Title: Creation as sacrament : reflections on ecology and spirituality /
Authors: Chryssavgis, John
Year: 2019
Subjects: Creation; Ecology Religious aspects Christianity; Wisdom (Biblical personification); Creation; Ecology Religious aspects Christianity; Wisdom (Biblical personification)
Abstract: John Chryssavgis explores the sacred dimension of the natural environment, and the significance of creation in the rich theological history and spiritual classics of the Orthodox Church, through the lens of its unique ascetical, liturgical and mystical experience. The global ecological crisis affecting humanity's air, water, and land, as well as the planet's flora and fauna, has resulted in manifest fissures on the image of God in creation. Chryssavgis examines, from an Orthodox Christian perspective, the possibility of restoring that shattered image through the sacramental lenses of cosmic transfiguration, cosmic interconnection, and cosmic reconciliation. The viewpoints of early theologians and contemporary thinkers are extensively explored from a theological and spiritual perspective, including countering those who deny that God's creation is in crisis. Presenting a worldview advanced and championed by the Orthodox Church in the modern world, this book encourages personal and societal transformation in making ethical and economic choices that respect creation as sacrament.
Contents: Restoring the shattered image of the world -- Theory and theology -- The lens of grace: reintegrating the sacred and the profane -- Transcendence and immanence: ancient principles for a modern predicament -- The desert is alive: the sayings of the desert fathers and mothers -- Divine Sophia: the wisdom of the word and beauty of the world -- Ecology and mystery: creation as sacrament -- Principles and practices -- On earth as in heaven: cardinal symbols and values -- Living cosmology: creation in faith and science -- Responding to denial and disdain: the devil's advocate, part 1 -- Asking the right questions: the devil's advocate, part 2 -- The Green Patriarch: a contemporary worldview and witness -- The way forward.