NATURE THEOLOGY |
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Nature Theology Within Russian Orthodox Christianity, by Christie Gibbons, page 8 Members of the entire Eastern Orthodox Church are joining forces with grassroots environmental agencies, or zapovedniks (biological stations), to put their responsibility of protecting all of creation into action. Many Russians are taking part in the monitoring of biodiversity through agencies such as the Caspian Environment Programme, which is in charge of the management of controlling the status of rare and threatened species, controlling the fulfillment of international agreements and conventions in biodiversity conservation, development of local forms of nature protection and monitoring of the conserved biota and ecosystem status, and other functions. 71 Despite the numerous environmental problems in Russia today, those who are involved with these grassroots zapovedniks are surprisingly optimistic and positive about their work. 72 Although the Russian Orthodox Church has always tended toward caring for the earth and all its inhabitants, there has been a surge of environmental awareness and action in the last two decades. There is an Encyclical Letter establishing the Orthodox Feast for the Protection of the Environment on September 1, 1989. This letter notes “with great anxiety the merciless trampling down and destruction of the natural environment which is caused by human beings.”73 The letter also describes humankind’s gross perversion of its calling, which is directly blamed for the current devastated condition of the natural environment, stating: “The abuse by contemporary man of his privileged position in creation and of the Creator’s order to him ‘to have dominion over the earth’ (Gen. 1:28), has already led the world to the edge of apocalyptic self-destruction.” 74 We see here how the Orthodox Church’s view on human dominion over the earth is much different than the common conception within the Christian realm. Voicu helps to explain this by saying that we have “an obligation to make use of God’s creation rationally and creatively, to subdue it with a parental consciousness in order to maintain it and work with it according to the spirit of the divine good intentions and to work it accordingly. 75 Emmanuel Clapsis, a theologian at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, believes this perversion of, and potential remedy for, humankind’s primordial calling is present in all realms of life, saying: Theology becomes co-responsible with science and technology, for the ecological problem, the magnitude and urgency of the ecological crisis, requires that all religious communities in conversation with scientists, economies, social figures, politicians, and all people of good will, articulate ethical principles that may hold, or at least limit, the destruction of natural life and resources. 76 Reverend Harakas carries this idea further when he speaks of the November of 1989 Eastern Orthodox Consultation, which declared that “Creation, although created by God as ‘very good,’ exists now in a state of disintegration and under the yoke of death… because ‘the prince of creation,’ the human being, refuses to relate it to God and regards it as its own possession.” 77 He urges us to remember the phrase regards it as its own possession, as he believes this to be the ultimate ecological sin. He reminds all humankind that we are stewards of the Lord on the earth, saying: “[W]e are called to serve as the priests of creation for all beings.” 78 Russian Orthodox Christians are in no doubt of the role of humankind as Nature’s rulers. But Orthodox teaching and spirituality have always understood this human dominion over nature as using creation for the needs of humankind and never as a despotic lordship, or as an egotistical exploitation of nature. 79 In accordance with Harakas, they view such a mind-set as sin. Voicu confronts this sinful mind-set by verbalizing the Russian Orthodox belief that the entire world was created as a paradise, which must, therefore, be seen by all as land entrusted to us as a garden of paradise. 80 He further explains this belief, acknowledging a continuity of relationship between Eden in the book of Genesis and the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation. 81 In order to sustain the continuity from Eden to the New Jerusalem, Voicu advocates for environmental action, saying: In a world threatened by serious environmental imbalances, produced by human beings, the divine commandment given to our fore parents “to till and keep” the Garden of Eden becomes more imperative today…Every person is obliged to participate in the work of maintaining the unity and integrity of the world, the work led by divine providence. 82 Voicu reminds the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Church universal, that through its preaching it has the ability to “contribute to the education of everyone toward care and love of nature and the maintainence of a responsible life for its purity and beauty, in this way assisting the initiatives that society has taken in this direction.” 83 He believes that the sons and daughters of the Church have the “sacred obligation to place in the hearts of all our fellow humans a consciousness of responsibility toward the whole creation, because in supporting life, we serve God who has created the universe and our life.” 84 He sends out an appeal to the conscience of all Christians, and calls on all persons of goodwill, everywhere, to do “everything they are able for the life of the world, for the maintenance of God’s creation, for the well-being and blessed happiness of us and our descendants.” 85 This blessed happiness is a direct result of the grace that comes from the forgiveness of a penitent sinner, a grace that covers even sins committed against earth. Zvegnitzov proclaims that we cannot be true Christians or be saved without God’s grace, and that this grace is received in the Church through Sacraments. He says: A Sacrament is a holy act, ordained by Lord Jesus Christ, by which God gives our souls the grace of His Holy Spirit. Every Sacrament has two sides: the outward form--the rites and prayers used in giving the Sacrament--which we see, and the UNSEEN--the grace which we receive. How the grace of the Holy Spirit enters our souls we cannot see nor understand. God’s ways are hidden from our earthly minds. We know it only by faith. It is a holy mystery. That is why in the Orthodox Church the Sacraments are called “holy Mysteries.” There are seven Sacraments: BAPTISM, CHRISMATION, HOLY EUCHARIST(COMMUNION), PENANCE, ORDINATION, MATRIMONY, UNCTION OF THE SICK. 86 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 71 National CBD Report for Russia, Monitoring of biodiversity, Feb 2003, www.caspianenvironment.org. 72 Nikolai Maleshin, Russian Conservation News, Taking the Future of Russia’s Protected Areas in Their Own Hands: Zapovednik Directors Meet in Vladivostok, www.russianconservation.org. 73 Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios a cited by Harakas, ‘The Earth Is The Lord’s’: Orthodox Theology And The Environment. 74 Demetrios a cited by Harakas, ‘The Earth Is The Lord’s’: Orthodox Theology And The Environment. 75 Voicu, Orthodox Theology and the Problems of the Environment. 76 Emmanuel Clapsis as cited in Living In Nature: Religion and Science in Dialogue on the Environment, Boston Theological Institute, 1997, video. 77 Harakas, ‘The Earth Is The Lord’s’: Orthodox Theology And The Environment. 78 Harakas, ‘The Earth Is The Lord’s’: Orthodox Theology And The Environment. 79 Voicu, Orthodox Theology and the Problems of the Environment. 80 Voicu, Orthodox Theology and the Problems of the Environment. 81 Voicu, Orthodox Theology and the Problems of the Environment. 82 Voicu, Orthodox Theology and the Problems of the Environment. 83 Voicu, Orthodox Theology and the Problems of the Environment. 84 Voicu, Orthodox Theology and the Problems of the Environment. 85 Voicu, Orthodox Theology and the Problems of the Environment. 86 Zvegnitzov, Our Mother Church: Her Worship and Offices, 101. |
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