Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

Religion General

Ecotheology and the Practice of Hope

by (author) Anne Marie Dalton & Henry C. Simmons

Publisher
State University of New York Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2010
Category
General, Religion & Science, Ecology
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781438432977
    Publish Date
    Oct 2010
    List Price
    $128.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781438432960
    Publish Date
    Jul 2011
    List Price
    $44.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Looks at how ecotheology has created a new vision of the natural world and the place of humans within it.

Is there any hope for a more sustainable world? Can we reimagine a way of living in which the nonhuman world matters? Anne Marie Dalton and Henry C. Simmons claim that the ecotheology that arose during the mid-twentieth century gives us reason for hope. While ecotheologians acknowledge that Christianity played a significant role in creating societies in which the nonhuman world counted for very little, these thinkers have refocused religion to include the natural world. To borrow philosopher Charles Taylor's concept, they have created a new "social imaginary," reimagining a better world and a different sense of what is and what should be. A new mindset is emerging, inspired by ecotheological texts and evident in the many diverse movements and activities that operate as if the hope imparted by ecotheology has already been realized. While making this powerful argument, Dalton and Simmons also provide an essential overview of key ecotheological thinkers and texts

About the authors

Contributor Notes

Anne Marie Dalton is Professor of Religious Studies at Saint Mary's University in Halifax. She is the author of A Theology for the Earth: The Contributions of Thomas Berry and Bernard Lonergan. Henry C. Simmons is Professor Emeritus of Christian Education at the Union Presbyterian Seminary. He is coauthor (with James C. Fisher) of A Journey Called Aging: Challenges and Opportunities in Older Adulthood and (with Jane Wilson) Soulful Aging: Ministry through the Stages of Adulthood.

Editorial Reviews

"?this monograph makes its own contribution to both the field of ecotheology and the optimistic purpose which Dalton and Simmons unfold within its pages, holding out the hope for a transformed Christianity that makes a positive contribution to a sustainable future. This noteworthy aspect of the authors' work makes Ecotheology and the Practice of Hope poignant reading in a time of ecological crisis." — Studies in Religion