7 - The worldly Christ: common nature

Summary

Reconstructing a political theology of nature: theological holism

In this part, we come to the last movement in the dialectical passage of this study: the dynamic yet critical articulation of Christian theology and political ecology culminates in a Trinitarian reading of un/natural humanity oriented towards the triune God. This chapter offers a theological grounding of the key concepts of sociality, temporality and spatiality: that is, a Christological ecosocial ontology. In chapter 8, the discussion moves into pneumatology. As the operation of the Word is always with the Spirit, I develop the transcendental of openness by seeking to explore how the ecological relations given determinate content in this chapter are to be construed as dynamically drawn towards and oriented towards fellowship. An ecosocial ontology, in other words, is always directed either towards the greater richness or intensity of community or towards patterns of alienation, fragmentation and breakdown. Lastly, I hold to the view that Christianity is not best understood as a set of beliefs but instead as a way of life, and thereby as participation in the community of disciples. Thus, in chapter 9, I discuss, as one way of completing a political theology of nature, participation in the eucharist as the principal political resource that Christianity offers in and for an ecological age. Throughout, I shall indicate how the adventure in political ecology of the previous four chapters clarifies the theological eco-anthropology proposed in this part and assists in the development of a political theology of nature.