonhuman natural world as an act of love, which is called here an "ecological ethics of the cross.".