“This isnotsomeideology: It isChristianity,”“This be shared justlywith those inneed, hesaid. all oftheearth’s giftsincommon inorder to sees thewholehumanfamilyas oneandholds people toprepare fora “collective future” that The current pandemicinsteadmustcompel ing thoseleftbehindonthealtar ofprogress.” over another, discarding thepoorandsacrific begins there andendsupselectingoneperson a MassMercy onDivine Sunday, April 19. “It fine ifitisforme,”at hesaidinhishomily will be it isbetterformeandthateverything is “spread by thethoughtthatlifeisbetterif ence, Pope Francis said. This dangerous virus by aneven worsevirus, thatofselfishindiffer 19 pandemic, there is ariskit will bestruck theworldAs slowly recovers from theCOVID- Pope Francis Sunday Homily Divine Mercy

CNS documentary service world.” in this way will we build a new are most vulnerable; for only “Let us show mercy to those who - - Libreria Editrice Vaticana.Editrice Libreria of hishomilyfollows, copyright©2020by Francis spokeinItalian; a Vatican translation be celebrated Mercy asDivine Sunday. Pope laration thattheSunday afterEasterwould ofSt.the 20thanniversary John Paul II’s dec Mercy.to Divine TheMass wascelebrated on Holy Spirit, whichhousesashrinededicated celebrated privately atRome’s Church ofthe community lived, thepopesaidatMass, and itmirrors thewayearly Christian l a few steps more and falls again; yet each a toddlerwhotakesfew steps andfalls, we go forward tentatively, uncertainly, like as ourFather whoalwaysraises usup. In life with whomwe have to settle accountsbut wants us to see him not as a taskmaster reaching outtoliftusupwhenwe fall.He from the discovery never that God tires of here, from this 20:19,26).He allover. starts be withyou!” (Jn the disciples, herepeats hisgreeting, “Peace standing inthesameplace, “in themidst” of timorous lack of belief? He returns and, the resurrection. convince Thomas, theonlyoneabsent,of “closed 20:26),unableeven to doors” (Jn this theyremained behind cringing fearful, Lord,had seentherisen butinspiteof The resurrection ofhisdisciplebegins What doesJesus dointhefaceofthis been aweek, aweek sincethedisciples urrection ofhisdisciple. It hasalready resurrection; todaywe witnesstheres ast Sunday we celebrated theLord’s faithful andpatient continued onpage 2 mercy, - -

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Care forOurCommon Divine MercySunday On File Datebook Islam, NatureandClimate Judaism andthe contents Number 1 Volume 50 April 30,2020 SJ by FatherPatrickJ.Ryan, Climate Change and MuslimsConfront Home: Jews,Christians by PopeFrancis Homily Faruque by MuhammadU. Change by ClaudiaSetzer Environment continued from page 1 of faith, “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28). Humanity has failed to take time his father puts him back on his feet. The Here is the resurrection of the disciple: It care of the earth and its hand that always puts us back on our feet is is accomplished when his frail and wounded inhabitants, sinning against God and his gift of creation, mercy: God knows that without mercy we will humanity enters into that of Jesus. There, every Pope Francis said. remain on the ground, that in order to keep doubt is resolved; there, God becomes my God; Celebrating Earth Day, which walking, we need to be put back on our feet. there, we begin to accept ourselves and to love fell during the “Easter season You may object, “But I keep falling!” The Lord life as it is. of renewal, let us pledge to knows this, and he is always ready to raise you Dear brothers and sisters, in the time of trial love and esteem the beautiful up. He does not want us to keep thinking about that we are presently undergoing, we too, like gift of the earth, our com- our failings; rather, he wants us to look to him. Thomas with our fears and our doubts, have mon home, and to care for For when we fall, he sees children needing to experienced our frailty. We need the Lord, who all members of our human family,” he said during his be put back on their feet; in our failings he sees sees beyond that frailty an irrepressible beauty. livestreamed weekly general children in need of his merciful love. Today, in With him we rediscover how precious we are audience from the Vatican. this church that has become a shrine of mercy even in our vulnerability. The pope dedicated his cat- in Rome and on this Sunday that St. John Paul We discover that we are like beautiful crys- echesis April 22 to a reflection II dedicated to divine mercy 20 years ago, we tals, fragile and at the same time precious. And on the human and Christian confidently welcome this message. if, like crystal, we are transparent before him, responsibility to care for the Jesus said to St. Faustina, “I am love and his light — the light of mercy — will shine in earth, humanity’s common home. The day marked the mercy itself; there is no human misery that us and through us in the world. As the Letter of 50th Earth Day, which was could measure up to my mercy” (Diary, Sept. Peter said, this is a reason for being “filled with established in 1970 to raise 14, 1937). At one time the saint, with satisfac- joy, though now for a little while you may have public awareness and con- tion, told Jesus that she had offered him all of to suffer various trials” (1 Pt 1:6). cern for the environment her life and all that she had. But Jesus’ answer On this feast of Divine Mercy, the most beau- and its impact on people’s stunned her, “You have not offered me the thing tiful message comes from Thomas, the disciple health and all life. This year also marks the fifth anniver- that is truly yours.” What had that holy nun kept who arrived late; he was the only one missing. sary of the pope’s encyclical, for herself? Jesus said to her with kindness, “My But the Lord waited for Thomas. Mercy does not “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our daughter, give me your failings” (Oct. 10, 1937). abandon those who stay behind. Common Home.” We too can ask ourselves: “Have I given my Now, while we are looking forward to a slow In his catechesis, the pope failings to the Lord? Have I let him see me fall so and arduous recovery from the pandemic, there said Earth Day was “an occa- that he can raise me up?” Or is there something I is a danger that we will forget those who are left sion for renewing our com- still keep inside me? A sin, a regret from the past, behind. The risk is that we may then be struck mitment to love and care for our common home and for a wound that I have inside, a grudge against by an even worse virus, that of selfish indiffer- the weaker members of our someone, an idea about a particular person. … ence. A virus spread by the thought that life is human family.” The Lord waits for us to offer him our failings so better if it is better for me, and that everything “As the tragic coronavirus that he can help us experience his mercy. will be fine if it is fine for me. It begins there pandemic has taught us, we Let us go back to the disciples. They had and ends up selecting one person over another, can overcome global chal- abandoned the Lord at his passion and felt discarding the poor and sacrificing those left lenges only by showing soli- guilty. But meeting them, Jesus did not give behind on the altar of progress. darity with one another and embracing the most vulner- a long sermon. To them, who were wounded The present pandemic, however, reminds us able in our midst,” he said. within, he shows his own wounds. that there are no differences or borders between As the Book of Genesis Thomas can now touch them and know of those who suffer. We are all frail, all equal, all relates, he said, “we live in Jesus’ love and how much Jesus had suffered precious. this common home as one for him, even though he had abandoned him. May we be profoundly shaken by what is human family in biodiversity In those wounds, he touches with his hands happening all around us: The time has come with God’s other creatures,” God’s tender closeness. Thomas arrived late, but to eliminate inequalities, to heal the injustice and God has called on once he received mercy he overtook the other that is undermining the health of the entire humanity to care for and respect his creation and “to disciples: He believed not only in the resurrec- human family! Let us learn from the early offer love and compassion to tion but in the boundless love of God. And he Christian community described in the Acts of our brothers and sisters, espe- makes the most simple and beautiful profession the Apostles. It received mercy and lived with cially the most vulnerable among us, in imitation of God’s love for us, manifested ISSN 0093-609X, Origins, CNS Documentary Service, is published weekly (except biweekly during July, August and December's last week) by Catholic News Service, 3211 4th Street N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017-1100. Copyright © 2020 in his son Jesus.” by Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Periodical-class postage paid at Washington, D.C. God is good and always for- Editor, Edmond Brosnan; Associate Editor, Mary Esslinger; Director and Editor-in-Chief of CNS, Greg Erlandson. gives, the pope said, however, Editorial: (202) 541-3284. Circulation: (202) 541-3290. Email: [email protected]. “the earth never forgives: If Web: www.catholicnews.com/origins. we have despoiled the earth, Subscriptions: One year, $119; foreign postage additional. Single copy: $8. 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2 origins mercy: “All who believed were together and scheduled to deliver the lecture March 31 at the had all things in common; and they sold their school’s Manhattan campus and April 1 at the we have failed in our respon- sibility to be guardians and possessions and goods and distributed them to main campus in the Bronx, but the events were stewards of the earth,” the all, as any had need” (Acts 2:44-45). This is not canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In pope said. “We have polluted some ideology: It is Christianity. his time holding the McGinley professorship — and despoiled it, endanger- In that community, after the resurrection of which was held for years by the late Cardinal ing our very lives.” Jesus, only one was left behind, and the others Avery Dulles — Father Ryan has focused on The pope expressed his deep waited for him. Today the opposite seems to trialogue among Christians, Jews and Muslims. appreciation for the many be the case: A small part of the human fam- In talking about the Jewish tradition, Father international and local ily has moved ahead, while the majority have Ryan said that “the rabbinic mandate for ‘tik- movements and initiatives that have been created in an remained behind. kun olam’ — repairing this age or this world effort to raise awareness and Each of us could say, “These are complex — engages Jews, wherever they live, to commit stir people’s consciences, and problems; it is not my job to take care of the themselves to saving the space in which they live he said it will still be neces- needy; others have to be concerned with it!” out their time, to confront the realities of climate sary “for our children to take St. Faustina, after meeting Jesus, wrote: “In a change and work for the repair of the human to the streets to teach us the soul that is suffering we should see Jesus on the environment.” In talking about the Christian obvious: We have no future if we destroy the very environ- cross, not a parasite and a burden. ... [Lord] you tradition, Father Ryan noted that Pope Francis’ ment that sustains us.” give us the chance to practice deeds of mercy, teaching on the environment in his encyclical “We have failed to care for and we practice making judgments” (Diary, letter “Laudato Si’” is in the tradition of his pre- the earth, our garden home; Sept. 6, 1937). decessors, particularly St. John Paul II. Father we have failed to care for Yet she herself complained one day to Jesus Ryan said that “modern Muslims, more con- our brothers and sisters. that, in being merciful, one is thought to be scious than some of their ancestors of the reali- We have sinned against the naive. She said, “Lord, they often abuse my ties of climate change, have come to take created earth, against our neighbors and ultimately against the goodness.” And Jesus replied, “Never mind, nature less for granted.” Father Ryan’s lecture Creator, the benevolent father don’t let it bother you; just be merciful to every- follows. who provides for everyone one always” (Dec. 24. 1937). and desires us to live in To everyone: Let us not think only of our An undergraduate friend at the University communion and flourish interests, our vested interests. Let us welcome of Ghana, where I used to teach four decades together,” he said. this time of trial as an opportunity to prepare for ago, defined himself as a scientific socialist — It is imperative that people our collective future, a future for all without dis- code name at that time for Marxist-Leninist. restore “a harmonious rela- tionship” with the earth and carding anyone. Because without an all-embrac- Scientific socialism, very anti-establishment, with the rest of humanity, ing vision, there will be no future for anyone. was all the rage in Ghanaian universities at he said. Today the simple and disarming love of Jesus that time. Scientific socialism has since been It requires a new way of revives the heart of his disciple. Like the apostle replaced, for better or worse, by born-again looking at the earth, not as Thomas, let us accept mercy, the salvation of Christianity, proven by glossolalia. Of the two, a “storehouse of resources the world. And let us show mercy to those who if put to the choice, I prefer the first. for us to exploit,” but as a are most vulnerable; for only in this way will we Despite our very different outlooks on life, sacred gift for sustaining all build a new world. ■ my scientific socialist friend and I, while I was of humanity. a guest in his family’s traditional homestead The pope said so many natu- ral tragedies “are the earth’s in northeastern Ghana, walked together one response to our mistreat- morning to a nearby earth shrine. Drought had ment.” Care for Our ravaged the West African savannah for at least “If I ask the Lord now what three years; the callous military government in he thinks, I don’t think he Common Home: Ghana at the time did nothing but lie about the will tell me something very extent of the problem in the northern third of good,” the pope said. “We are Jews, Christians and the country. Profiteering on the misery of oth- the ones who have ruined the work of the Lord!” ers, government agents had diverted to them- selves food relief sent from abroad. The blind “In today’s celebration of Muslims Confront Earth Day, we are called to and the lepers were the worst off, abandoned renew our sense of sacred Climate Change in their isolated settlements, unable to fend respect for the earth, for it is for themselves. Drought, famine, misrule: The not just our home but also Father Ryan, SJ scientific socialist and I were obsessed with God’s home. This should similar thoughts. make us all the more aware We walked through dusty fields toward an that we stand on holy ground!” Pope Francis said. In the biannual McGinley lecture, Jesuit Father assemblage of angular rocks and a towering Patrick J. Ryan discussed how the Jewish, tree whose exposed roots extended like bony Following is the Earth Day Christian and Muslim traditions are con- fingers across the hard, dry soil: an earth shrine. message of Ecumenical fronting climate. Father Ryan, the Laurence J. In the scant shade of the tree at midmorning sat Patriarch Bartholomew McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at two young men, sons of the earth shrine’s cus- of Constantinople, the Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York, was todian, tired from weeding a nearby field. We

origins 3 talked with them in a desultory fashion about ratives, however, counterbalances the image of spiritual leader of Orthodox farming, about rain, about politics. human domination with the second account Christians: We were not the first, nor will we be the of creation, what modern Scripture scholars This year marks the 50th last, to bring such problems to an earth shrine. call the Yahwist-Elohist account: “The Lord anniversary of Earth Day, The earth is the mother of all humankind. Its God took the man and put him in the garden whose mission is to work with civil and faith com- shrines provide territorial centers for farm- of Eden to till it and keep it” (Gn 2:15). Tilling munities for developing local land throughout the West African Sahel, the (‘abedah) and keeping (shamerah) are gentler solutions to global problems, southern “coast” (sahil) of the Sahara, as well concepts, suggesting working the land and pre- including climate change, as throughout the savannah, the undulating serving it, much kinder images than dominion. plastic pollution and threats grasslands to the south of the Sahel. In Bereshit rabbah, moreover, the great to biodiversity. Earth Day The Sahel moves south annually into the aggadic meditation on the Book of Genesis promotes programs ranging from low-impact actions to savannah, and the savannah moves south composed by rabbis still living in the Holy Land “a billion acts of green” to annually into the forest zone that edges south- between 300 and 500 C.E., the authors suggest address the paramount chal- ward and westward toward the shores of the that tilling and keeping may actually mean that lenge of our time. Atlantic. Threatened ecologically by logging the first human beings were to work (till) on Of course, every day is earth and the lumber trade and, in some parts of six days and rest one day a week (“keep” the day! Every day is an oppor- West Africa, by oil drilling just offshore, the for- sabbath).1 tunity to celebrate “the earth est zone faces major ecological challenges as Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the former chief as the Lord’s and that all who dwell therein belong to the well. rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Lord” (Ps 24:1). Every day is a West Africa is not alone in facing such chal- the British Commonwealth, writes about the reminder of our vulnerability lenges. Amazonia, the Congo Basin, the forests meaning of the first creation account: and solidarity. In fact, today, of Indonesia and Southeast Asia, the Arctic and “Genesis 1 is best understood not as pseu- more than ever, we are also Antarctic ice caps: Threats to their continued doscience, still less as myth, but as jurispru- reminded of our responsibil- survival multiply. Right here in New York City dence; that is to say, as the foundation of the ity to the earth and each other in light of that interde- and its suburbs, salt water from the Atlantic moral law. God created the world; therefore pendence between the earth flooded lower Manhattan and the south shore God owns the world. We are his guests — and all its inhabitants. of Brooklyn and Queens during Hurricane strangers and temporary residents, as the Bible The ecological responsibility Sandy in late October 2012. puts it. God has the right to specify the condi- and the respect of the sacred- Climatologists can give you the environ- tions of our tenancy on Earth. The radical mes- ness and the beauty of every mental facts on global warming and rising sea sage of Genesis 1 is that divine sovereignty is human person, of the elderly levels. Presently, however, I wish to confine constitutional. God rules not by might but by and the disabled, the poor 2 and the marginalized, the myself as a historian of religion to examining right, and so must we.” sick and the suffering, are how the Jewish, Christian and Muslim tradi- The ecological themes in the creation today the universal categori- tions of faith — yesterday and today — have narratives in Genesis are followed up in the cal imperative for the whole thought about the environment and the rel- Book of Exodus with the enumeration of com- humanity. evance of that thought to the problem of cli- mandments and especially the command that In recent weeks, with the mate change. human beings take one day of rest a week, imi- alarming spread of the tating God, who rested on the seventh day (Gn Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), we have been Jews Confront Climate Change 2:2-3). Before that day of rest was connected painfully reminded of the One of the earliest verses in the Hebrew Bible with synagogue-going, and later with church- interconnection among strikes many modern people, and especially going, it was more concerned with self-care human beings throughout those concerned with ecology, as problematic. and also with labor-management relations: the world. So we are obliged The words come from what many contempo- “Remember the sabbath day, and keep it to reflect further on the rary Scripture scholars call the priestly narra- holy. For six days you shall labor and do all exigency and urgency of our response to issues that tive of creation, the first chapter of Genesis. your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath are increasingly gathering “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in to the Lord your God; you shall not do any momentum and threatening our image, according to our likeness; and let work — you, your son or your daughter, your our survival. them have dominion over the fish of the sea, male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien While it may be strained to and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord draw sweeping comparisons and over all the wild animals of the earth, and made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is or simplistic connections over every creeping thing that creeps upon the in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore between the human impact earth’” (Gn 1:26). the Lord blessed the sabbath day and conse- on the natural environ- ment and a global crisis like In a world of diminishing natural resources crated it” (Ex 20:8-11). COVID-19, can we not won- — overfished waters, disappearing birds and Even slaves, livestock and foreigners (the der whether the mandated bees, felled forests, exhausted farmland — alien resident, probably immigrant employees) human isolation to prevent dominion can sound threatening. The Hebrew are to have a day of rest each week! the spread of the virus has root of the word translated as “have dominion” The weekly sabbath rest decreed for faith- resulted in clearer water and cleaner air and in a reevalu- (radah) implies royal domination, even tram- ful Israelites extends to their farmland as well, ation of our relationship pling. with the proviso that the landless poor should Orthodox Jewish reading of the creation nar- have access to that fallow land during its sab-

4 origins bath rest. “For six years you shall sow your land of space are results of creation. When looking and gather in its yield; but the seventh year at space we see the products of creation; when with nature and its ability to heal us? you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the intuiting time we hear the process of creation. poor of your people may eat; and what they Things of space exhibit a deceptive indepen- We hasten to add, of course, that no loss of human life leave the wild animals may eat. You shall do the dence. They show off a veneer of limited per- can ever justify any eco- same with your vineyard, and with your olive manence. Things created conceal the Creator. logical renewal of the planet, orchard” (Ex 23:10-11). It is the dimension of time wherein man meets but there is no doubt that The landless poor and wild animals are less God, wherein man becomes aware that every individual action and com- likely to exhaust land left fallow than moguls instant is an act of creation, a Beginning, open- munity response are vital in of agribusiness, ancient or modern. The Book ing up new roads for ultimate realizations. encountering climate change and the coronavirus pan- of Leviticus, an integral part of the Torah that Time is the presence of God in the world of demic. And we fervently pray may have been reduced to writing only in the space, and it is within time that we are able to for the quick return of nor- Second Temple era, returns to the theme of sense the unity of all beings.”3 malcy in these surreal times. land sabbath, attempting to answer some of The sabbath of the land most dramatical- Crisis is a moment of clear the economic questions that may have arisen ly demonstrates how time takes priority over and definitive judgment. by the hearers of the Exodus teaching about the space in the tradition of Israel. The multiple And the COVID-19 crisis is a yearlong land sabbath every seventh year. “You experiences Israel had of diaspora (Assyrian, compelling moment of truth and assessment of our respect may eat what the land yields during its sabbath Babylonian, Roman-Byzantine) also detached and regard for the precious — you, your male and female slaves, your hired the faith of Israelites from the land of Israel, giv- gifts that we have received and your bound laborers who live with you; for ing birth to Judaism as a worldwide faith. Jews and been entrusted with by your livestock also, and for the wild animals in learned in each experience of diaspora how God. Over the past decades, your land all its yield shall be for food” (Lv 25:6- important but impermanent was their relation- we have underlined and 7). Animals, whether domesticated or wild, also ship to the land and even their relationship to declared that when we are isolated from God, then we, have the right to eat of produce of that resting the sacred space that was the temple. inevitably, if not inadvertent- land. Jews only returned to the Promised Land, ly, also exploit the planet’s The practical mind immediately queries at least in large numbers, a little more than a resources. whether so many can be fed from the spon- century ago, with the rise of Zionism. There Indeed, we have repeatedly taneous yield of land left fallow for a year. God is a small minority of religious Zionists today, associated and even identi- responds confidently to the economic ques- inside and outside the state of Israel, who would fied such behavior against tions we may raise: “I will order my blessing like to see the Jerusalem temple rebuilt and its God’s creation with sin. Like us, the earth, too, is suffering for you in the sixth year, so that it will yield a sacrificial cultus restored. Modern Israeli law, from “isolation” and alien- crop for three years” (Lv 25:21). For the Book however, forbids Jews to hold religious services ation. “The whole of creation of Leviticus, the land belongs not to the people on the Temple Mount, reserving that space for is groaning with labor pains of Israel but to God, quite literally a land Lord. Muslims.4 to this day ... eagerly longing “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the More concerned with time than with space, for ... its liberation by the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and the Jewish tradition of faith encourages care for children of God” (Rom 8:19– 22). This time of uncertainty tenants. Throughout the land that you hold, the land within Israel as a temporal concern. and insecurity has taught you shall provide for the redemption of the Without farmland and urban settlements, the us to care for one another. land” (Lv 25:23-24). present and future project of Zionism, wheth- Will we also learn, at last, to Note that Leviticus specifies that all human- er secular or religious, withers. Today many mitigate our impact on the kind, including the people of Israel, “are but devout Jews throughout the world dedicate environment? aliens and tenants.” Psalm 24 puts it succinctly: themselves to moral ecological concerns not As a result of the ecological “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, only in the state of Israel but also in other coun- disruption created by the global crisis of this corona- the world, and those who live in it; for he has tries where large numbers of Jews reside. Rabbi virus pandemic, Earth Day founded it on the seas, and established it on Lord Jonathan Sacks, referring to the work will be celebrated electroni- the rivers.” of the 19th-century German Orthodox rabbi cally this year throughout Sabbath — a time of stopping, resting, imi- Samuel Raphael Hirsch (1808-88), expresses the world. How paradoxical tating God’s rest on the seventh day after creat- this most eloquently: that the earth continues to ing the universe — provides us with a key con- “The Midrash says that God showed Adam inspire, instruct and invite us toward a renewed commit- cept for understanding the Jewish approach around the Garden of Eden and said, ‘Look at ment and restored covenant to ecological concerns. In his essay, “The my works! See how beautiful they are — how with creation. Sabbath,” Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-72), a excellent! For your sake I created them all. See How will we respond? Our professor for many years at Jewish Theological to it that you do not spoil and destroy my world; prayer is that this critical Seminary here in New York City, asserts that for if you do, there will be no one else to repair moment will be for all of us the Jewish tradition, unlike polytheistic forms it.’ Creation has its own dignity as God’s master- and for the entire planet an of faith, privileges time over space. Space is piece, and though we have the mandate to use occasion for renewal and redemption, for liberation understood as a subset of time, especially in it, we have none to destroy or despoil it. Rabbi and transformation, as well the first creation account in Genesis. Heschel Hirsch says that Shabbat was given to human- as for inspiration and illu- continues: ity ‘in order that he should not grow overbear- mination. “Time is the process of creation, and things ing in his dominion’ of God’s creation. On the

origins 5 day of rest, ‘he must, as it were, return the Before and especially after the reign of Thomas Aquinas, both a theologian borrowed world to its Divine Owner in Constantine, when Christianity became and a philosopher, studied not only bibli- order to realize that it is but lent to him.’ a religio licita throughout the Roman cal sources but also the works of Aristotle “Ingrained in the process of creation Empire, Christians felt free to take up and available to him, commenting, for and central to the life of every Jew is a even advance Greek traditions of learn- instance, on the eight books of the Physics weekly reminder that our dominion of ing, not unlike Solomon in the Book of of Aristotle. Dry and clear as Thomas earth must be l’shem shamayim — in the Wisdom. Philosophical and theological always is, he could wax poetic when writ- name of heaven. The choice is ours. If scholarship in the largest sense contin- ing about divinely created nature: we continue to live as though God had ued throughout the first millennium C.E. “[N]ature is nothing but a certain kind only commanded us to subdue the earth, and into the second, not only in the Greek of art, i.e., the divine art, impressed upon we must be prepared for our children to and Latin churches and empires but also things, by which these things are moved inherit a seriously degraded planet, with in Syriac and Coptic Christian communi- to a determinate end. It is as if the ship- the future of human civilization at risk. ties, before and after the rise of Islam. In builder were able to give to timbers that If we see our role as masters of the earth the West, where Latin remained the lan- by which they would move themselves to as a unique opportunity to truly serve guage of education until the Reformation take the form of a ship.”8 and care for the planet, its creatures and era, the mendicant friars — and espe- In his Summa Theologiae, Aquinas its resources, then we can reclaim our cially Dominicans and Franciscans — notes that “the preservation of things status as stewards of the world and raise advanced such studies from the 13th by God is a continuation of that action our new generations in an environment century on, influencing the intellectual whereby [God] gives existence. That [cre- much closer to that of Eden.” foundation and growth of universities like ative] action [of God] is without either The rabbinic mandate for tikkun Oxford, Cambridge and Paris. motion or time; so also the preservation olam — repairing this age or this world Two medieval Catholic friars whose of light in the air is by the continual influ- — engages Jews, wherever they live, to lives overlapped by one year, Francis ence of the sun.”9 The Angelic Doctor had commit themselves to saving the space in of Assisi (1181/2-1226) and Thomas much more in common with il Poverello which they live out their time, to confront Aquinas (1225-1274), took different and than might appear on the surface. the realities of climate change and work yet complementary attitudes toward cre- Ignatius Loyola in the 16th century, for the repair of the human environment. ated nature in all its variety, one more not famous for his elegant prose, ends ecstatic and poetic and the other more his Spiritual Exercises with what he called Christians Confront Climate Change contemplative and scientific. In the a “contemplation for attaining love,” a Both the Hebrew Bible (TaNaKH) and the “Canticle of the Creatures” Francis sings paean to God’s beauty in the realm of Greek Old Testament make it easier for about the variety of personified creatures creation and the realm of grace. those of us who are Christians to think joining humankind in praising God: People completing the exercises are about creation. We Christians inherit urged to see everything as a gift from from Israel its canonical scriptures and, Praised be you, my Lord, with all your God, God wishing to give the ultimate gift especially in modern times, learn more creatures, of the divine selfhood to human beings. and more from its extraordinarily varied especially Sir Brother Sun, They are to contemplate how God “dwells traditions of commentary on the Torah, who is the day and through whom you in creatures — in the elements, giving the prophets and the writings. give us light. being, in the plants, causing growth, in The Greek Old Testament, as it is And he is beautiful and radiant with the animals, producing sensation, and in received in the Catholic tradition,5 con- great splendor; humankind, granting the gift of under- tains a book that seems not to be a and bears a likeness of you, Most High. standing,” as well as to consider how translation of a document originally Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister God “works and labors on my behalf in written in Hebrew or Aramaic, the Book Moon and the stars, all created things.” Finally, they are “to of the Wisdom of Solomon.6 Probably in heaven you formed them clear and see how all that is good and every gift of composed by an Alexandrian Jew of precious and beautiful. understanding descends from on high; the late first century B.C.E. or the early Praised be you, my Lord, through so, my limited power descends from the first century C.E., the Book of Wisdom Brother Wind, supreme and infinite power above, and ascribes words of the greatest elegance and through the air, cloudy and serene, similarly justice, goodness, pity, mercy, to Solomon, David’s son, now the very and every kind of weather etc., as rays from the sun, and waters model of a good student. Solomon prays through whom you give sustenance to from a fountain.”10 “to know the structure of the world and your creatures. Filled with this type of Ignatian vision, the activity of the elements; the beginning Praised be you, my Lord, through the 19th-century English Jesuit Gerard and end and middle of times, the alterna- Sister Water, Manley Hopkins, sees God’s beauty, God’s tions of the solstices and the changes of who is very useful and humble and grandeur reflected in created things: the seasons, the cycles of the year and the precious and chaste. constellations of the stars, the natures of Praised be you, my Lord, through The world is charged with the grandeur animals and the tempers of wild animals, Brother Fire, of God. the powers of spirits and the thoughts of through whom you light the night, It will flame out, like shining from human beings, the varieties of plants and and he is beautiful and playful and shook foil; the virtues of roots” (Wis 7:17b-20). robust and strong.7 It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze

6 origins of oil ties — to offer just a few examples — it This is quite serious, since the interior of Crushed. Why do men then now not becomes difficult to hear the cry of nature the Amazonian forest contains countless reck his rod? itself; everything is connected. Once the resources that could prove essential for Generations have trod, have trod, human being declares independence curing diseases. Its fish, fruit and other have trod; from reality and behaves with absolute abundant gifts provide rich nutrition for And all is seared with trade; bleared, dominion, the very foundations of our humanity. smeared with toil; life begin to crumble, for ‘instead of car- “Furthermore, in an ecosystem like And wears man’s smudge and shares rying out his role as a cooperator with that of the Amazon region, each part is man’s smell: the soil God in the work of creation, man sets essential for the preservation of the whole. Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. himself up in place of God and thus ends The lowlands and marine vegetation also up provoking a rebellion on the part of need to be fertilized by the alluvium of the And for all this, nature is never spent; nature.’”12 Amazon. The cry of the Amazon region There lives the dearest freshness deep Four years later, in October 2019, a reaches everyone because ‘the conquest down things; special assembly of the Synod of Bishops and exploitation of resources ... has today And though the last lights off the black for the Pan-Amazon region took place reached the point of threatening the envi- West went in Rome during three weeks of October ronment’s hospitable aspect: the envi- Oh, morning, at the brown brink 2019. Like the 1980 Synod of Bishops ronment as “resource” risks threatening eastward, springs— convoked in Rome by Pope John Paul II the environment as “home.”’ The inter- Because the Holy Ghost over the bent for the church in the Netherlands, and est of a few powerful industries should World broods with warm breast and another for the churches of Lebanon not be considered more important than with ah! bright wings. in union with Rome in 1995, the synod the good of the Amazon region and of on Amazonia was locally focused. Of its humanity as a whole.”13 It is tempting for me as a Jesuit, and participants, most came from the area The concern of Pope Francis for at least a partial inheritor of the philo- under discussion, the nine countries that Amazonia reminds me of yet another sophical, theological and humanistic geographically contribute to the Amazon poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, in traditions of the high Middle Ages and River Basin (Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, which Hopkins evokes the beauty of a the Renaissance, to trace a direct line Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, much smaller river than the Amazon, a from Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, Suriname and French Guiana). Scottish stream and waterfall from which Ignatius Loyola and Gerard Manley Other representatives of the univer- the poem takes its title, “Inversnaid.” Let Hopkins to Papa Bergoglio, as the Italian sal church were also involved, as well as me quote only the final and most relevant press always calls him — Pope Francis. I Roman Curia prelates charged with relat- quatrain: give in to that temptation with alacrity. ed issues, especially two friends of mine, As early as 2007, while still archbishop Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana, and What would the world be, once bereft of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio had spoken Cardinal Michael Czerny, a Czech-born Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left, to educators in the Argentine Catholic Jesuit from Canada, who has had exten- O let them be left, wildness and wet; school system, reminding them of the sive pastoral experience in Africa and Long live the weeds and the need to inculcate in their students eco- Latin America. wilderness yet. logical ethics, an important theme Pope In his postsynodal apostolic exhorta- Francis developed at much greater length tion, issued on Feb. 2, 2020, Pope Francis Muslims Confront Climate Change in his encyclical letter of 2015, Laudato Si’. returned to many of the themes of that Muslims are summoned to worship five Climate change deniers and many synod, summed up in what he called four times a day with words chanted in Arabic neoconservatives in Europe and the dreams for Amazonia: a social dream, a (the adhan) that echo from minarets United States have proven particularly cultural dream, an ecological dream and throughout the world, wherever Muslims belligerent in their reading of that encyc- an ecclesial dream. Words from the third live and respond to those words. They lical.11 In their criticisms they neglect to chapter on his ecological dream speak to begin with the repeated call and response, notice how continuous the teaching of the realities of that area and similar geo- Allahu akbar! — best translated as “God Francis is with that of his immediate pre- graphical zones: is supreme!” The two central proclama- decessors, and especially Pope John Paul “The equilibrium of our planet also tions of Muslim witness follow: “I testify: II. I cite but one example from Laudato depends on the health of the Amazon no god, only GOD! I testify: Muhammad Si’, a passage ending with a quotation region. Together with the biome of the GOD’s messenger!” from Pope John Paul II’s 1991 social Congo and Borneo, it contains a dazzling Those two central proclamations are encyclical Centesimus Annus: diversity of woodlands on which rain followed by corresponding commands, “Neglecting to monitor the harm done cycles, climate balance and a great variety “Attend to worship! Attend to flourish- to nature and the environmental impact of living beings also depend. It serves as a ing!” The supremacy of God is once again of our decisions is only the most striking great filter of carbon dioxide, which helps proclaimed, ending with the coda, “No sign of a disregard for the message con- avoid the warming of the earth. ... god, only GOD!” tained in the structures of nature itself. “When the forest is eliminated, it is There are slight variations in the call When we fail to acknowledge as part not replaced, because all that is left is a to worship according to sectarian belong- of reality the worth of a poor person, a terrain with few nutrients that then turns ing and time of day, but the basic ele- human embryo, a person with disabili- into a dry land or one poor in vegetation. ments are always the same throughout

origins 7 the Muslim world. enth-century Arabia away from nomadic 36:82; 40:68).17 Nevertheless, in historical, The Islamic call to worship summons raiding of merchant caravans and the this-worldly terms, the faith tradition of Muslims not only to precisely prescribed rough-and-tumble commerce in trading Islam traces its origins to Arabia and to ritual worship (salat), but also to what centers like Mecca. It summoned them to the ecstatic experience of Muhammad is called falah, which I have translated the orderly oasis life symbolized by tillage ibn ‘Abd Allah, a Meccan of the late sixth as “flourishing.”14 The latter Arabic word — sowing, weeding and reaping. and early seventh century C.E. Arabia — is curious. Literally, it means tillage, the Medina was the first such ideal oasis, once verdant, as the fossil fuel wealth of act of cultivating the soil for farming.15 made so by Muhammad’s arrival there some of the modern peninsular states For the Arabs of seventh-century Arabia, with the first Meccan Muslim emigrants attests — had become Arabia deserta as such falah, or tillage, was not a character- in 622 C.E. Every society that attempts Arabia felix shrank in the centuries before istic occupation except in the oases of the to be Muslim tries to imitate, in some the lifetime of the Prophet (570-632 Arabian Peninsula. sense, Medina ruled by the Prophet. C.E.).18 The Quran came to Muhammad More typical of the economy and Every Muslim society that repudiates the as divine revelation at a time when once culture of the bedouin Arabs in antiq- submission to God that is the essence of arable Arabia had become, for the most uity was razzia (ghazw), mutual raiding Islamic morality chooses to live in the era part, a wasteland crossed by trading cara- between nomadic clans for the exchange of ignorance. van routes and dotted with a few oases of goods and even persons. More typical Falah eventually comes to signify where the life of quite literal tillage could of the urbanized Arabs of trading towns every aspect of life that Islam regulates, be lived. like Mecca was commerce (tijarah), insisting that such regulation takes its The Quran gives some clues as to how not always governed by ethical consid- origin from God’s self-disclosure in rev- God revealed, and God’s Prophet experi- erations in what Muslims call the pre- elation to people of faith. Although the enced, the world of nature. The wonders Islamic era of ignorance (jahiliyyah). word falah does not appear as such in (ayat) of nature, and especially camels, Some of the commerce of Mecca the Quran, verbs or participles from the so important in a desert environment, Muhammad knew in his preprophetic same root (F-L-H) do appear 40 times. bear witness to their Creator: “Won’t they years he found highly reprehensible, They describe the reward in this world as look at the camels, how they were cre- tainted by sharp dealing and corrupted well as in the world to come of those who ated? And the sky, how it is raised up? And by its connection with polytheistic festi- flourish by doing good deeds, summoned the mountains, how they are exalted? And vals he had come to repudiate as one who day by day by God and his messenger the land, how it is spread out?” (Quran had become a monotheist even before he to a way of life lived out in the presence 88:17-20). received divine revelation. of their Creator. The Islamic tradition of Adam, higher than animals but lower The summons to falah, parallel to the faith summons men and women to what than angels, is placed on earth as God’s summons to ritual worship, epitomizes the first surah of the Quran calls “the path deputy, despite the objections of angels, something central to Islam. As modern of those whom You have graced, not the and especially the objections of Iblis, the Muslims constantly remind us, Islam path of those who merit Your wrath, not enemy of human nature. “When your is more than a ritual or devotional life. the path of those who lose their way” Lord said to the angels, ‘I am about to Islam, modern Muslims rightly insist, is (Quran 1:6-7). appoint a deputy on earth,’ they respond- a “whole way of life” — a whole civiliza- The late Bishop Kenneth Cragg, a ed: ‘Will You appoint someone who will tion or normative culture. (The same is deeply sympathetic Christian scholar of do evil [on earth] and shed blood, while true, however, for every faith tradition, to Islam, sums up under the call to falah we [angels] praise You and hallow You?’ a greater or lesser degree, although not what Cragg describes as “the Islamic [God] said, ‘I know what you do not every faith tradition is as equally con- order for human society.”16 Thus the know’” (Quran 2:30). cerned as is the Islamic tradition with the second summons of the call to worship The privileged knowledge communi- minutiae of daily life.) bids the faithful to submit to God in cated by God to Adam is also, in some The Muslim’s ritual life follows precise very concrete circumstances, day by day, analogous sense, communicated to crea- rules and regulations; so does his or her renouncing the unbridled mercantilism tures less exalted than Adam. God even hygiene, diet, mode of dress, education, of pre-Islamic urban markets like Mecca inspires (awhà) nonhuman creation, economics and politics. Not every mod- or the wildness of Bedouin survival of the as the surah of the bee suggests. “Your ern Muslim has submitted all aspects of fittest. Thus the ‘ibadat (services of wor- Lord inspired the bee, saying ‘You should life to Islamic regulation nor does every ship), usually called the pillars of Islam, choose [to build] hives in the mountains modern Muslim agree with the rigorist are complemented by what have been and in the trees and the thatched [roofs] interpretations of such regulation insisted called mu‘amalat, human transactions in that people construct. Then eat of every on by certain contemporary interpreters the broadest sense. A fully Muslim life fruit and follow the paths your Lord of Islam, especially the neo-Hanbalites — total submission of oneself to God — opens up to you.’ From [bees’] innards (“Wahhabis”) who have religiously domi- involves not only ritual practice but also comes a nectar of varying colors that pro- nated what is now Saudi Arabia since the moral conduct in day-to-day affairs. vides healing for people. Therein is a sign 18th century. Islamic submission to God begins not for people who reflect” (Quran 16:68-69). The summons to falah challenges all with Muhammad in the seventh century Modern Muslims, more conscious Muslims to distinguish themselves from C.E. but with the first response of cre- than some of their ancestors of the non-Muslims by the concrete, daily prac- ation to the divine command, “‘Be!’ and realities of climate change, have come tices of life. It summoned them in sev- it is” (Quran 2:117; 3:47; 6:73, 16:40; 19:35; to take created nature less for granted.

8 origins The extraordinary petroleum wealth of sway, water flows, flies buzz, doors creak, Obama boasted at Rice University, not some of the Gulf States, based as it is on birds sing, or in the sound of strings or insignificantly located in oil-rich Texas, a finite underground supply of fossil fuel, flutes, the sighs of the sick, the groans of “‘You wouldn’t always know it, but [oil reminds conscientious Muslims of an the afflicted.”22 production] went up every year I was ancient saying attributed to Muhammad: president.’”24 “Muslims share in three [things] — grass Conclusion McKibben notes in the same article [pasture], water and fire.”19 Water and I want to return with you imaginatively to that the onetime libertarian and climate grassy pastureland are more and more the earth shrine I visited with my under- change skeptic Ronald Bailey has recent- in short supply in many countries of the graduate friend 40 years ago. Not too far ly announced a conversion of heart and Middle East, and desalinization plants to south of that earth shrine, climate change mind on this topic. In 1992 Bailey, during convert salt water into fresh water are only has become more and more noticeable the first United Nations Earth Summit affordable for plutocracies. Oil refineries in recent years; deforestation is the main held in Rio de Janeiro, deplored the fact set on fire in the internecine struggles cause. Loggers have relentlessly harvest- that the United States was “‘officially buy- of the contemporary Arabian Peninsula ed rosewood trees (botanically classified ing into the notion that “global warming” and its nearest neighbors should remind as Pterocarpus erinaceus), especially in is a serious environmental problem.’” In us that grass and fire need water if these the forests of the newly created savan- January 2020, however, Bailey officially wealthy Gulf States are going to survive. nah region of Ghana. They have exported admitted that he had been wrong. “‘I A contemporary Iranian-born poly- rosewood logs illegally to China, where have unhappily concluded, based on math, Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr, local furniture entrepreneurs use the the balance of the evidence, that climate famous for his work in the history and rosewood to manufacture neoantique change is proceeding faster and is worse philosophy of science in an Islamic con- furniture. than I had earlier judged it to be. ... Most text, has written some of the most cogent European and American consumers of the evidence points toward a signifi- reflections on the environmental crisis vie for such neoantique furniture, paying cantly warmer world by the end of the in the central Muslim world. He is par- enormous prices to make their high-rise century.’”25 ticularly critical of the petroleum-based apartments and suburban split-levels McKibben calls Bailey’s recent admis- economies in Muslim countries that pro- look like the banqueting halls and state- sion a mea culpa, a liturgical phrase from mote conservative interpretations of the rooms of the Medici. Since 2012, how- the Latin Mass of the Roman rite. Thrice Islamic religious tradition and yet con- ever, most of the rosewood has become repeated during the opening penitential currently subscribe to the most utilitar- furniture for China’s nouveaux riches. rite of the eucharistic liturgy, the priest ian “scientism” in their exploitation of “Between January 2015 and June 2019 and people strike their breasts and say, in natural resources. “Whether there is a Ghana exported $300 million (542,085 English, “Through my fault, through my modernist or a so-called fundamentalist tons) of hongmu [the Chinese words for fault, through my most grievous fault.” government ruling over a Muslim society, rosewood] to China despite repeat bans Maybe we all must say that to God in there is a blind acceptance of modern on harvesting, transport and export.”23 the face of climate change as we head Western science, and Western technol- The Ming dynasty has returned to the further into the 21st century. Repentance, ogy is adopted as rapidly as possible, with Middle Kingdom; Maoism is not what it however, entails a firm purpose of little interest in the environmental conse- used to be. Both under the present politi- amendment. The time is now. quences of such actions.”20 cal administration in Ghana as well as Professor Nasr has more readers out- under preceding administrations, this Notes 1 side the central Muslim world than he illegal trade in rosewood has continued. See Midrash Rabbah: Genesis, 3rd ed., trans. and ed. H. Freedman (London/New York: The Soncino Press, does within it. We can only hope that his Ghana’s environmental challenge with 1983), 1:130. words will be heard not only in his native climate change pales before the results 2 See www.rabbisacks.org/genesis-tells-us-duty-protect- planet/Sacks. Iran, but also in the other competitor over the past year of climate change in 3 Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Earth Is the Lord’s and petroleum-producing states of the Gulf. Australia and California. Bill McKibben, The Sabbath (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), 100. 4 By a curious irony, Pope Francis, Schumann Distinguished Scholar at For a recent example reported in The Times of Israel of the Israeli government enforcing that law in December toward the end of his encyclical Laudato Vermont’s Middlebury College, and the 2019, see “3 Jewish Israelis indicted for praying on the Si’, quotes a 16th-century Muslim mys- founder of the environmentalist group Temple Mount,” available online at www.timesofisrael. com//3-jewish-israelis-indicted-for-praying-on-tem- tic of Cairo, ‘Ali al-Khawwas (d. 1532 or 350.org, has campaigned in the United ple-mount. 1542). An illiterate who earned his liv- States on the subject of climate change 5 For Catholics, the deuterocanonical works (called Apocrypha by Protestants) include Judith, Tobit, ing as a palm-leaf plaiter, ‘Ali al-Khawwas for many years. He opposed the con- Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), Baruch, greatly influenced by another Egyptian struction of the Canadian-American XL the two Books of Maccabees and the Greek additions to Daniel and Esther. mystic, the better known ‘Abd al-Wahhab pipeline project and spent three days in 6 It also seems probable that the Second Book of al-Sha‘rani (d. 1565).21 The wisdom of ‘Ali a Washington, D.C., jail in 2012 for his Maccabees, a series of supplements to the First Book of Maccabees, was composed originally in Greek by a al-Khawwas, as quoted by Pope Francis, activism in that cause. Jewish author. speaks to all who grasp the omnipresence McKibben is impartial in his criti- 7 This is the translation of the hymn of St. Francis in the of God in the world around us. cism of American politicians. No friend English translation of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’, 87, available at www.vatican.va. “There is a subtle mystery in each of of President Trump’s environmental poli- 8 Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Eight Books of the movements and sounds of this world. cies, McKibben quotes in a recent arti- the Physics of Aristotle, Book II, Lesson 14, available online at www.isidore.com/aquinas/Physics.html. The [mystical] initiate will capture what is cle in The New York Review of Books a 9 Summa Theologiae I, q. 104, art. 1 ad 4. being said when the wind blows, the trees 2018 speech in which former President 10 From “The Spiritual Exercises,” in St. Ignatius of Loyola,

origins 9 Personal Writings, trans. and ed. Joseph Munitiz and two sides. It is a day to refrain from using Philip Endean (London: Penguin Books, 1996), 329-30. 11 The most vituperative of these critics in the United Judaism and the a car, from cooking, from mowing the States is an artist named Maureen Mullarkey, once a lawn, or worse, from using a leaf blower. regular contributor to the conservative monthly First Things, whom the present editor, R.R. Reno — no Environment We are meant to reflect on being part flaming liberal, himself — decided to eliminate from of creation, rather than acting on it, so it their regular roster. Her high dudgeon on the subject of the pan-Amazon synod makes for entertaining Claudia Setzer should lighten the environmental foot- if incendiary reading. See “Vatican’s Amazon Synod print. Yet Shabbat observance might Document Glorifies Tribal Culture and Condemns the West,” http://thefederalist.com/2019/12/11. involve keeping an oven on for 25 hours, 12 Laudato Si’, 117. The quotation that concludes that In a response to the biannual McGinley keeping on an electric water heater for paragraph derives from the encyclical of Pope John Paul II, Centesimus Annus (1991), 37. lecture by Jesuit Father Patrick J. Ryan, tea and coffee or leaving lights on. In 13 See Querida Amazonia, 48, available at www.vati- Claudia Setzer discussed Jewish views on my apartment building we have lights can.va. Within this paragraph Pope Francis quotes climate change. In his time holding the on in the hallways 24/7, in part for the from Pope John Paul II, Address to an International Convention on ‘The Environment and Health,” (March Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion Sabbath observers who do not want to 24, 1997), 2. and Society at Jesuit-run Fordham turn on lights even by their body move- 14 In so translating falah, I am following the example of Michael Sells, Approaching the Quran: The Early University in New York, Father Ryan has ment. Passover involves a considerable Revelations (Ashland, Ore.: White Cloud Press, 1999), focused on trialogue among Christians, amount of throwing out of food, even if 150. Jews and Muslims, and his lectures have we try to use up or donate what we can. 15 In Morocco, the Ministry of Agriculture is called the Wizarat al-Filahah, literally the ministry concerned included responses from Jewish and So Sabbath and holiday observance, like with tillage. An Egyptian peasant farmer is called a Muslim perspectives. The McGinley lecture almost any human celebration, comes fallah. A word derived from that root has entered into English, more frequently in the plural than in the sin- and responses on climate were due to be with an environmental price tag. Do we gular: fellaheen, a term used for the peasants of Egypt. given March 31 at Fordham’s Manhattan behave as if we are the crown of creation 16 See The Call of the Minaret (New York: Oxford University Press, 1956, rpt. 1964), 140. campus and April 1 at the main campus or grateful members of the choir of cre- 17 On this theme, see Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Islam in in the Bronx, but were canceled due to ation? Modern History (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1957, rpt. 1977), 10. the coronavirus pandemic. In talking Jewish activists have come forward 18 See Tim Mackintosh-Smith, Arabs: A 3,000 Year History about approaches to climate change in to construct a new/old ethic of Jewish of Peoples, Tribes and Empires (New Haven and the Jewish tradition, Setzer, a professor of environmentalism. The Coalition on the London: Yale University Press, 2019), 23-24. 19 Sunan Abi Dawud, Kitab al-ijarah, Book 23, Number religious studies at Manhattan College Environment and Jewish Life is one of 3470, available in English at www.qurango/dawud/023. in New York, said that “the whole idea of several Jewish environmental organiza- sat.html. 20 “Islam, the Contemporary Islamic World and the humanity as the ‘crown of creation’ gives tions. Any group concerned with social Environmental Crisis,” in Islam and Ecology: A a false impression of humanity’s separa- justice and tikkun olam, repair of the Bestowed Trust, ed. Richard C. Foltz, Frederick M. Denny and Azizan Baharuddin (Cambridge, Mass.: tion and dominion over nature.” Setzer’s world, must confront the challenge of Harvard University Press for the Center for the Study response follows. climate change and environmental deg- of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School, 2003), 99-100. radation. One of the guiding lights of the 21 See M. Winter, “al-Sha‘rani,” The Encyclopaedia of It is no surprise that Jewish sources movement and part of COEJL was the late Islam: New Edition, ed. P.J. Bearman et al. (Leiden: overflow with celebration of nature. We Rabbi Lawrence Troster, whom I remem- Brill, 1960-2009), 9:316. The highly literate al-Sha‘rani called himself ummi (untrained, unlettered) in com- have a God without body and without ber well as an upbeat young rabbinical parison with his illiterate spiritual teacher, ‘Ali al-Khaw- humanity, abstract despite all the titles student with long hair.2 One obituary was, whom he characterized as an ‘alim, a religious scholar. See J. Spencer Trimingham, The Sufi Orders we heap on God. How then can we hope headline for him read “ecotheologian in Islam (Oxford: Clarendon, 1971), 220-25, especially to know God? The tradition has answered returns to the earth.” I hope he would 221. The tomb shrine of ‘Ali al-Khawwas is revered in Cairo to the present day. with two directives: Look at Scripture approve of that. 22 See Eva de Vitray-Meyerovitch, ed. Anthologie du and look at creation. God’s signature is in In good rabbinic fashion, the eco- soufisme (Paris, (1978), 200). This is the citation for the quotation from ‘Ali al-Khawwas given in Endnote 159 nature and all that it contains, including theologians in the Jewish community of the encyclical. humanity. have drawn on ancient sources for guid- 23 Environmental Investigation Agency, “Ban-Boozled: When I think about Jews, Judaism and ance. The sources are plentiful. One of How Corruption and Collusion Fuel Illegal Rosewood Trade in Ghana,” available at www.eia-global.org. I am environmental ethics, I see more good the earliest biblical images is of God grateful to another former student at the University of news than bad, but I do not romanti- as the first planter, “And the Lord God Ghana, who later did an M.B.A. at Fordham, Samuel Shaibu Adam, for directing my attention to this report. cize the problem. When in 1967 Lynn planted a garden in Eden, in the east; 24 Bill McKibben, “A Very Hot Year,” The New York Review White Jr. wrote “The Historical Roots and there he put the man (Adam) whom of Books 67, No. 4 (March 12, 2020), 14. Henceforth 1 cited as McKibben. of Our Ecological Crisis,” an oft-cited he had formed” (Gn 2:8). The covenant 25 McKibben, 13, quoting from Bailey’s article, “Climate article that implicated the Hebrew Bible, with Abraham includes a certain land Change: How Lucky Do You Feel?” which appeared in the journal Reason (January 2020). ■ Christianity and its modes of thinking (Gn 12:1), implying a spatial element to as key to Western attitudes toward the the promise.3 environment, Jews and others reacted Many psalms extol the natural world by searching the tradition to prove him as God’s locus of power and creativity, wrong. “You make springs gush forth in the val- Yet he had a point. The whole idea of leys; they flow between the hills, giving humanity as the “crown of creation” gives drink to every wild animal; the wild asses a false impression of humanity’s separa- quench their thirst. By the streams the tion and dominion over nature. Shabbat, birds of the air have their habitation; they the day of Sabbath rest, for example, has sing among the branches” (Ps 104:10-12).

10 origins Even the laws require humans be was always there. No more floods would themes of human connectedness to the good stewards — the law of shmittah, cover the world, a people might one day earth.6 or the sabbatical year, allowing the land return to Eden or enter a new, Promised Transforming an anthropocentric to rest every seven years (Lv 25:2-7), or Land. The idea that the world itself model for a theocentric one, we take our the law against wanton destruction of would not continue or that it would be place in the choir of creation. We temper fruit trees in an act of war (Dt 20:19-20). dismantled by humans was unthinkable. the Genesis command to “be fruitful and This verse expands the principle of Bal In some ways, the apocalyptic voices of multiply, and fill the earth and subdue Tashchit, “do not destroy,” to any kind Judaism seem more appropriate to our it, and have dominion over the fish of of wastefulness. I was slightly startled to times, especially as I write this in self- the sea and the birds of the air and over see it at, of all places, the snack bar of the isolation, waiting out the COVID-19 hor- every living thing that moves upon the Museum of the Bible, encouraging us to ror unleashed upon the world. earth” (Gn 1:28) — the source of our crisis limit our trash. In constructing a Jewish response to pointed to by Lynn White, by subordinat- Rabbinic stories about tree plant- climate change, I underscore three recur- ing it to the command in Genesis 2:15 ing abound. “How can a person of flesh rent Jewish themes: about the Garden of Eden, “to till it and and blood follow God? ... God, from the keep it (leshamrah),” or more literally, “to very beginning of creation, was occu- Creation Theology till it and keep watch over it.” pied before all else with planting, as it is The fundamental assumption that the written, ‘And first of all, the Eternal God world is God’s creation and is good is Practicing Modesty planted a garden in Eden.’ Therefore explicit in the Genesis story in the fre- Sumptuary laws from the Middle Ages occupy yourself first and foremost with quently repeated assertion, “And God saw discouraged conspicuous consump- planting” (Leviticus Rabbah 25:3). The that it was good.” Psalms celebrates the tion, wearing ostentatious rich clothing, reminder of the world as Eden contin- works of nature as extolling God in their or giving lavish weddings or circumci- ues in the midrash, also quoted by Father own way. Studying his work of creation, sion feasts. Whatever the laws’ multiple Ryan: the natural world, will teach the human purposes, the effect would be to man- “Look at God’s work — for who can of God’s nature, “Ask the beasts and they age human pride, to guard people from straighten what he has twisted? When will teach you, the birds of the air and using up their own resources and to avoid the Blessed Holy One created the first they will tell you” (Job 12:7). Fordham shaming people who had less. They may human, he took him and led him round theologian Elizabeth Johnson’s book on have also had a purpose to keep a low all the trees of the Garden of Eden and a theology of the environment is rightly profile in the larger community, where said to him: ‘Look at my works, how titled Ask the Beasts. Jewish success might cause resentment. beautiful and praiseworthy they are! And Creatureliness situates human beings What it comes down to is cultivating the all that I have created, it was for you that within creation. Biblical scholar Phyllis virtue of modesty. I created it. Pay attention that you do Trible pointed to the confluence of In some circles modesty, or tzniut, not corrupt and destroy my world: if you humans, God and nature in creation by brings to mind women covering bare corrupt it, there is no one to repair it after underscoring that the name Adam, or shoulders or wearing long skirts. But it you’” (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:13). adam in Hebrew, is linked to the word for has a broad meaning of decentering the Liturgy includes the choir of cre- earth, adamah. Thus the best translation self. Codes of tzniut also apply to men ation image, for example the use of the of Adam in the second creation story is and include not talking too loud and not last psalm in morning prayer, Kol Ha “earth creature.” Her exegesis of Genesis showing off your money. Neshamah Tehalel Yah, “Let everything 2 shows that the earth creature comes Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg has pro- that breathes praise the Lord.”4 Medieval from the earth but is also set apart from posed that we reclaim tzniut, moving off Hebrew poets from Spain like Dunash it, to serve the earth (2:5) and put in the from worrying about women’s and men’s ben Labrat joined with Muslim poets in garden to till it and keep it (2:15).5 dress, and consider its social impera- celebrating the natural world through Jewish holidays and rituals help us tive as a form of generosity for others lush images of the garden. Even medi- reflect on our creatureliness. One point and their feelings. She says, “This, then eval sumptuary laws, which prescribed of Shabbat is to refrain from actions that is the core of a new tzniut: to dress and limiting fancy dress or lavish celebra- change the world and recognize our place behave with a sensitivity both to oneself tions, seemed to curb overconsumption. within it. One point of Yom Kippur is to and one’s deepest needs, and to one’s While we may draw lessons from touch our human frailty and temporary context, to the reactions of others; to love Judaism and construct meaning in light place in the world. One point of Sukkot is our neighbors as ourselves in our actions of our own experience, I doubt the voic- to dwell in rustic, temporary shelters that and in our interactions.”7 es in the classical sources could begin remind us of the world’s unsteadiness as I suggest we should also apply this to fathom the situation we now face. A well as its sacred abundance. One point modesty and love in our relationship to frequently cited axiom from Ecclesiastes of Passover is its rootedness in ancient the earth. For example, do not take six 1:4 is “Dor holech v’dor ba. Raq HaOlam agricultural and pastoral festivals. Ellen napkins at Dunkin Donuts when we only omedet, A generation goes and a genera- Bernstein, who founded the first Jewish need one. Perhaps refrain from buying tion comes. Only the earth remains.” environmental organization, Shomrei another dress that is suspiciously similar It meant God might wreak havoc on Adamah (Keepers of the Earth) has just to the other six already in your closet. a grand scale or reward Israel via natural published a new Haggadah called The Vote for candidates who pledge to enact events, but the possibility of restoration Promise of the Land that amplifies these environmental legislation.

origins 11 Let us practice a certain modesty and a discouragement of messianism, but we Between the Fires mindfulness that puts the natural world should note that it is important to greet We are the generation that stands at the center and respects our small piece the Messiah. However, one should plant between the fires: of it. The prophet Micah says as much one’s tree first in case the future is lon- Behind us the flame and smoke that rose in this famous verse addressed directly ger than expected and so leave a verdant from Auschwitz and from Hiroshima; to humanity, where he uses a form of home for one’s offspring. From the burning forests of the Amazon, the verb that underlies the word tzniut, It is easy to quote sources, but to From the hottest years of human history meaning to be humble or modest, or to save our world, we need to create new that bring upon us act with restraint: initiatives and rework the sources. One Melted ice fields, Flooded cities, example is the new Haggadah mentioned Scorching droughts. He has told you, O Adam, (mortal), what above. Another is a new form of the list of Before us the nightmare of a Flood of Fire, is good; sins recited on Yom Kippur. It highlights The heat and smoke that could and what does the Lord require of you the sins against the environment as on a consume all Earth. but to do justice, and to love kindness, scale with sins against God and against Here! We ourselves are coming Before the and to walk humbly or modestly other humans. great and terrible day of smiting Earth (hatsnea) with your God? (Mi 6:8). — For we ourselves shall turn the hearts For the sins of accepting the current Of parents to their children To walk modestly cannot be about distribution of wealth and power as And the hearts of children to their parents the length of one’s skirt but could mean unchangeable; So that this day of smiting to tread lightly on the earth, to practice And for the sins of giving up on social Does not fall upon us. chesed, or kindness, to all creatures and change and focusing exclusively on It is our task to make from fire not an to do justice. When one treads the earth personal advancement and success; all-consuming blaze with consciousness and awareness of For the sins of feeling so powerless when But the light in which we see each other one’s dependence on it, then one walks we hear about oppression that we fully. with God. finally close our ears. All of us different, All of us bearing One And for the sins of dulling our outrage at Spark. Promoting Community the continuation of poverty, oppres- We light these fires to see more clearly Hillel urges, “Do not separate yourself sion and violence in this world. That the Earth and all who live as part of it from the community” (Pirke Avot 2:4), And for the sins we have committed by Are not for burning. and much of Jewish ethics goes toward allowing our food and our air to be We light these fires to see more clearly building and maintaining the health of poisoned; The rainbow in our many-colored faces. the group. This community does not stop For the sins of not doing enough to save Blessed is the One within the many. at the borders of the present but extends the environment.8 Blessed are the many who make One. back to the ancestors and forward to our descendants, the future community: These are related to one another, and Notes 1 “Honi the Circle Drawer, a sage, was like the traditional list of sins, seem to Lynn White Jr., “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis,” Science, n.s. 155 (1967) 120301207. walking along a road and saw some- include not just critiquing of indifference 2 Lawrence Troster, “Ten Jewish Teachings on Judaism one planting a carob tree. Honi asked and skewering people for their faults but and the Environment,” https://circle.org/jsource/ten- jewish-teachings-on-judaism-and-the-environment. him, ‘How long will it take for this tree also cautioning against despair as anoth- 3 Recent scholarship has modified earlier ideas of to bear fruit?’ ‘Seventy years,’ replied er sort of sin. The environmental prob- Judaism as primarily a religion of time, showing a concern for space and place as part of Jewish mapping the man. Honi then asked, ‘Are you so lem is so vast and accelerating at such a of identity. Barbara Mann notes the significance of healthy a man that you expect to live pace, we feel helpless as individuals. references to God as HaMakom, the Place, and shows how Jews have created a sense of place in different that length of time and eat its fruit?’ The This is the real challenge. What to do? periods, Space and Place in Jewish Studies (Piscataway, man answered, ‘I found a fruitful world We feel restless and are sure we are not N.J.: Rutgers, 2012). David Kraemer understands the rabbis as trying to resolve the intolerable situation of because my ancestors planted it for me. doing enough. We worry about our chil- their “place” being under Roman occupation, Rabbinic Likewise I am planting for my children’” dren and grandchildren. We do not really Judaism: Space and Place (New York: Routledge Press, (b.Taanit 23a). know what to do. Well, it is not enough 2015). 4 Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Pied Beauty,” one of my Planting trees is a typical symbol of on its own. But we persist in doing good. favorite poems, reflects this idea. hope, preparation for the future and The rabbis cautioned us, “It is not on you 5 Phyliss Trible, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986), 75-77; 89-90. leaving an abundant and robust envi- to finish the task, but neither are you free 6 Ellen Bernstein, The Promise of the Land. A Passover ronment behind for our children, grand- to give up on it” (Pirke Avot 2:16). Haggadah (Behrman House, 2020). 7 children and beyond. A well-known I would like to end with a new medi- Danya Ruttenberg, “Towards a New Tzniut,” in The Passionate Torah (New York: New York University Press, midrash tries to temper messianism but tation that is available on many Jewish 2009) 209. also carries an environmental prescrip- websites, including this one from COEJL, 8 https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/modern- sins/, reprinted from tikkun.org. tion, “Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakai used to its list of resources from Pope Francis’ 9 http://www.coejl.net/uploads/1/2/0/0/120031968/ say: ‘If you have a sapling in your hand encyclical on climate justice Laudato Si’ coejl_laudato_si_and_the_sages.pdf. ■ and they tell you, ‘The Messiah is com- and from the Sages.9 It is a contemporary ing!’ first plant the sapling and then go kavannah, or reflection, in which Rabbi to greet him” (Avot d’Rabbi Natan 31b). Arthur Waskow draws from midrash and This source is frequently understood as Malachi 3:20-24.

12 origins of climate change around the globe, as stance of everything, or that which makes Islam, Nature and Professor Ryan has described so suc- a thing what it is. cinctly. Recognizing the interrelatedness Climate Change It is thus no coincidence that the cri- of the above-mentioned meanings, sis of climate change ultimately mirrors Avicenna eventually defines nature as Muhammad U. Faruque the crisis of modern subjectivity, which an active principle of motion and rest in is largely defined by the Cartesian disen- natural bodies.3 Now such an Aristotelian gaged res cogitans or the thinking thing definition of nature does serve its pur- In a response to the biannual McGinley that pits itself against the rest of creation, pose when it comes to premodern sci- lecture by Jesuit Father Patrick J. Ryan, now relegated to the status of a soulless entific theories of “motion,” but it does Muhammad U. Faruque discussed machine.2 In this mechanistic picture, not bring out the “ecstatic” and “poetic” Muslim views on climate change. In his which still dominates the weltanschau- dimensions of nature, which are so crucial time holding the Laurence J. McGinley ung of most science-educated folks, when to developing an existential connection Professor of Religion and Society at Jesuit- one encounters a tree one does not usu- with it by tapping into one’s ecological run Fordham University in New York, ally think of a being that might share our consciousness. In other words, similar to Father Ryan has focused on trialogue own reality in some way; rather one con- the Thomist vs. Franciscan spirit, in Islam among Christians, Jews and Muslims, templates utilitarian gains in the form of too one observes a distinction between and his lectures have included responses wood and furniture, or at best, botani- “scientific” and “poetic” views of nature. from Jewish and Muslim perspectives. The cal details that may be of interest from a The poetic and aesthetic view of McGinley lecture and responses on cli- purely scientific point of view. nature is articulated in several verses of mate were due to be given March 31 at So it is crucial to note that unless we the Quran, which later inspired numer- Fordham’s Manhattan campus and April 1 are able to come to terms with ourselves, ous Sufis and philosophers such as Ibn at the main campus in the Bronx, but were that is, redefine our very selfhood, we will ‘Arabi (d. 1240), Rumi (d. 1273), ‘Aziz al- canceled due to the coronavirus pandem- not be able to confront climate change at Din Nasafi (d. 1278), Mahmud Shabistari ic. In talking about approaches to climate the deepest level, since an erroneous view (d. ca. 1318), and Mulla Sadra (d. 1640) change in the Muslim tradition, Faruque, of the self will only exacerbate our rela- to formulate an elaborate ecophilosophy. a postdoctoral fellow in Fordham’s theol- tionship with and treatment of the other, The Quran discusses the significance ogy department, said that “the implica- which is none other than Mother Nature. of nature extensively. Numerous Quranic tions of the doctrine of the ‘great chain of Put another way, when nature’s only chapters bear the names of natural enti- consciousness’ for climate change cannot worth comes as a resource to be usurped ties or phenomena such as “The Cow,” be overstated.” Faruque’s response follows. by the human self, it is used and reused as “The Bee,” “The Thunder,” “The Moon, a means of serving the self’s materialistic “The Star,” “The Ants,” “The Spider,” “The I goals such as luxury and wealth accumu- Light,” “The Iron” and “The Rock,” as well Despite the fact that the novel corona- lation. as others. Moreover, to convey the sacred- virus has claimed over 100,000 lives and For the remainder of this response, I ness of nature God swears in the Quran brought life to a standstill around the will elaborate on the Islamic teachings by the moon, the sun, the olive and other globe, it has provided scientists with a rare concerning nature, selfhood and human natural entities. opportunity to observe that the planet is responsibility, and briefly document The Quran refers to natural phenom- now shaking noticeably less than usual!1 some of the salient aspects of contempo- ena as ayat Allah, or God’s signs, sym- The commotion of modern hyperactive rary Muslim environmentalism. Overall, bols or verses. This means just as one is industrial life and vibrations from facto- my aim is to draw attention to both theo- supposed to read and contemplate the ries, cars, trains, etc., produce tremen- retical and practical dimensions of the verses of the Quran, one is asked to study dous background noise that in turn cre- environmental crisis, since without an and decipher various natural phenomena ates pressure and shakes Earth’s core as adequate conception of nature as a sacred that are like countless signposts meant to she struggles to maintain her balance and reality, we will not be able to alter our atti- guide the self toward its ultimate destiny equilibrium. tude toward it. and to behold the beauty of God’s never- But in an age of scientific naturalism, ending self-manifestation.4 does anyone even care what happens to II As the Quran says, “We shall show Mother Nature as a result of our unbridled Since Islamic civilization has produced them Our signs (ayat) on the horizons and actions? Is not the Earth supposed to be a vast intellectual tradition, it would be within themselves until it will be manifest an inert object, a vast mechanism devoid pertinent to begin with philosophico- unto them that it is the Truth” (Q 41:53). In of life, a mere it which is unable to feel scientific conceptions of nature that are other words, following Augustine, one may anything and, unlike us, defend itself with found in the works of philosophers such speak of two books in which God reveals a human voice? as Avicenna (d. 1037). For instance, in himself, namely the Book of Revelation Yet the naturalistic attitude that can his Physics within the encyclopedic Kitab (i.e., the Quran) and the Book of Nature, certainly relegate nature to an it or an al-Shifa’ (Book of the Healing), Avicenna both of which mirror one another. other, resulting in its alienation and sub- notes that the term nature (tabi’a) can Not surprisingly, Muslim thinkers talk sequent estrangement, can no longer be understood in various ways such as about the Quran in terms of the written deny the silent cries of this other, which the efficient cause of motion in natural Quran (al-Quran al-tadwini) and the is now concretely felt through the effects bodies, or that which constitutes the sub- cosmic Quran (al-Quran al-takwini). For

origins 13 example, Ibn ‘Arabi refers to the world as this one. with consciousness, whose alpha and the great text (al-mushaf al-kabir), while Humans disbelieve in the glorification omega is Pure Consciousness, that is, Nasafi explains that the natural world is uttered by inanimate things, divine reality in itself. But if each thing one of God’s books in which each day sets but those inanimate things are masters in in nature manifests a particular mode of forth its chapters, verses, lines and letters performing worship. God’s consciousness, it implies that even for human beings to ponder. Similarly, Nay, the two-and-seventy sects, every one, the so-called inanimate objects are alive the Persian Sufi Shabistari refers to the are unaware of each other and in and conscious in varying degrees. universe as a book of revelation, with great doubt. Such a perspective is not to be con- substances (jawahir) as consonants, Since two speakers have no knowledge of fused with contemporary panpsychism as accidents (a’rad) as vowels and different each other’s state, expounded by atheist philosophers such creatures as verses, where various entities how will it be with wall and door? as Galen Strawson and Philip Goff, who parallel various Quranic chapters.5 Since I am heedless of the glorification also argue that consciousness pervades all However, the nexus between the Book uttered by one who speaks, of reality including matter — a view laden of Nature and the Book of Revelation runs how should my heart perceive the with ecological implications.11 Similarly, deeper in that the aforementioned verses glorification of that which is mute?6 when Muslim mystics and philosophers mention the self (nafs), which is also one assert that nature is sacred, they do not of the loci of ayat Allah, or the theater Rumi then concludes by saying that suggest that it is also divine, for that will for divine self-disclosure. Thus, in addi- only the spiritually adept whose inner lead to pantheism. tion to the two books, there is also what vision is awakened by the eye of the heart Sufi metaphysicians such as Ibn ‘Arabi I would call the Book of Selfhood, which can perceive the mystery of every crea- and Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi (d. 1274) make is the mediating principle or conscious- ture’s distinct mode of glorification: clear that God’s immanence in nature ness between the Book of Revelation and through divine presence and manifesta- the Book of Nature. One can mention the No one knows except the deified human tion does not negate his transcendence famous 15th-century Ottoman Sufi, jurist in whose heart is a spiritual touchstone. in relation to it, since for these thinkers, and Shaykh al-Islam Shams al-Din Fanari The rest hold only an opinion; God qua Absolute (al-mutlaq) transcends in this regard, whose exegetical work ‘Ayn they fly to their nest with a single wing.7 all limitations and determinations.12 Thus, al-a’yan shows a synthesis of philoso- the transcendence of God (i.e. the Divine phy, mysticism and Quranic exegesis by It is fascinating to see that in his encyc- Essence) negates both pantheism and drawing parallels between levels of exis- lical Laudato Si’ Pope Francis has men- contemporary panpsychism. tence, consciousness, divine speech and tioned the Sufi al-Khawwas, who also At any rate, the upshot of all these doc- Quranic meanings. echoes Rumi by affirming that the subtle trines is that nature cannot be treated as In one of the most enigmatic verses of mystery in each of the movements and merely a source of raw materials to be the Quran, God proclaims that all beings sounds of nature can only be perceived exploited by humans nor can it be seen as in the cosmos sing his praise: “The seven by the mystical initiate. Thus, the Quranic a material reality devoid of spiritual sig- heavens and the earth and all that is there- ecophilosophy presents a perspective in nificance and beauty. Rather, nature is to in glorify him, and there is not a thing which all levels of the reality of nature be respected as a sacred reality and loved but hymneth his glory; but ye understand are interconnected, forming, as it were, a by those who believe it vehicles divine not their glory” (Q. 17:44). Such a verse living whole.8 Such a view has been aptly presence.13 is bound to raise eyebrows, since we do described as the “great chain of being” not hear inanimate entities such as rocks or maratib al-wujud in both Islamic and III and mountains singing God’s glory. Rumi Western traditions. In the poetic render- The implications of the doctrine of the has a rejoinder for those who would cast ing of Alexander Pope: “great chain of consciousness” for climate doubt upon the literal interpretation of change cannot be overstated. It calls for a this verse. For Rumi the problem lies in Vast chain of being, which from radical reorientation of modern subjec- one’s inability to understand the language God began, tivity and urges us to study, contemplate of Being and to penetrate into the inner- Natures ethereal, human, angel, man, and understand nature, and protect it most reality of natural phenomena, each Beast, bird, fish, insect! what no eye from senseless economic exploitation. of which possesses their own particular can see, Moreover, one should not think that the mode of consciousness and glorification. No glass can reach! from infinite to thee ... environmental crisis can be solved by a Rumi also rhetorically asks how can Where, one step broken, the great scale’s careful economic planning or social activ- we expect people to understand the glo- destroyed.9 ism alone, both of which are doubtless rification of inanimate entities when important. In addition to various forms they themselves, despite being language But if Rumi and others are right, the of environmental activism, one needs animals, are unable to understand each great chain of being cannot be devoid of to educate oneself about the alternative other, which is the reason they are divided consciousness, which is why it is also the conceptions of nature and take them into so many sects and denominations. “great chain of consciousness,” a phrase seriously on their own terms. It would be Rumi writes: appropriately coined by Mohammed a mistake to think that the ecospiritual Rustom.10 Following the previous line of ideas presented above have little practi- Each glorifies Thee in a different fashion, reasoning, one can say that everything in cal import, since they run counter to our and that one is unaware of the state of nature, including nature itself, is imbued Cartesian view of nature.

14 origins Let me provide a concrete example to ulture seeks to enhance biodiversity on and the unification of surfaces and environs. Rather, what is meant is that each degree of existential perfec- illustrate this. Some years ago, the Yale- Earth in line with the Quranic ecophilos- tion must be adjacent to a degree that befits it in (a trained legal scholar and social scientist ophy of nature and the self that speaks similar) existential perfection.” Mulla Sadra, Asfar, II, 2, 342, cited in Ibrahim Kalin, Knowledge in Later Islamic Boaventura Santos was invited to chair an of the human stewardship of all living Philosophy: Mulla Sadra on Existence, Intellect, and ethical tribunal concerning the highly dis- beings, including the Earth and the envi- Intuition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 230. 9 Alexander Pope, “An Essay on Man,” in Major Works, 14 20 puted Yasuní ITT project in Amazonia. ronment. Islamic permaculture takes edited by Pat Rogers (Oxford: Oxford University The Yasuní ITT project was an alterna- seriously the doctrine of the great chain of Press, 1993), 279. Italic mine. Cf. Arthur Lovejoy, The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea tive to the oil-extraction capitalist model consciousness, according to which there (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1964). that is responsible for the disappearance is a web of interconnectedness among all 10 Mohammed Rustom, “The Great Chain of 21 Consciousness: Do All Things Possess Awareness?” of two entire Amazonian peoples, namely beings, both biologically and spiritually. Renovatio 1.1 (2017): 49-60. the Tetetes and the Sansahauris between Iskandar Waworuntu and Umar 11 Curiously, Mulla Sadra’s philosophy of being (wujud) 1960 and 1990. Faruq Abd-Allah are both converts, Sufi- also presents a version of panpsychism, which, how- ever, rests on very different ontological grounds. In the middle of a heated exchange, influenced and miles apart from each 12 Cf. Q 4:126 that says, “Allah ever surroundeth all things.” a man stood up and asked Boaventura other since the former lives in Indonesia The term muhit in this verse also means “environment,” implying that the world of nature is steeped in divine the following: “Professor Boaventura, you while the latter in America. Yet both presence. are a well-known sociologist and lawyer are united when it comes to their deep 13 In Sufi metaphysics, divine presence varies in terms of its degree of manifestation. Thus, on the lowest plane and so on, so you know all these kinds of immersion in Islamic permaculture. of reality, i.e. the physical world, the intensity of divine things about nature and about law. Please, In 2006, Iskandar built the Bumi Langit presence is also the lowest. For an in-depth analysis of the famous doctrine of the “five divine presences” tell me something, these Indians are crazy, permaculture farm in Imogiri, Indonesia, (al-hadarat al-ilahiyyat al-khams), see William Chittick, aren’t they? How can we give rights to an where they produce food by practicing “The Five Divine Presences: From al-Qunawi to al- object?!”15 permaculture and offer training on eco- Qaysari,” The Muslim World 72.2 (1982): 107-28. 14 Boaventura Santos, “Epistemologies of the South and 22 Boaventura responded by saying that if friendly agriculture. Thus, there is reason the Future,” From the European South: a transdisci- we remain dogmatic about the Cartesian for hope amid the catastrophes caused by plinary journal of postcolonial humanities, 1 (2016): 17-29, at 24. view of nature (i.e., nature as an inert the environmental crisis and the desacral- 15 Santos, “Epistemologies of the South,” 25. Italic mine. object), which is what we are taught in ization of nature. 16 Santos, ibid., 25. school, then we can never understand the As the environmentalist Vandana 17 Santos, ibid., 24. 18 One can mention, for instance, the Chipko movement indigenous people’s concept of nature as Shiva puts it beautifully: “Our future is in the Himalayas, where indigenous women and men Pachamama (Mother Earth) that says that inseparable from the future of the Earth. organized protests against commercial exploitation of the Himalayan forests by foreign contractors. See nature is the source of life, a living organ- It is no accident that the word human has Vandana Shiva, “Swaraj: From Chipko to Navdanya,” in ism that also sustains life.16 its roots in humus, the Latin word for soil. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Ecology, edited by John Hart (Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley & Sons, 2017), For these indigenous people, our blood Adam, the first human in the Abrahamic 12-14. is part of the blood of the earth. Thus, if traditions, is derived from Adamah, 19 Numerous studies on Muslim environmental- you extract oil, you extract the blood of meaning soil in Hebrew.”23 ism are now available. See e.g. Anna Gade, Muslim Environmentalisms: Religious and Social Foundations the Mother Earth, thereby extracting your “From the [earth] did We create you, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2019); and own blood.17 Needless to say, one can pro- and into it shall We return you, Richard Foltz (ed.), Environmentalism in the Muslim World (New York, Nova, 2005). For works on Islamic vide countless similar examples that show and from it shall We bring you out once environmental philosophy, see Seyyed Hossein Nasr, the disastrous consequences of uphold- again.” (Q 20:55). Religion and the Order of Nature (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996); Tarik Quadir, Traditional Islamic ing a Cartesian view of nature.18 Environmentalism: The Vision of Seyyed Hossein Nasr So what is required is an attitude of Notes (Lanham: University Press of America, 2013). 1 20 The political meaning of khalifa (vicegerent) as the openness toward alternative ways of expe- See https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/ coronavirus-lockdown-earth-move-vibrate-seismic- person who rules over the Islamic world is well known. riencing the self and the world or what noise-thomas-lecocq-a9445346.html. But for Sufis the word also has a metaphysical mean- ing, which is expressed through the complex doctrine 2 The genealogy of modern subjectivity is a highly Boaventura calls the “epistemologies of of the perfect human (al-insan al-kamil). In simple complex topic, which is beyond the scope of the pres- terms, the doctrine expresses one’s latent capacity for the South.” Fortunately, environmen- ent endeavor. For some debates, see Charles Taylor, wholeness and perfection, including the capacity for Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity tal awareness is growing among people. human flourishing. According to Sufis, human beings (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1989); and are God’s vicegerent on earth because they are charged Recent studies show how diverse Muslim Raymond Martin and John Barresi, The Rise and Fall of with the stewardship of the cosmos, suggesting that it is Soul and Self: An Intellectual History of Personal Identity communities and schools of thought their duty to safeguard the order of nature and maintain (New York: Columbia University Press, 2006). from around the world are addressing 3 equilibrium in the cosmos. Note, however, that this Avicenna, al-Shifa’, (al-Tabi’iyyat, al-sama’ al-tabi’i), ethicospiritual imperative is not a given, which means ecological issues through Islamic ethics edited by Sa’id Zayid (Qum, 1985), 36ff. every individual self has to attain the station of vicege- 4 and ecophilosophy.19 See Quran 2:164, 3:190-191, 6:99, 10:6, 10:67, 13:3-4, rency by leading an ethical life and purifying their heart. 16:69, 20:53-54, 24:44-46, 26:7-9, 27:86, 29:44, 36:33-44, As the Quran says, “Truly he flourishes that purifies the The space allotted will not permit me 41:37-40, 41:53, 42:29, 45:1-13, 51:20-23. [self]” (Q 91:9). So, I am in agreement with Professor to mention various forms of Muslim envi- 5 See Munjed Murad, “Sufi Views of Nature and Natural Ryan that falah as “human flourishing” is a central idea Phenomena,” Brill Encyclopedia of Islamic Mysticism, in Islam. ronmentalism that one observes today, forthcoming. 21 Such a view closely parallels McDaniel’s ecotheological but let me at least say a word about the 6 Rumi, The Mathnawi of Jalalu’ddin Rumi, edited and paradigm, see Jay McDaniel, “Ecotheology and World translated by R.A. Nicholson (London, 1925-40), III: Religions,” in Ecospirit: Religions and Philosophies for fascinating phenomenon of “Islamic per- 1496-1500. the Earth, edited by Laurel Kearns and Catherine Keller maculture.” Permaculture (a term coined 7 Rumi Mathnawi, III: 1508-09. (New York: Fordham University Press, 2007), 21-44. 22 by the biologist Bill Mollison) is a holistic 8 The 17th-century philosopher Mulla Sadra develops On Bumi Langit, see http://www.bumilangit.org/indo- a highly complex philosophy of a dynamic universe nesian/index.html. For Abd-Allah’s involvement in per- way of being that integrates land, people, in which everything is interconnected through the maculture, see the lively, short documentary at https:// resources and the environment through penetration and unfolding of existence: “The abode of www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWjcknxZOrQ&t=791s. existence is one, and the whole universe is a big living 23 Shiva, “Swaraj,” 19. ■ mutually beneficial synergies. being. Its dimensions are conjoined with one another In its Islamic appropriation, permac- but not in the sense of the conjunction of measurement

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*May 28-30 College Theology Society and National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion Annual Convention. On File Theme: “Human Families: Identities, Relationships and Responsibilities.” Pope Francis has agreed with a zations, “urgently and respectfully” HELD ONLINE. Register: www.collegeth- recommendation by the Dicastery for implored the commissioner of the eology.org/event-3815401 Laity, the Family and Life to postpone U.S. Food and Drug Administration

June 2-6 by one year the next gatherings of the to ensure any vaccines developed for the coronavirus “are free from National Association for Lay Ministry. World Meeting of Families and World POSTPONED TO JUNE 2021. Youth Day. “Because of the current any connection to abortion. To be health situation and its consequences clear, we strongly support efforts to June 5-7 on the movement and gatherings of develop an effective, safe and widely Society of Catholic Scientists. available vaccine as quickly as pos- POSTPONED TO JUNE 2021. young people and families,” the World Meeting of Families in Rome will be sible,” the leaders said in an April June 7-9 pushed back until June 2022 and World 17 letter to Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, Catholic Health Association of the U.S. Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, will be the FDA commissioner. “However, we Assembly. CANCELED. pushed back until August 2023, the also strongly urge our federal gov-

June 10-12 Vatican announced. Cardinal Kevin ernment to ensure that fundamental U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Farrell, prefect of the dicastery, told moral principles are followed in the Spring General Assembly. CANCELED. Catholic News Service April 20 that development of such vaccines, most now is the time his office would be importantly, the principle that human June 11-14 signing contracts with hotels and air- life is sacred and should never be Catholic Theological Society of America exploited,” they said. Copies of the Annual Convention. CANCELED. lines if the World Meeting of Families were still to be held in 2021, “but no letter were sent to President Donald June 22-25 one knows what will happen,” so it Trump, Vice President Mike Pence European Academy of Religion Annual seemed prudent to push the meeting and Health and Human Services Conference. CANCELED. back a year. The dicastery also would Secretary Alex M. Azar. The text of the June 22-25 not hold two large gatherings during letter was released late April 17 by the Virtual Assembly of the Association of the same summer, so that was one U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. U.S. Catholic Priests WILL TAKE PLACE reason World Youth Day was pushed The chairmen who signed it and their ONLINE. Theme: “Our Catholic Faith in back, he said. The other reason, respective USCCB committees were: the Political World.” Register: https://auscp.org Cardinal Farrell said, is that although Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of people are talking about “returning Kansas City, Kansas, Committee on June 22-25 to normal” and government lead- Pro-Life Activities; Archbishop Paul S. International Conference on Receptive ers are making plans for phasing out Coakley of Oklahoma City, Domestic Ecumenism. POSTPONED TO JUNE Justice and Human Development 30-JULY 3, 2021. lockdowns and reopening businesses, “we do not believe travel will be that Committee; Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades June 22-25 and June 29-July 2 extensive” anytime soon. of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, Notre Dame University’s McGrath Committee on Doctrine; and Bishop Institute for Church Life’s Liturgy Week John F. Doerfler of Marquette, and its Symposium on Teaching Life and The chairmen of four U.S. bish- Human Dignity. CANCELED. ops’ conference committees, joined Michigan, the Subcommittee on

*signifies new entry by the leaders of several health Health Care Issues, which is a sub- care, bioethics and pro-life organi- committee of the doctrine committee.

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