An Ecological Christian Anthropology

What is the place and vocation of human beings in the earth community? This is the central question that this contribution towards a Christian ecological anthropology addresses. In ecological theology this question is often answered by the affirmation that ＂We are at home on earth.＂ This affirmation rightly responds to the widespread sense of alienation from nature, to the anthropocentrism that pervades much of the Christian tradition and to concerns about the scope of environmental devastation. This book challenges the affirmation that we are at home on earth, examining natural suffering, anxieties concerning human finitude and especially the pervasiveness of evil. The book investigates contributions to ecological theology, South African and African theology, reformed theology and contemporary dialogues between theology and the sciences in search of a thoroughly ecological Christian anthropology.

Ernst M. Conradie is Associate Professor in the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa.