Evolving Environmentalism: The Role of Ecotheology in Creation/Evolution Controversies

Author: Sideris, Lisa

Source: Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology, Volume 11, Number 1, 2007 , pp. 58-82(25)

Publisher: BRILL

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Abstract:

The impact on ecological theology of green and postmodern critiques of science has led to disturbing parallels between the work of some Christian environmentalists and process theologians on the one hand, and the arguments of Intelligent Design (ID) proponents on the other. At the heart of these critiques is a rejection of mechanistic science and "neo-Darwinism". Both ID proponents and ecotheologians critique the disenchanted and reductionist worldview assumed to be central to neo-Darwinism. Both groups also redefine the traditional boundaries of scientific naturalism, presenting a form of biology that shows matter to be active and valuable, rather than dead and inert. This paper examines these parallels and argues for the possibility of enchanted and theistic interpretations of modern Darwinism without redefining naturalism.

Keywords: ECOLOGICAL THEOLOGY; INTELLIGENT DESIGN; POSTMODERNISM; NEO-DARWINISM; THEISTIC EVOLUTION

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853507X173504

Affiliations: 1: Department of Religious Studies, Indiana University, Sycamore 230, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA

Publication date: 2007-03-01