Christianity as both Catalyst and Therapist of the Contemporary Ecological Crisis

Abstract

Today, the world is confronted with an ecological crisis. We are experiencing the gloomy effects of what Aldous Huxley would describe as the unnatural treatment of nature by human beings or what Pope John Paul II kept referring to as the human ‘ecological error’. Some scholars argue that the crisis has been caused by the industrial revolution while others have gone as far as blaming Christianity. However, blaming Christianity for having caused the crisis is not only pushing the argument too far but also being deliberately biased against Christianity. A more balanced argument is to stress the fact that the crisis was sparked off by the industrial revolution but catalyzed by Christianity through the condemnation of animism and the canonization of anthropocentrism. Therefore, the solution to the crisis lies not only in denouncing anthropocentrism and promoting ecological spiritualities but also in the willingness of all human beings to embrace an ecological conversion.