Tongues and Trees: Towards a Green Pentecostal Pneumatology by AARON JASON SWOBODA A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham July 2011 1 ABSTRACT This thesis develops a Pentecostal ecotheology by utilizing key pneumatological themes that emerge from the Pentecostal tradition. It examines and utilizes the salient Pentecostal and Charismatic voices that have stimulated ecotheology in the Pentecostal tradition and situates them within the broader context of Christian ecumenical ecotheologies (Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Ecofeminist). These Pentecostal expressions are placed in dialogue with the particular ecological pneumatologies of Denis Edwards (Roman Catholic), Mark Wallace (Protestant), and Sallie McFague (Ecofeminist). The thesis advances a novel approach to Pentecostal ecotheology through a pneumatology of the Spirit baptized creation, the charismatic creational community, the holistic ecological Spirit, and the eschatological Spirit of ecological mission. Significantly, this thesis is the first substantive contribution to a Pentecostal pneumatological theology of creation with a particular focus on the Pentecostal community and its significance for the broader ecumenical community. Furthermore, it offers a fresh theological approach to imagining and sustaining earth-friendly practice in the twenty-first century Pentecostal church. 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Before continuing, some long-standing personal debts must be paid. Quinn, the most beautiful, loving, and compassionate wife any human could ask for: thank you! I love you endlessly. Your continual willingness to allow me time and space to complete this and other outlandish projects can never be repaid. As we started, let’s keep holding hands to glory. Our unborn child. Thank you for surprising us when you did. Ultimately, you are forcing me to finish this dissertation. If you had never come, I’m unconvinced I’d have ever finished. Mom, Dad, Mike, and Metta. Thanks for being the best sets of parents a kid could ask for this side of heaven. You have provided love, meals, educational funding, gas money, and endless patience. I love each of you dearly. Theophilus, the church I claim the joy of pastoring. You give me hope. Dr. Mark Cartledge. You are awesome! No one could ask for a more genuine and honest example to follow in this endeavor. Your encouraging rear-kicking has made me who I am today. And to Joan and Becky, thanks for the curry. Dr. Allan Anderson showed me the green hills just outside Birmingham. Loved getting lost with you. Finally, Dr. Andrew Davies graciously read this thesis in the latter stages and offered the most valuable of comments. The faculty at George Fox Evangelical Seminary. While continuing to remain in strong fellowship with many Pentecostal academics outside my local context, I weekly teach alongside a community of the most Spirit-led, non-Pentecostal scholars in academia at George Fox. You have made room for me and given much space for me to exist and practice as a young scholar. Thank you to this open-minded, gracious, patient, and loving faculty. In particular, Dr. Mary-Kate Morse and Dr. Dan Brunner have given me personal and academic guidance around every corner and have poured into me a passion for teaching, learning, and Christ-centered education. Loren Kerns conned me into the academic life, Nate Poetzl instilled in me a love for the Bible, and Steve Overman gave me space to work on this thesis while serving at Eugene Faith Center. Each of you opened my eyes. Thank you. I owe you so much. To the saints of the faith, both dead and living. As a Christian, a purist objectivism is not something I have right to claim. To deny that my Christian experience has not shaped with certainty everything I think and write is hubris in the highest degree. For, as one once told me, there is no view from nowhere. Thank you to the church for sticking to the notion that has revolutionized my life: the gospel. Father, Son, and Spirit. You not only gave me fingers to type, but life to live. Soli Deo Gloria. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................3 TABLE OF CONTENTS..................................................................................................4 ABBREVIATIONS ...........................................................................................................6 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION—VOICES IN THE WILDERNESS ...........................9 1.1 The Ecology and Ecotheology Movements ............................................................11 1.2 Purpose of Project ...................................................................................................19 1.3 Methodology, Definitions, and Terminology..........................................................29 1.4 Outline of Project ....................................................................................................35 Chapter 2: THE GREEN SCENE—ECOTHEOLOGY IN CONTEXT ...................37 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................38 2.2 Roman Catholic Ecotheology..................................................................................49 2.3 Orthodox Ecotheology ............................................................................................70 2.4 Protestant Ecotheology............................................................................................76 2.5 Ecofeminist Ecotheology ........................................................................................88 2.6 Summary .................................................................................................................94 Chapter 3: ECOGLOSSOLALIA—THE TONGUES OF A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY PENTECOSTAL ECOTHEOLOGY .......................................................95 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................96 3.2 The Tongues of Twenty-First Century Pentecostal Ecotheology .........................104 3.2.1 Charismatic Social Justice..............................................................................104 3.2.2 PC Spirit/Creation Approaches ......................................................................121 3.2.3 Pentecostal Ecotheologies..............................................................................142 3.3 Summary ...............................................................................................................147 Chapter 4: THE SPIRIT CLIMATE—RECENT ECOPNEUMATOLOGICAL PARADIGMS ................................................................................................................158 4.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................158 4.2 Denis Edwards’s “Biocentric Spirit”.....................................................................160 4.3 Sallie McFague’s “Hopeful Spirit” .......................................................................177 4.4 Mark Wallace’s “Wounded Spirit” .......................................................................187 4.5 Summary and Reflection.......................................................................................203 4.5.1 Reflecting on Denis Edwards’s “Biocentric Spirit”.......................................204 4.5.2 Reflecting on Sallie McFague’s “Hopeful Spirit”..........................................209 4.5.3 Reflecting on Mark Wallace’s “Wounded Spirit”..........................................214 Chapter 5: GEOGRAPHY OF THE SPIRIT—CENTRAL THEMES IN PENTECOSTAL PNEUMATOLOGY.......................................................................217 5.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................217 5.2 Spirit Baptism........................................................................................................227 5.3 The Spirit of Charismatic Community..................................................................246 4 5.4 The Holistic Spirit .................................................................................................255 5.5 The Spirit of Eschatological Mission....................................................................263 5.6 Summary ...............................................................................................................272 Chapter 6: TONGUES AND TREES—TOWARDS A GREEN PENTECOSTAL PNEUMATOLOGY......................................................................................................273 6.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................273 6.2 The Spirit Baptized Creation.................................................................................275 6.3 The Charismatic Community of Creation .............................................................291 6.4 The Holistic Spirit of Creation..............................................................................310 6.5 The Eschatological Spirit of Ecological Mission..................................................321 6.6 Summary ...............................................................................................................335