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In this contribution, some salient insights emerging from multi-disciplinary discourse on the so-called Anthropocene are noted. These touch briefly on stratigraphical markers, on disturbances in the Earth system, on dating the “Anthropocene”, on identifying its root causes, on naming the “Anthropocene” as such, on assessing the “Anthropocene”, and concomitant responses to the “Anthropocene”. In response, four clusters of challenges posed by such discourse on the “Anthropocene” to Christianity and Christian theology in particular are identified and outlined, namely 1) the critique of Christianity as complicit in the root causes of the “Anthropocene”, 2) Christian critiques of the “Anthropocene” and of naming it as such; 3) prospects for constructive Christian responses to the “Anthropocene” for the sake of the common good (stability in the Earth system); and 4) prospects for constructive responses to the “Anthropocene” for the sake of Christian authenticity. This yields the conclusion that, in the “Anthropocene”, Christians need to acknowledge that (some) humans have become a geological force of nature but also that it should now be more clear than ever before that humans cannot save themselves from self-destruction. Keywords: Anthropocene, Christian authenticity, Common good, Constructive theology, Earth system science, Ecological reformation, Human uniqueness, Human sin

This contribution offers a description of the tasks of Christian ecotheology both from a de facto and from a de iure perspective. It suggests that this entails both a twofold critique and a twofold constructive task, i.e. an ecological critique of Christianity and a Christian critique of ecological destruction, a constructive contribution to Christian authenticity and on that basis to multi-disciplinary discourse on ecological concerns in the public sphere. This is unpacked in subsequent sections, holding these dual tasks together through the notion of an ecological reformation and the tension between vision and discernment. It is suggested that a constructive contribution to Christian authenticity is indeed theologically crucial, namely, to discern the movements of the Spirit, now amidst the advent of the Anthropocene. This contribution raises but does not address the theological question as to what God is up to in a time like this.

CITATION: Conradie, E. M. 1992. The powers and limits of pluralism in theology. Scriptura, 40:40-64, doi:10.7833/40-0-1684.

CITATION: Conradie, E. M. 1993. How should a public way of doing theology be approached?. Scriptura, 46:24-49, doi:10.7833/46-0-1637

To discuss ‘green’ issues in Christian theology can no longer be regarded as something rather novel to do. The vast amount of literature included in this bibliography gives a sobering indication of exactly how much energy has been used (and paper has been spent) in the past two decades on writing theological essays and books on environmental issues. It is, of course, important to ask what this huge theological effort has achieved thus far. In the light of a growing ecological crisis, it seems all too obvious that something needs to be done. It is actually often one of the problems of theological discussions on environmental issues that the imperative ‘to do something’ is merely and continuously reiterated. In this contribution a brief attempt is made to indicate some trends in the current debates on ecology within Christian theology, to assess what has been achieved, and to stimulate specifically directed further research. The attached bibliography and index may provide some valuable material for this purpose.

This bibliography on Christian theology and ecology provides additional material to an indexed bibliography published previously in Scriptura (September 1993, 47, 52-104). Some features of the new bibliography are explained briefly in Part I of this article.

Part 2 of this article continues the discussion on the ecclesiological signifiacnce of the ecumenical root metaphor of the "whole household of God". It explores the place and mission of the church within God's household in critical dialogue with Dietrich Bonhoeffer's notion of sanctorum communion, Karl Barth's distinction between Christusgemeinde und Burgergemeinde and select contributions to ecclesiology in the context of African theology. The arguement of both parts of the article is that a Christological concentration may help the church to retrieve its distinctive place within the household of God.

In ecumenical discourse the "whole household of God" has emerged as a new theological root metaphor. This metaphor integrates especially three ecumenical themes (based on the Greek root "oikos"), namely the quests for economic justice, ecological sustainability and ecumenical fellowship. The metaphor may be used to refer to the family's household, the feloowship of churches, but also to a "wider ecumenicity" (the unity of humankind) and to the earth as God's house within which we live.

This article builds on a review essay on the Earth Bible project (Scriptura 85, 125133). It defends the creative role, indeed the necessity and inevitability of doctrine in biblical exegesis. It argues that the Earth Bible project assumes its own set of doctrinal presuppositions, that this forms the very core of its critical and creative impulse and that such presuppositions should be recognised and subjected to further critical reflection. This can provide a meeting place where mutually critical collaboration between biblical hermeneutics and constructive theology can become possible.

In an earlier contribution on the use of the term ‘worldview’ in various theological discourses I commented on the confusing connotations attached to the term in neo-Calvinism, the sociology of knowledge, African theology, ‘science and theology’ and ‘religion and ecology’. 1 This contribution builds on that earlier one by raising the question whether the category of ‘worldviews’ can perhaps help to hold together the categories of evolution and religion – while doing justice also to an ecological awareness. 2 The conclusion is a negative one, namely that this is unlikely, given the conceptual confusion over what a ‘worldview’ entails. Nevertheless, it at least indicates the terrain where contestation takes place.

This contribution offers some critical reflections on the Diagnostic Overview produced by the South African National Planning Commission. The argument is structured in the form of catena and commentary with main sections devoted to the assumption of the need for economic growth, factors inhibiting economic growth, the category of unemployability, and the impact of inequalities. It is suggested that Christian discourse on sin, understood as a form of social diagnostics, can contri-bute to an in-depth diagnosis by uncovering the root causes of the problem from an ultimate perspective.

This essay explores the question whether and if so what contribution Christian systematic theology can make to contemporary discourse on sustainability and more specifically ‘ entangled sustainabilities ’ . It acknowledges that any such contribution would be deeply contested. It nevertheless suggests that one such contribution can lie in a critique of the underlying assumptions of discourse on sustainability and specifically any claims for ultimacy regarding whether, how and what it is that is supposed to be sustained. This critique is complemented by a constructive response on the basis of three classic aspects of faith in God ’ s providence. Accordingly, it is God ’ s mercy and therefore God ’ s justice that nourishes and sustains us. This cannot be taken for granted though, as it depends upon a reading of the signs of the time, in rapidly changing circumstances. Any hope to find something that could endure and be sustained forever may well be heretical.

What do we do when we eat? In the first part of this contribution it is observed that this question is surprisingly seldom addressed in philosophical, ethical and theological literature in such a way that the evolutionary rootedness of human eating, the role of predation and the necessity of death in any form of eating are addressed. A crude typology of interpretations of the act of eating is offered on the basis of concepts such as survival, human (male) supremacy, asceticism, hedonistic consumption and conspicuous consumption. It is argued that all of these positions remain unsatisfactory in the sense that they cannot do justice simultaneously to scientific, ecological, cultural, ethical and theological considerations. The under-lying problem is that the need for predation is either employed as a point of departure or minimised, if not avoided or denied.

This article explores the ways in which the term ‘worldview’ is used in five distinct contexts that shape the study of religion and also of Christian theology, namely neo-Calvinism, the sociology of knowledge, discourse on religion and ecology, discourse on science and theology and African Traditional Religion. One text by one author is selected in each case to describe the distinct ways in which the term is used. This description suggests that the term is used in theological debates with very different connotations and also with very little cross-referencing – this can only cause confusion. On this basis a modest proposal is made as to what the notion of a worldview could entail, at least in the context of theological discourse.

This article consists of three distinct parts. The first part offers a number of observations on land as a lens to interpret economic inequalities in South Africa. The second part extrapolates such observations to explore the ecological dimensions of urban land reform with specific reference to the ongoing service delivery protests over sanitation (dubbed ‘poo protesting’) as reported in the media and more specifically in the Cape Times. The third part offers some theological and ethical reflections on the human need for sanitation as a form of internal critique of the engagement with such service delivery protests by the so-called ‘Concerned Citizens Group’ in which the author was involved.

This contribution observes a Trinitarian logic in the theme of ‘Land, Liturgy and Life’ addressed at the 2013 annual meeting of the Theological Society of South Africa. The Trinitarian mystery needs to be protected with the doxological language of the liturgy. In this contribution I will offer an overture (or prolegomena) to such a doxology, by weaving together four themes pertaining to the nature of the Christian confession of faith in the triune God. In a rather unreformed move I will give a certain priority to seeing instead of hearing and suggest a) that the Christian confession offers a way of seeing the world, b) that it sees the world (the land) as the beloved household of God, c) that this is best understood as a liturgical vision and d) that it is this vision that enables the resurrection of life.