[Slide 1: Title]

How can the concepts of order in creation and eschatological hope help in an ethical response to the financial, economic and ecological crises?

Paper presented at International conference on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Association for Reformational Philosophy, “The Future of Creation Order “, August 16 -19, 2011,

Free University Amsterdam, The Netherlands

byMartin P. de Wit

School of Public LeadershipFaculty Economics and Management Sciences

Stellenbosch Universityand

De Wit Sustainable Options (Pty) Ltd

[Slide 2: Outline of presentation]In the ongoing quest for human autonomy and material progress, humanity has reached a point of a deeply-rooted moral crises that keeps on eroding the foundations of our economic culture and one that impacts heavily on the natural environment in which we life. It is time for a deep reflection on the meaning of Christian environmental ethics, to which this paper hopes to contribute. We will contrast this approach to environmental ethics and ecological economic ethics.

The realisation that not only instrumental or even structural changes will be enough, but that individual and communal responsibility is also important, is back. New rules are drafted to limit carbon dioxide, whether one may drive an SUV or not and which wood species to import. Businesses are urged to be socially responsible, consumers to recycle and minimise. Ethics courses are back in swing at Universities and business schools and some companies even have Chief Ethics Officers. It is high time to reflect what a Christian environmental ethics can bring to the table and what it means for the behaviour and lifestyles of those who name themselves Christian. In this presentation we will explore how the concepts of creation order, the cosmos and eschatological hope for creation may be helpful in understanding and formulating an ethical response to the financial, economic and ecological crises.

The reason is that creation order in the literature of reformational philosophy, and the cosmos and eschatology in the literature of eco-theology are treated as important resources in constructing an ethical response to the ecological crises. It is also in these areas that Christianity’s contribution to the ecological crises was most severely critiqued. Lynn White, for example, argued that the biblical view that humans are made in the image of God and are given dominion over the earth introduced a dualism between humans and nature and a license for exploitation. Ideas on what some Christians are expecting in the last days and what they are hoping for are also argued to negatively influence views on responding to the ecological crises.

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This critique has not gone unanswered, mostly apologetic reactions that the Bible is in fact much more environmentally friendly than what it was given credit for, leading for example to publications like the Green Bible. This argument is not generally accepted though especially by those who argue for a more careful reading of the Scriptures. Furthermore, the implication of the reformational philosophical concept of creation order may be a promising resource to explore in the formulation of an environmental ethic. These are enough issues to start working on for a start. We do take a particular approach to this work, namely to evaluate the importance of these concepts within the context of a Christ-centered environmental ethics.

Given the early days of this research programme, the paper aims only to progress towards the development on an intermediate theory, a conceptual framework, on the importance of creation and eschatology for Christian environmental ethics. In a sense, the outcome generates a set of working hypotheses that are still very much work in progress and may serve to support future research on the topic.

[Slide 3: Environmental ethics]The word ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, or in short – morality. Aristotle used it to refer to a good desire. Human beings are seen as the agents of moral change.

Environmental ethicists go one step further to include non-human entities in their ethical reflection, but in general, the debate on the source of value of the planet’s inhabitants is rooted within human intuition or in human reason.

Secular environmental ethics does not explicitly appeal to a revelation from God as a source of environmental ethics. The same applies to an ecological economic ethic that includes some form of anthropocentrism, but is softened to include values of nature in different forms.

[Slide 4: Christian ethics]

As opposed to any other ethical theory, the important insight from Christian ethics is that the person and work of Jesus Christ makes Christian ethics possible, and so distinguishes itself from an ethics as based on nature or reason.

The major distinguishing factor of Christian ethics is God’s work of creation, ordening and redemption, a realisation that transcends all humanistic forms of morality.

Christian ethics is not one final idea though and Christian ethicists work with several sources of ethics namely: God’s works in covenant and Christ, God as creator and orderer, the realisation of God’s Kingdom, as well as God’s law and commands (James Gustafson, retired American theological ethicist).

This paper starts to critically discuss the concepts of God as creator and orderer as well as exposing some ideas on the realisation of God’s Kingdom as specific, potential sources of Christian environmental ethics.

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[Slide 5: Creation order as source of ethics]

We will start with a discussion on creation order and eschatological hope from the perspectives of both reformational philosophy and ecotheology.

The idea of creation order, or the nomos or law order of creation, is rooted in the insight that reality is God’s creation, finding meaning from God. God’s sovereignity is seen as His action with regards to the world, which carries the character of a law that provides order and structure to the world. There are natural laws and cultural laws and both are manifestations of God’s ordinances to the world, a point I probably do not have to elaborate much more on in this gathering.

Reformational philosophers generally emphasise that God reveals Himself in creation, a revelation we can better understand through science, which in turn, provides the basis for a responsible way to till, keep and mind the earth.

[Pieter] Stoker, [Professor in Natural Sciences at North West University, Potchefstroom] for example, argued that ethical responsibilities derived from a better understanding of creation through science would require an acceptance of what he refers to as a ‘transcendental revealed principle of creation’, a revelation that he argues makes scientific thought more open.

Egbert Schuurman [Dutch philosopher, engineer and politician] similarly points towards a cosmology of the reality as God’s creation (as opposed to objects of manipulation), but explicitly adds the commandments of love (as opposed to power), i.e. to appreciate everything according to its nature, as sources of normative principles to redirect ethics.

Andre Troost [Former Dutch theologian and professor of Calvinistic philosophy (1916-2008)] goes further and argued that in creation the totality of revealed principles can be found, reducing ethics to moral responsibilities in specific new situations.]

[Slide 6: Critique on creation order as source of ethics]To accept that God reveals Himself in the order of creation implies an acceptance of God’s universal revelation in creation. The idea of universal revelation instilling a creational pistic function in all people remains contentious.

The idea that faith is perceived as something that is worked in humans through the Word of God and not through creation is a general position in many Protestant-Reformed circles.

In a Christ-centered view, science, whether closed or open, whether classical or emerging, is never a source of ethics on its own. In such a view it can only be judged by the norms as rooted in the person and works of Christ as revealed in Scripture.

Whether to accept order in creation as a source of Christian ethics therefore remains contentious and sensitive to theological arguments on universal

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revelation and the place of the Word of God as a comprehensive revelation and norm.

[Slide 7: Cosmos as a source of ethics]Creation order and cosmology are here distinguished from each other; the former a focus of reformational philosophy and the latter a focus of eco-theology.

Eco-theology has been described as a theology that focuses on the interrelationships of religion and nature, particularly in the light of environmental concerns.

In a study performed on Christian environmentalism in the US, three main responses to Lynn White’s [Former Professor of Medieval History, 1907-1987] call for a rethink on a new religion, was indentified. The first can broadly be described as the ‘Christian stewardship ethic’, the second one as ‘Eco-justice ethic’ and the third as a ‘Creation-spirituality’ ethic.

Christian stewardship emphasises the biblical mandate for humans to take care of the earth, the eco-justice ethic links environmental concerns with church perspectives on justice issues such as the just sharing of limited resources and the real cost of environmental problems and a creation-spirituality ethic focuses on reorienting humans to see their place as one part of a larger, panentheistic creation.

These are all very different ethical strategies, but they do share a common concern on how to develop a practical environmental theology or eco-theology to account for the emerging ecological crises.

[Slide 8: Critique on cosmos as a source of ethics]Recent critique on eco-theology is first, that the focus is mainly on cosmology, underplaying concepts of salvation, and second, that it can benefit from a more cautious hermeneutical strategy.

First, creation and salvation are accepted as works of God in both reformational philosophy and biblically focused eco-theology, but the critique is that it holds an implicit hierarchy tending towards the cosmological. This situation has led some eco-theologians more recently to lament the lack of attention to soteriology, with renewed focus on the meaning of salvation for environmental ethics. Second, the kind of ethical requirements from various approaches to reading the bible differ a lot. David Horrel [Professor New Testament Studies, University of Exeter], primarily, argue for a cautious approach in jumping from biblical interpretation to theology and ethics. Horrel and co-authors argue that the Bible… is ambivalent and ambiguous in terms of its ecological implications. The message is clear: there are no easy solutions to a Christian environmental ethic.

[Slide 9: Eschatological hope as a source of ethics: Contributions from Reformational Philosophy]According to Peter Steen (Former theologian and philosopher, 1934-1985), and as quoted by Philip Blosser [Catholic philosopher], Dooyeweerd never mentions the new earth in all his works… It seems as if such a ‘verticalised eschatology’ is

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not shared by all reformational philosophers though and later scholars in this tradition had a more ‘horisontal eschatology’ where creation order continued into a new creation.

Albert M. Wolters [Professor Religion & Theology, Redeemer University College, Ontario], for example, argued that future cataclysm is not a “burnup” but rather a “meltdown.” Wolters concludes that there is a permanence in the created earth, and despite the coming judgment, maintains a belief in the continuity of creation order.

It appears as if a continuity between the old and the new is expected by several working in the reformational philosophical tradition. In this view, in a new heavens and new earth creation order is seen to remain intact and will be revealed in its full splendour.

[Slide 10: Eschatological hope as a source of ethics: Contributions from eco-theology]The eco-theological focus is strongly on continuity and renewal of creation as well. Some commentators in eco-theology point towards a continuity of creation already in the here and now.

However, this is not a universal position in ecotheology. Those who tend to emphasise the importance of a cautious hermeneutic, point towards a radical transformation of existing creation in the last days with some form of continuity for the righteous (Edward Adams, Senior Lecturer New Testament Studies, King’s College London). Others caution against speculation on how such a continuity will look like, pointing towards God’s loyalty and promise of a new heaven and new earth.

[Slide 11: Eschaton and Christian ethics]The critical question remains what Christian hope means for our life here and now. Tom Wright [a leading New Testament scholar and former bishop of Durham in the Church of England] argues that the ultimate future hope remains a surprise, but there is a powerful intermediate hope – ‘the things which happen in the present time which implement Easter and anticipate the final day’. In this view it is the resurrection of Christ that transforms, that makes a Christian ethic possible, rather than what we as fallible human beings think might happen in future.

A Christian environmental ethic is possible in the expectation of a renewal and recreation of the entire cosmos, and in accepting that the continuity of the cosmos is not in contrast to visions of judgement and discontinuity. The continuity between the old and the new does not lie in creation, but in the resurrected Christ whom has ascended to heaven. The practical and ethical implications of a new creation that has already started in Christ, creating the space for real Christian hope, are topics that need far more attention.

It is only through God’s faithfulness and His promises that the tensions between a new creation and a world of crises and eminent final judgement, holds together

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in a sense of mystery and surprise. The Christian faith leaves the end of things wide open, a future far greater than what we can remotely comprehend, and far greater than what a naturally deterministic or teleological worldview supposes.

A reliable source of Christian ethics is thus an unwavering trust in God, knowing that the future He has in mind for His children is one far beyond our imagination.

[Slide 12: Christian environmental ethics: towards an intermediate theory]

In order to give coherence to research on such a complex topic, our strategy is to first develop an intermediate theory - that is linking a conceptual framework to an initial review of the literature on the topic and later to the operationalisation of this conceptual framework (Shields & Tajalli). Such an intermediate theory should only seen as a tool to do better research while conceptual elements of methodology are exposed rather than hidden in the choice of a theoretical approach.

[Slide 13: Critical tensions in the development of Christian environmental ethics]The preliminary review of the literature on sources of a Christian environmental ethics as presented here revealed some critical tensions that need further attention. In this section it is attempted to highlight these critical tensions that, in turn, will serve as a basis in the development of an intermediate theory on Christian environmental ethics.

First there is the tension between the focus of Christian ethics in general and the focus of environmental and ecological economic ethics. Christian ethics is theo- or christocentric in its approach, transcending the antropo- or ecocentric approaches of environmental and ecological economic ethics.

Second, within Christian ethics there is quite some tension between the ultimate sources of ethics, whether in God’s works through Covenant and/or in Christ, in God as creator and orderer, in the realization of God’s Kingdom here and now or in future, or in God’s laws and commands.

Third, the idea of accepting creation order as a source of ethics invokes tension between the universal and particular revelation of God, between the cosmos and the Word of God as resources of revelation and between the perceived importance of reason and science in relation to faith and the workings of the Holy Spirit.

[Slide 14: tensions ctd]Fourth, there is a tension between cosmology and soteriology as ultimate sources of ethics. Attempts to unify approaches to cosmos and salvation need further critical reflection.

Fifth, there is a tension in how to responsibly use and interpret Scripture in forming Christian ethical viewpoints. When accepting the Word of God as the only ultimate source of ethical conduct the questions looms how to read the

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word of God. This raises the need for following a biblically responsible hermeneutic.

Sixth, the tension between an expected continuity and/or discontinuity of creation in the last days. Those positions that focus on cosmology as a source of ethics tends to accept a position of continuity while positions that accept a more radical soteriology tends to accept positions of discontinuity.

Seventh, there is a tension between visions on when and how the Kingdom of God is realized, either here and now, or as a distinct future event. Positions of a Kingdom here and now, a realized eschatology, tend to expect a lot from Christian ethics while positions on a future Kingdom expect very little from Christian ethics.

These tensions set the stage for further research on the topic of Christian environmental ethics.

[Slide 15: Christian environmental ethics: Working hypotheses]

The purpose of further research is to investigate if and how a Christian environmental ethic is possible and would look like. We define four main working hypotheses supported by several sub-hypotheses on a lower level (see Appendix).

1. A distinct Christian ethical response to the ecological and economic crises is possible 2. The person and work of Christ as revealed in the Word of God, is the ultimate source of Christian ethics 3. Responsible hermeneutical strategies to understand God’s revelation in Scripture are critical for a Christian ethic4. A Christian environmental ethic goes beyond a situational ethic of love or a legalistic ethic of law. [Slide 15: Conclusions]Returning to our question: How can the concepts of order in creation and eschatological hope help in an ethical response to the financial, economic and ecological crises?

In one sense the outcome of this initial review may be disappointing. There is substantial critique on the position that a theology and philosophy of the cosmos and/or a theology of radical continuity of humans and cosmos as well as a realized Kingdom of God here and now, are able sources of a Christian environmental ethic. This does not mean that such positions do not bring helpful resources to the table, but the key to unlocking the ethical implications of resources on creation order, cosmology and eschatology, lies in the person and work of Jesus Christ. What that means and what the implications are for human culture and economy and humankind’s relationship with God’s creation needs far more research.

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In another sense, the outcome of this initial review provides renewed focus on and hope for the possibility of a Christian environmental ethic. What we do not know or cannot comprehend point us to God’s faithfulness and promises. Jesus Christ has already risen from the death and in Him it is indeed possible again that God will be all in all. The transformative implications of this enormous happening on human culture, economy and humankind’s relation with God’s creation needs to be far more exposed and acted on. In my opinion, the formation of a Christian environmental ethic would at least require a focus on the transformative implications of the work of Christ on our ethics, a scripturally responsible hermeneutic and the serious engagement of believers in the church, the body of Christ.

Chair, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your attention.

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Appendix: Working Hypotheses

Working Hypotheses Literature support1. A distinct Christian ethical response to the ecological and economic crises is possible1.1 A Christian environmental ethic is radically different from an environmental- and ecological economic ethic

Gustafson

1.2 Tensions between the sources of Christian ethics are driven by different theological positions on who God is, and what God’s relationship with humans and the rest of creation is throughout the entire history of creation, fall, covenant, salvation, redemption and consummation

Berkhouwer, Calvin, Luther, Moltmann, Barth

2. The person and work of Christ as revealed in the Word of God, is the ultimate source of Christian ethics

Gustafson

2.1 Order in creation or eschatology are not primary sources of Christian ethics on their own

Dooyeweerd, Berkhouwer, Douma

2.2 Radical soteriological theories ignore the ethical consequences of God’s work as creator and orderer of the cosmos

Santmire, Bouma-Prediger

2.3 Unification of cosmological, soteriological and eschatological concepts can only be attempted through faith in the person and work of Christ

Conradie, Kuyper, Bavinck, Jenkins

3 Responsible hermeneutical strategies to understand God’s revelation in Scripture are critical for a responsible Christian ethic

Horrel, Conradie, Thiselton, Silva

3.1 Hermeneutical strategies and ethical positions are clearly linked Horrel, Conradie, Thiselton, Silva

3.2 Scriptural eschatology includes aspects of continuity as well as discontinuity and instill a living hope

Wright, Adams, O’Donovan, Bauckman, Hart

3.3 Scriptural Kingdom theology includes aspects of both a realized and a future Kingdom

Wright, O’Donovan, Floor

4. A Christian environmental ethic goes beyond a situational ethic of love or a legalistic ethic of law

Spykman, Fletcher, Troost

4.1 Faith in what God has done, is doing and will do in Christ transforms current Christian ethical positions

Hendriks, Burger

4.2 The church has a major role in developing a Christian environmental ethic

Wright, Floor

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