The Anthropocene presents theology, and especially theological anthropology, with unprecedented challenges. There are no immediately available resources in the theological tradition that reflect directly on such experiences. Accordingly, the situation calls for contextually based theological reflection of what it means to be human under such circumstances. This book discusses the main elements in theological anthropology in light of the fundamental points: a) that theological anthropology needs to be articulated with reference to, and informed by, the concrete historical circumstances in which humanity presently finds itself, and b) that the notion of the Anthropocene can be used as a heuristic tool to describe important traits and conditions that call for a response by humanity, and which entail the need for a renewal of what a Christian self-understanding means. Jan-Olav Henriksen explores what such a response entails from the point of view of contemporary theological anthropology and discusses selected topics that can contribute to a contextually based position.

Religion in the Anthropocene charts a new direction in humanities scholarship through serious engagement with the geopolitical concept of the Anthropocene. Drawing on religious studies, theology, social science, history, philosophy, and what can be broadly termed as environmental humanities, this collection represents a groundbreaking critical analysis of diverse narratives on the Anthropocene. The contributors to this volume recognize that the Anthropocene began as a geological concept, the age of the humans, but that its implications are much wider than this. Does the Anthropocene idea challenge the possibility of a sacred Nature, or is it a secularized theological anthropology more properly dealt with through traditional concepts from Roman Catholic social teaching on human ecology? Not all contributors to this volume agree about the answers to these and many more different questions. Readers will be challenged, provoked, and stimulated by this book.

Humanity operates like a force of nature capable of affecting the destiny of the Earth System. This epochal shift profoundly alters the relationship between humankind and the Earth, presenting the conscious, thinking human animal with an unprecedented dilemma: As human power has grown over the Earth, so has the power of nature to extinguish human life. The emergence of the Anthropocene has settled any question of the place of human beings in the world: we stand inescapably at its center. The outstanding question—which forms the impetus and focus for this book—remains: What kind of human being stands at the center of the world? And what is the nature of that world? Unlike the scientific fact of human-centeredness, this is a moral question, a question that brings theology within the scope of reflection on the critical failures of human irresponsibility. Much of Christian theology has so far flunked the test of engaging the reality of the Anthropocene. The authors of these original essays begin with the premise that it is time to push harder at the questions the Anthropocene poses for people of faith.

The T&T Clark Handbook of the Doctrine of Creation provides an expansive range of resources introducing the doctrine of creation as understood in Christian traditions. It offers an examination of: how the Bible and various Christian traditions have imagined creation; how the doctrine of creation informs and is informed by various dogmatic commitments; and how the doctrine of creation relates to a range of human concerns and activities. The Handbook represents a celebration of, fascination with, bewilderment at, lament about, and hope for all that is, and serves as a scholarly, innovative, and constructive reference for those interested in attending to what Christian belief has to contribute to thinking about and living with the mysterious existence named 'creation'.

Given the fierce urgency of now, this important book confronts and addresses key problems and questions of political theology with the aim of proposing a radical political theology for the Anthropocene Age. LaMothe invites readers to think and be otherwise in living lives in common with all other human beings and other-than-human beings that dwell on this one earth.

This book considers the challenges and opportunities of the Anthropocene Age from the perspective of pastoral theology/care. The fundamental question and concern with regard to the Anthropocene Age for human beings and other species is, how are we to dwell together on this one earth. Care, LaMothe argues, is the central concept in answering this question. Effective care requires pastoral theologians to make use of multiple interpretive frameworks (e.g., theology, philosophy, human sciences, etc.) in the analytic pursuit of understanding and responding effectively to the realities of climate change. At the same time, it is also important for pastoral theologians to examine critically the theologies and philosophies that give rise to and impede pastoral interventions and, in the case of the Anthropocene Age, to be clear about how theologies and philosophies have contributed to ideologies that undergird both exploitation of the earth and other-than-human beings, while also contributing to climate change and obstructing climate action. These are necessary steps in developing pastoral responses aimed at caring for persons, communities, and other-than-human beings in need of a viable dwelling.

Recent decades have brought to light the staggering ubiquity of human activity upon Earth and the startling fragility of our planet and its life systems. This is so momentous that many scientists and scholars now argue that we have left the relative climactic stability of the Holocene and have entered a new geological epoch known as the Anthropocene. This emerging epoch may prompt us not only to reconsider our understanding of Earth systems, but also to reimagine ourselves and what it means to be human. How does the Earth’s precarious state reveal our own? How does this vulnerable condition prompt new ways of thinking and being? The essays that are part of this collection consider how the transformative thinking demanded by our vulnerability inspires us to reconceive our place in the cosmos, alongside each other and, potentially, before God. Who are we “after” (the concept of) the Anthropocene? What forms of thought and structures of feeling might attend us in this state? How might we determine our values and to what do we orient our hopes? Faith, a conceptual apparatus for engaging the unseen, helps us weigh the implications of this massive, but in some ways, mysterious, force on the lives we lead; faith helps us visualize what it means to exist in this new and still emergent reality.

The T&T Clark Handbook of Christian Theology and Climate Change entails a wide-ranging conversation between Christian theology and various other discourses on climate change. Given the far-reaching complicity of "North Atlantic Christianity" in anthropogenic climate change, the question is whether it can still collaborate with and contribute to ongoing mitigation and adaptation efforts. The main essays in this volume are written by leading scholars from within North Atlantic Christianity and addressed primarily to readers in the same context; these essays are critically engaged by respondents situated in other geographic regions, minority communities, non-Christian traditions, or non-theological disciplines. Structured in seven main parts, the handbook explores: 1) the need for collaboration with disciplines outside of Christian theology to address climate change; 2) the need to find common moral ground for such collaboration; 3) the difficulties posed by collaborating with other Christian traditions from within; 4) the questions that emerge from such collaboration for understanding the story of God's work; and 5) God's identity and character; 6) the implications of such collaboration for ecclesial praxis; and 7) concluding reflections examining whether this volume does justice to issues of race, gender, class, other animals, religious diversity, geographical divides and carbon mitigation. This rich ecumenical, cross-cultural conversation provides a comprehensive and in-depth engagement with the theological and moral challenges raised by anthropogenic climate change.

This Handbook is a collection of contributions of more than 300 researchers who have worked to grasp the Anthropocene, this new geological epoch characterised by a modification of the conditions of habitability of the Earth for all living things, in its biogeophysical and socio-political reality. These researchers also sought to define a historical and prospective anthropology that integrates social, economic, cultural and political issues as well as, of course, environmental ones. What are the anthropological changes needed to ensure that our human adventure will be able to continue in the Anthropocene? And what are the educational and political issues involved? Anthropocene is fast becoming a widely-used term, but thus far, there been no reference work explaining the thoughts of the greatest experts of the present day on this subject (at the intersection of biogeophysical and socio-political knowledge). A scientific and political concept (but which is also the conceptual vehicle for conveying the scientific community's sense of concern), this complex term is explained by international experts as they reflect on scientific arguments taking place in earth system science, the social sciences and the humanities. What these researchers from different disciplines have in common is a healthy concern for the future and how to prepare for it in the Anthropocene and also the identification of possible anthropological changes. This Handbook encourages readers to immerse themselves in reflections on the human adventure through descriptions of our differing heritages and the future that is in the process of being written.

Melting glaciers and icecaps, massive forest fires, enormous storms, extensive and prolonged flooding, and desertification of large tracts of land are realities we currently face and will continue to struggle with as a result of climate change. Our climate crisis invites, if not demands, a critical evaluation of our political, religious, economic, and cultural narratives and rituals that give rise to our ways of relating to one another, to other species, and to planet Earth. This book argues that the climate emergency exposes deep problematic roots of Western religious and political paradigms and apparatuses that undergird ideas of and methods for human flourishing. In particular, Western religious and political philosophies have produced and maintained a radical rift between human beings and other species, as well as beliefs about human dominion over other species and the earth. These ideas and practices are responsible for the colonization of Nature and for climate change. Understanding these sources invites a radical reimaging of our religious ideas and practices. Specifically, this book proposes a coming Jesus—a form of life that traverses the rift, while denying human and divine dominion for the sake of recognizing and respecting the singularities and flourishing of all species.