This loosely argued manifesto contains some suggestions regarding what the philosophy of religion might become in the twenty-first century. It was written for a brainstorming workshop over a decade ago, and some of the recommendations and predictions it contains have already been partly actualized (that’s why it is now a bit "untimely"). The goal is to sketch three aspects of a salutary “liturgical turn” in philosophy of religion. (Note: “liturgy” here refers very broadly to communal religious service and experience generally, not anything specifically “high church.”) The first involves the attitudes that characterize what I call the “liturgical stance" towards various doctrines. The second focuses on the “vested” propositional objects of those attitudes. The third looks at how those doctrines are represented, evoked, and embodied in liturgical contexts. My untimely rallying-cry is that younger philosophers of religion might do well to set aside debates regarding knowledge and justified belief, just as their elders set aside debates regarding religious language. When we set aside knowledge in this way, we make room for discussions of faith that in turn shed light on neglected but philosophically interesting aspects of lived religious practice.

As proclaimed by the churches, Jesus of Nazareth is the key to unlocking the depth and breadth of the Christian faith. Jesus’s relations to God and to the Holy Spirit ground his potential relation to every human being. As a consequence of his identity, to be unveiled in theology, Christ illuminates a whole set of questions at the frontier of the Creed: among others the openness of human nature to God, the relationship between the human and the divine, the paradox of the singular and the universal, the unity of matter and life, the challenge of hope among historical ordeals. Christ offers a new understanding, not only of the core issues of the Christian faith but also of the present moment of each believer and of what is truly definitive facing God.

In Chapter 9, I discuss the next two chapters of the Itinerarium (Chapters 3 and 4), those that correspond to the second pair of the Seraph’s wings, those around the angel’s body. These represent the vision of God we get from looking at the image we find of God “inside” us in our intellectual powers — those made possible by reason alone (such as memory, understanding, and will) and those infused by grace (such as faith, hope, and love). I show why these two chapters are the most complex and difficult in the entire book.

One of Isaiah’s most forceful messages concerns justice, and the sociopolitical conditions necessary to support it. In “The Ethical and Political Vision of Isaiah,” M. Daniel Carroll R. looks at the fundamental themes and vocabulary of the book’s moral vision and surveys approaches that seek to better understand the socioeconomic injustice and politics it condemns. These sins include the greed and malfeasance of governing elites in ancient Judahite society, systemic socioeconomic abuses of agricultural and trade systems, and decisions leading to catastrophic war. At the same time, this prophetic text looks forward to a messianic age of justice and peace under a Spirit-filled king/servant. In closing, Carroll R. looks at how Isaiah’s ethical messages have been received (and resisted) in the pursuit of justice, peace, and ecology.

The Conclusion draws together the themes of the book, and expands on how the foregoing discussions of art relate to ordinary life and love. Expanding the categories of ‘finding’ and ‘making’ by that of ‘receiving’, it sketches a constructive vision of the theological imagination.

People often assume that to give ourselves a fighting chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change, we need either inspired political leadership, or a moral revolution in society. Both would be nice to have, but there are more plausible ways to make faster progress. They involve thinking differently. We need science that gives us risk assessment instead of prediction; economics that understands change instead of assuming stability; and diplomacy that focusses on international collaboration instead of unilateral national action.

• There are many reasons why it’s important to develop a positive body image, one of which is that by exhibiting positive body image you have the power to start to change how other people think about their bodies.

• Current attractiveness ideals and the cultural focus on our appearance can make it difficult to feel good about your how we look, but it’s important to consider small shifts in your thinking and behaviors that may help to change your life and the lives of others.

• Thinking about issues that are more important than how you look and being engaged with issues that are meaningful to you, can help you become a well-rounded, confident person. By choosing to foster your positive body image you set an example for those around you and help to lead society closer to understanding how important it is for all of us to be accepting and positive about who we are.

Based on earlier empirical research, the main aim of this chapter is to argue for the importance of promoting meaning-focused coping and constructive hope in relation to climate change among young people. We start by describing the role of meaning and positive emotions like hope in the coping process and how meaning-focused coping and constructive hope are interrelated. Thereafter, we describe several aspects of meaning-focused coping in relation to the climate threat and show that this way of coping is associated with both mental well-being and climate change engagement. We also review some studies that demonstrate how collective climate engagement can give hope and meaning to young activists. The chapter also aims to discuss the practical implications of these studies, both for different groups of adults who want to communicate with youth about climate change in a constructive way (like parents and teachers) and for young people themselves. We finish the chapter by emphasizing the need for promoting critical emotional awareness where it is acknowledged that emotions and coping are not solely individual experiences but are also influenced by cultural emotion norms, gender norms, and power. The age groups in focus are adolescents and emerging adults.

This chapter, written for those who work with children and adolescents, summarizes, explains and extends psychoanalytic thinking about young people and climate change. Ambivalence, disavowal, grief, unconscious societal pressures, feelings of betrayal, regression to immature defenses, and interaction of climate concerns with other developmental issues are explored, applying the developmental frameworks of Melanie Klein, Erik Erikson, and Wilfred Bion. Climate change implications within each Eriksonian stage of psychosocial development through young adulthood are described. Specific recommendations are made to promote healthy attachment to the natural world, valuable versions of hope, and alignment with values. The importance of being a “good-enough” “flexible container” in relation to young people is emphasized. Particular considerations in addressing climate change issues with young children and with adolescents are detailed.

Parents and grandparents face unprecedented challenges in supporting their children to survive, cope with and adapt to the impacts of climate change while simultaneously preparing them for the greater negative impacts predicted in the future. This chapter draws on multidisciplinary research in parenting science, child and youth development, and disasters to guide parents in varying contexts. We first discuss how parents and carers can help young people cope with the direct exposure to both sudden and gradual climate disasters and flow-on effects that exacerbate social inequalities. We then discuss how parents can help children manage the emotions that knowledge of climate change can engender, explore parents’ vital role in fostering children’s sense of agency and hope, and highlight ways that parents can support young people’s active engagement. We end by stressing that parents and others with responsibility for raising the next generations should take action at local to national levels to drive the urgent changes needed to prevent climate catastrophe.

This book concludes by reiterating the importance of avoiding grand narratives in research on sustainable development in international law. While each chapter revolves around its unique theme, my adoption of TWAIL helped unite these separate parts to tell a single story on Africa’s intersection with sustainable development’s legal evolution, conceptualisation, and implementation. Even so, this book is more than just writing about sustainable development or Africa as it deeply explores how international law should evolve, going forward. Finally, I end this book by drawing on TWAIL’s hopeful agenda by foreshadowing my future research interests in re-reading the law and politics of ecological crises as everyday occurrences and not as episodic events in international law.