NATURE THEOLOGY |
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Nature Theology Within Russian Orthodox Christianity, by Christie Gibbons, page 10 The Russian Orthodox Church holds that all of humanity lost its capacity to enter into a proper relation with nature and all of creation. They believe that enmity between the natural environment and human beings replaced the harmonious relationship that first existed. They believe that wrongful domination, or exploitation, of the creation for selfish ends by human beings became the order of history. 92 So, Orthodox Christians see it as their duty to combat this natural order of history, doing all that is within their power to recover lost parts of the ecosystem and to preserve what is left. They read Genesis 1:28, the call for humans to exercise dominion over all creatures on the earth, as a call to be stewards, or oikonomi, of God’s creation, “caring for it, maintaining it in its integrity and perfecting it by opening it up to God…” 93 Hebrews 2:8 says: “In putting everything under him [humankind], God left nothing that is not subject to him.” 94 Reverend Harakas believes that humans have not handled that authority very well, accusing all of sinning against ourselves, against others and against the creation. 95 The Russian Orthodox Church holds tightly to Psalm 24:1, which says: The Lord owns earth, and all earth’s fulness, the round world, and all it inhabitants. 96 Reverend Harakas reiterates this, saying: The earth is not ours. It is the Lord’s. It is not ours to deal with as we please. We are stewards of another’s property…the first requirement for the healing of the creation is for the people’s of the earth to recognize who is its real owner...If we are faithful to the theological message of the Orthodox Christian faith, we must think and act ecologically. 97 Unlike much of Western Christianity, the Eastern Orthodox Church opposes the instrumental use of creation, in which the natural environment is violated without restraint, and transformed into an object without meaning, so as to be finally subjected to what Professor Anestis Keselopoulos deems the bulimia and greed of humanity. 98 Russian Orthodox Christianity rejects the exploitation of the natural environment and all of its inhabitants by greedy humans, believing all of existence to be intricately bound together, and made to glorify its Creator. This is evident within the Russian Orthodox Epiphany services, in which the priest reads a beautiful prayer, glorifying the Creator of the world, saying: The sun praises Thee, the moon glorifies Thee, the stars wait upon Thee, the waters work for Thee, the Lord of all, Who so loved the world that he came down to earth to save it. 99 It is difficult to conclude whether the current Russian religious mind views the earth through the eyes of the pre-Christian Cult of Mother Earth, through modern Russian Orthodox Christianity, or as an integration of the two. Yet, upon closely inspecting the beliefs and practices of the Russian Orthodox Church alongside the beliefs and customs of typical Russian people, we see prevalent, tender care for the earth, a care that resembles the care one would give to his/her aging mother. The phenomenon of dual faiths is so deeply engrained within the subconscious, as well as the conscious, of the Russian national soul that it would be difficult to pinpoint main moments throughout history in which the integration of pre-Christian practices and modern Russian Orthodox Christian practices took place. It would be as difficult as separating the yeast from the dough. Perhaps it would be best for all religious people to adopt a learned ignorance, or rather a welcomed knowing, of the existence of dual faiths, and simply join in the fight to save the earth and all its inhabitants. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 92 An extract from the Report of the World Church Council Inter-Orthodox Consultation, October 1987. 93 An extract from the Report of the World Church Council Inter-Orthodox Consultation, October 1987. 94The Holy Bible, New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984), 1093. 95 Harakas, ‘The Earth Is The Lord’s’: Orthodox Theology And The Environment. 96 Taken from a translation from the Latin Vulgate, Holy Bible , 487. 97 Harakas, ‘The Earth Is The Lord’s’: Orthodox Theology And The Environment. 98 Professor Anestis Keselopoulos, Humanity and the Natural Environment, p. 117. 99 Zvegnitzov, Our Mother Church: Her Worship and Offices, 70-71. |
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