The triune God and climate change

Does the Christian understanding of God as Trinity have anything to contribute to a twenty-first-century response to climate change? Many would see Trinitarian theology as a particularly speculative and obscure aspect of Christian faith, with no practical significance for the urgent issues facing the planetary community in the Anthropocene. Others find the Trinitarian language of Father and Son and Spirit as contributing to and reinforcing both sexism and anthropocentrism, and question its usefulness for a renewed theology of the natural world. For those who embrace evolutionary science, the concept of the Trinity can seem static, disengaged and otherworldly. For those committed to ecology, the doctrine of the Trinity can seem part of a religious cultural world that reinforces the idea that the planet is simply there for human exploitation.

In this essay, I will attempt to take account of these issues, and to propose that the theology of God as Trinity can offer vision, motivation and inspiration for Christians in addressing anthropogenic climate change. In making such a proposal, I see it as imperative that in responding to this issue Christians cooperate humbly and respectfully with those from various religious backgrounds and with those who profess no religious beliefs. But if Christian believers are to respond to the climate crisis from the deepest level of their being, it will involve a theological connection between the climate and their faith in God. Exploring this connection can be seen not simply as an in-house foundation for Christian participation in climate action, absolutely essential as this is, but also as a public theological act. It can offer a basis for genuine dialogue concerning the community of life on Earth between Christians and those of other faith traditions, such as Islam, Buddhism or Indigenous religions, and with those who do not identify with religious faith.

Copyright © Denis Edwards

All rights reserved. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without prior permission in writing from the publishers.