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THE PRESENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY THROUGH THE FOUNDATIONAL THEOLOGY OF LOVE, CONTEMPLATION, AND PRAYER IN MID- CENTURY CHRISTIANTIY By Darcy Posselli A Senior Honors Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The University of Utah In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Honors Degree in Bachelors of Arts In Environmental Studies Approved: ___________________ ____________________ Andy Hoffman Dan McCool Supervisor Program Director, Department of Environmental Studies ____________________ _____________________ Leslie Francis Sylvia Torti Department Honors Advisor Dean, Honors College May 2012 ! ! TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii INTRODUCTION 1 PAUL TILLICH 3 THOMAS MERTON AND ERNESTO CARDENAL 16 DENISE LEVERTOV 26 CONCLUSION 36 REFERENCES 39 ""! ! ! ! THE PRESENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY THROUGH THE FOUNDATIONAL THEOLOGY OF LOVE, CONTEMPLATION, AND PRAYER IN MID- CENTURY CHRISTIANITY Darcy Posselli (Andy Hoffman) Department of Environmental Studies University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT. 84112 In the 1968 essay “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis,” Lynn White Jr. makes an argument for what he evaluates as the influence of Christianity on Western culture, which has led to the environmental degradation that marks the 20th century. By looking at a few prominent theologians who were writing around mid 20th century, this paper argues a new perspective of the role of Christianity as a cultural force towards environmental advocacy. The writings of Paul Tillich, Thomas Merton, Ernesto Cardenal, and Denise Levertov are evaluated. For each theologian, the concepts of selfless love toward and contemplative prayer evoked by nature are major themes found in Christianity. Therefore, these thinkers advocate environmental care as a natural aspect of Christianity before and during the beginning of the modern environmental movement. In the paper, these concepts are evaluated through the lens of poetry. The role of poetry is evaluated because a lyrical treatment of the subject points back to the idea that nature evokes prayer, which naturally leads the human heart to self sacrificial love, and out of that love springs the poetry of environmental advocacy. Ultimately, in evaluating the works of the mentioned writers, the paper argues that the environmental crisis should not be viewed through the conception of history that White represents in his paper. Indeed there are several writers and """! ! ! ! advocates of environmental care present in Christianity throughout its history. As such, a linear, cause-and-effect evaluation that puts blame on Christianity is not an entirely valid argument. "#! ! 1 In 1968, Lynn White Jr. wrote the seminal essay, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis.” In the paper, White argues that there was a point in which culture changed so that the beliefs and resulting actions became an environmental menace (White 3). White comes to the logical conclusion that the rise of Christianity is to blame for massive environmental degradation caused by humanity, as Christianity seems to be a driving force in Western culture. In using this logic, White assigns environmental history to a simple, linear progression model. A by-product of the linear view of history is the acceptance of the idea of “turning points”. Turning points can be defined as a single point in time during which the progression of history and culture shifted in a dramatically new direction. In the book “The Turning Points of Environmental History,” editor Frank Uekoetter writes in the introduction that “...the implications of turning points are enormous: they define time frames and chronologies, they highlight certain trends at the expense of others, they provide structure and focus--in short, turning points provide a backbone to narratives that no scholarly study of history can do without (2).” Uekoetter then proceeds to name White’s essay as one of the most famous early studies of turning points in the environmental historical canon. For White, the rise of Christianity was a turning point in environmental history, demarcating the point at which the relationship between nature and humanity seemed to take a turn for the worse. While the stream of thought and connection of phenomenon White presents in the essay seem very logical, there is a lack of complexity. White was seeking answers to a culture incompatible with stewardship. While he was not fixated with placing blame upon Christianity, and therefore sought objectivity as much as is clear, his reasoning fails 2 to take several complexities into account. First, there is a long history of environmentally-minded theologians throughout the history of Christianity. In the paper, White makes mention of Francis of Assisi and no one else. In reality, there is a rich tradition of theologians who advocate for environmental care, from early Christianity to present, ranging from theologians such as St. Augustine to Shane Claiborne. Second, the concept of turning points fails to acknowledge the complexity of the human situation in relation to time. Time cannot be perceived simplistically. In other words, it is not realistic to view time and history as being dramatically affected by a single event. Instead, time is constantly being affected by actions, meaning that most moments in history can be designated as a “turning point.” If every moment of history becomes a turning point, then the power given to a single turning point is not logical. Uekoetter writes, “Early narratives routinely sought to identify a single cause for environmental decline...The search for a single factor that put the environment on a downward slope was bound to prove elusive, and corresponding attempts were regularly defied by the complexity of history (3).” Additionally, the problem of environmental degradation is not solely historical in the Christian view, but also ontological. “Ontological” denotes the idea that the environmental degradation is not solely the product of a choice in time, but the product of the nature of mankind. In other words, since in the Christian belief humanity is sinful, meaning unable to choose what is good and selfless, each person naturally chooses what is beneficial to his or herself. As such, environmental degradation occurs because of the natural and selfish tendency in all of mankind to choose what benefits the individual rather than others. Despite good intentions, humanity consistently marks its history by 3 several moments of self-seeking gain. Therefore, environmental problems are not only a problem of a choice in time, but a problem of the greedy and self-seeking nature of mankind. The question of ontology further adds to the complexity of understanding Christianity's actual role in caring for the environment. White had his heart in the right place. In a time marked by questioning the status quo, White looked around him and pioneered an evaluation of the origin of the poor relationship between humanity and the natural world. However, this paper seeks to engage this widely acclaimed view and question the responsibility it places upon Christianity. In this paper, a small sample of theologians who were also living and working in the mid-20th century are evaluated, as they wrote during the beginning of the modern environmental movement. Paul Tillich, Thomas Merton, Ernesto Cardenal, and Denise Levertov all argue in their body of work that the core beliefs of Christianity advocate for environmental care. Ultimately, according to these theologians, the natural world is valuable in that it was created by God and as such, inspires awe-filled contemplation and prayer, which leads to selfless love solving the ontological problems of self-seeking environmental degradation. Out of this place of contemplation and prayer flows from Christianity the poetry of environmental advocacy and action. Paul Tillich Paul Tillich (1886-1965) was a prominent theologian and professor. He taught philosophy and theology at the universities of Marburg, Dresden, Leipzig, and Frankfurt. He then taught at Union Theological Seminary and Harvard University after it was 4 requested he leave Germany for his views brought him into conflict with Nazism. Tillich published several written works, and remains influential today. Throughout his career, Paul Tillich advocated that problems found in the relationship between humanity and the natural world had existential origins. The fallen nature of humanity marked by greed, selfishness, and apathy, amongst other things, were the point of contention between nature and mankind. This point of view directly contrasts White’s argument that the environmental crisis has historical roots. The roots, Tillich would argue, have to do with the state of being of mankind, rather than a specific historical switch or moment. As environmental issues arise due to the ontological nature of humanity, the answer to preserving and reconciling the relationship between the natural world and humanity is the basic tenant of self-sacrificial love advocated by Christianity. This self-sacrificial love is put toward the natural world because all of creation experienced the fall, displays the Creator’s glory, and will experience redemption alongside humanity, giving it inherent value. What, then, do Paul Tillich’s theological views of estrangement and reconciliation as a means to love have to do with his views of nature? Paul Tillich wrote little on the topic of nature directly, but his opinions of the theology behind man’s relationship to nature is easy to ascertain based on his theological stances. In the essay “Paul Tillich and Ecological Theology,” author Pan-chui Lai attempts to write an opinion for Paul Tillich on ecological theology as a natural extension of the ideas Tillich expresses in his written works. Of particular importance to Lai is the existential philosophical background of Tillich. At this point, Tillich’s cornerstone idea of reconciled love is of utmost importance. In “Paul Tillich and Ecological Theology,” Lai seeks to respond to Lynn 5 White’s “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis.” Tillich himself was interested in the debate that was beginning to surge within Christianity in response to the rise in environmental concern in the culture of the time.

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