Beyond Biblical Stewardship (Dr. Matthew Riley)
Summary of talk: In the 50 years following Lynn Townsend White, Jr.’s critique of biblical dominion in “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis” in 1967, Christian communities have vigorously taken up the call to be good stewards of the environment. However, just two months after the publication of “Historical Roots,” White was already expressing doubts about biblical stewardship, which he referred to as “enlightened despotism.” In this paper, I explore White’s understanding of proposed alternative interpretation of the biblical texts, which he described as a “spiritual democracy of all God’s creatures.”
Dr. Matthew T. Riley is a Lecturer in Christianity and Ecology at Yale Divinity School and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental studies where he teaches courses on the subject of religion and ecology, animal ethics, and environmental ethics.
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