An Ethics of Biodiversity: Christianity, Ecology, and the Variety of Life

摘要

Ever since Lynn White (1967) pinned the blame for our environmental woes on Western forms of Christianity, Christian scholars have been trying to rehabilitate the image of Christianity and render it consistent with an ethic of environmental sustainability. Kevin J. O'Brien seeks to make a contribution to this rehabilitation project with his An ethics of biodiversity: Christianity, ecology, and the variety of life. While agreeing with the essence of White's critique, O'Brien seeks to recover 'unrecognized traditions within Christian history in order to nurture a new attitude toward creation...' (p. 132). However, he does more than simply bring Christian ethical principles to bear on the biodiversity crisis; he places a scientific understanding of the diversity of life into conversation with Christian ethical principles, allowing each to respond to the other. I admire O'Brien's willingness to adopt this dialogical approach and allow the reality of the biodiversity crisis to critique principles of Christian ethics. There has been too little recognition of how the loss of biodiversity represents a real challenge to traditional formulations of Christian doctrine. Yet despite his solid grasp of the science behind the biodiversity crisis, in the end I find this book intellectually unsatisfying since it seems that O'Brien is unwilling to follow through on the larger implications of his own very interesting and cogent analysis.