NATURE THEOLOGY |
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Nature Theology Within Russian Orthodox Christianity, by Christie Gibbons, page 5 In ancient times, Russians would call upon Moist Mother Earth in times of drought, bad weather, or danger. She could be invoked by ceremonies and prayers for seasonable weather to be restored, for the provision of a rich harvest, or for the elimination of forces of gloom. 43 Pyotr Simonov, author of Essential Russian Mythology, relays to us what has been told within pre-Christian Russian folk tradition, saying: It was said that Mother Earth could predict the future but spoke in an enigmatic language that only few could comprehend. Certain gifted sages would make a hole in the soil and close their right ear in it in order to listen to Mother Earth’s mysterious language. As the breeze rustled through the grasses the Great Mother whispered her message. 44 It was believed that Mother Earth whispered to those who inhabited her terrain. Those inhabitants are seen today by Russian Orthodox Christians, like most Christians, as being of utmost importance to God, created to love God and ranking highest among all created things. Yet, like the ancient Russians, they espouse a more earth-focused view of creation, in which the fact is emphasized that humans were introduced last onto the created world. Voicu divulges this view, which is engrained within Russian Orthodox Christianity, pointing out that according to Genesis, “we understand the human as a biological and spiritual unity in interdependence with nature.” 45 Lossky further explains: [T]he six days of Genesis describe for us in a geocentric fashion the unfurling of creation. These six days, which are symbolized by those of the week, are stages less chronological than hierarchical. 46 Notice his emphasis upon the geocentric way in which the earth was created. All of Christianity which holds to the traditional Judeo-Christian Scripture is familiar with the order of creation that is recorded in the book of Genesis. The order of creation, days one to six, is typically assumed to be chronological as well as hierarchical, only the hierarchy is viewed as anthropocentric, culminating with the creation of humans, those beings who are given dominion over all of the earth. Lossky challenges this assumption, advocating that the focus should be less on the chronology of the days of creation, and more on the hierarchy, which begins with the most perfect creation, the natural world, which humans are called upon to keep and nourish as caretakers in a reciprocal cycle of life-giving. In the 1987 Report of the World Church Council Inter-Orthodox Consultation, we find a similar thought to Lossky’s idea of a more geocentric unfurling of creation. In it we read: Value of the natural creation is revealed in the fact that it was made for God. This is beautifully expressed in Orthodox iconography. 47 If in fact Russian Orthodox Christians do see the natural environment as having been made for God and as hierarchically important, the first thing created, how do they view the integrity of the natural environment? Does nature take care of itself, or must humans tend to it? Can destroyed nature be revived? Is nature eternal? St. John of Damascus describes creation as being not coeternal with God, since it is the work of God’s will. He speaks of the idea of creation being brought forth from nothingness, which is commonly referred to as ex nihilo, saying: [I]t cannot be that what is brought forth from nothingness could be coeternal with that which exists without origin and always. 48 Thus, the Russian Orthodox Church recognizes the non-eternal aspect of the natural environment. They also realize that though nature is non-eternal this does not mean it is necessarily lacking integrity. The 1987 Report of the World Church Council Inter-Orthodox Consultation encourages Orthodox believers to seriously pursue the study of the mystery of creation, through multiple means, including: faith, prayer, meditation and science. Bulgakov, too, reminds us that Orthodox Christians are afforded liberty to engage in scientific study “provided the fundamental dogmas of the Church and the ecclesiastical definitions are safeguarded.” 49 Members of the World Church Council Inter-Orthodox Consultation believed that studying the mystery of creation through varying means of both religion and science will make a positive contribution to the recognition of the integrity of creation. 50 While believing the created world to have integrity, Russian Orthodox Christians believe that this integrity follows only from God’s integrity and the dependence of all existence on God, its Creator. 51 Such knowledge opens their eyes to how devastating the effects of destroying the harmony of the ecological realm really are. Voicu affirms this, saying: The destruction of the ecological balance is then a crime against life, and the defense of the integrity of creation means to work and defend the supreme human good: life. 52 This working and defending of life relies heavily upon the work of those who make up the Church. Voicu reaffirms this, proclaiming: The Church, by cultivating and applying Christian virtues, especially love, justice, moderation, kindness, and others, will effectively contribute to preserving the integrity of creation. 53 Acting toward all of creation with such Christian virtues is echoed in, and even made possible by, what the Russian Orthodox priest prays, that all may “with one mouth and one heart glorify and praise Thy honorable and majestic Name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and for ever, world without end….” 54 The natural world and all its inhabitants are included in this glorification and praise of the Author of all life. This is currently a pervading view within the Russian Orthodox Church, a view that has perhaps resulted from the integration of the pre-Christian Russian emphasis upon the interdependence of humankind and the notion of Mother Earth. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 43 Pyotr Simonov, Essential Russian Mythology, (London: Thorsons, 1997), 5. 44 Simonov, Essential Russian Mythology, 5-6. 45 Voicu, Orthodox Theology and the Problems of the Environment. 46 Lossky, Orthodox Theology: An Introduction, 64. 47 An extract from the Report of the World Church Council Inter-Orthodox Consultation, October 1987. 48 St43John of Damascus as cited by Lossky, Orthodox Theology: An Introduction, 53. 49 Bulgakov, The Orthodox Church, 16. 50 An extract from the Report of the World Church Council Inter-Orthodox Consultation, October 1987. 51 Voicu, Orthodox Theology and the Problems of the Environment. 52 Voicu, Orthodox Theology and the Problems of the Environment. 53 Voicu, Orthodox Theology and the Problems of the Environment. 54 Zvegnitzov, Our Mother Church: Her Worship and Offices, 55. |
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