Searching for a Biblical Worldview: From an Ecofeminist Theological Perspective

Abstract

The paper draws from my doctoral thesis (Sahinidou I., 2014). I make my case for an Christological perichoresis as an evolutionary step further in the direction of ecofeminist theology. God is present in all things by virtue of their being created. A few discussed paradigms by theologians help us see whether a non-anthropocentric biblical view, counter to dominion could be possible. If Gen. 1.26-28 is isolated, we may think that dominion is the normative biblical orientation for human-earth relations (Rasmussen, 2000). Yet, a theology of creation must be situated within the context of the entire Bible.

A holistic theology realizes that together with all beings, we must live responsibly. This perspective can evoke the religious sense that every being is valuable and that the whole forms a unity. A retrieved biblical, patristic, ecological view of the scheme of things and our place in it can be a call for us to know the world neither anthropocentrically, nor as isolated beings, but displace humans as the central goal of creation and re-position them as partners in its process. New science helps us realize our cosmic interrelated being and a sense of the whole (Eaton, 2005).The paper was presented during the Conference: ECOTHEE June 2015, Orthodox Academy of Crete.