Glenda B. Claborne
Soc 500b
April 26, 1999
Schaeffer, F. A. (1968). The God Who is There: Speaking historic Christianity into the twentieth century. Downer's Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press [Pls. note that this book is not one of the assigned readings for this class. This is the last paper for Soc 500b and we were free to introduce other concepts in restructuring the models we have learned previously in class.]
A theological restructuring of the social and the deep ecology models as causal models for environmental change.
This paper introduces a theological model of the relationship between God, man, other life forms, and non-living things to restructure the social and deep ecology models for environmental change presented in Bergesen's articles. This theological model is derived from the work of Francis Schaeffer, a Christian theologian who sought to communicate historic, biblical Christianity into the twentieth century through an understanding of the dilemmas of modern man as expressed in philosophy, art, music and literature, general culture and theology. This model challenges the anthropocentric assumptions of the social model and the biocentric assumptions of the deep ecology model by its fundamental assumption that the initial and ultimate basis for social and ecological order is the personal, infinite God who is there. Based on the personal and infinite character of this God, Schaeffer (1968:94) gives the following diagram of the relationship between God's creation to himself and to itself:
Schaeffer explains that "on the side of God's infinity, there is a break between God and the whole of his creation." Man is as separated from God in the area of His being the Creator and infinite and man being the creature and finite, as is a rock or a raccoon. Man is no closer to God on the side of His infinity than the machine. However, "on the side of God's personality, the break comes between man and the rest of creation." Man's only relation to other living forms and non-living forms is in the areas of Being and creaturehood. But in the area of personality, man's relationship is upward to God.
The ontological divides in the above diagram are in contrast to the key assumption of the deep ecology model that there is no fundamental ontological divide between species and to the implicit pantheistic notion of nature as an extension of the essence of God. The theological model asserts that "a personal God created all things freely in a non-determinate fashion; and man is created in a special situation." All species are equal in the areas of Being and creaturehood and all are external to God's Being. But because man is specially made in the image of a personal God, man as a personal being is given special place in relation to the Creator.
The notion that personality is intrinsic to what man is because he is made in the image of a personal God on the high order of Trinity challenges the humanocentric assumption of the social model that man can proceed entirely on his own and be able to change his social and natural worlds. The theological model asserts that humanity's efforts towards change can be meaningful only if man acknowledges that love and communication have meaning because before the creation of anything, there was real love and communication within the Trinity.
In the theological model, ontological divides are not barriers to a deeper ecological consciousness nor do they speak of domination of God over man, of man over man, or of man over nature. The God who is there has demonstrated through time and space, in history, that He is a God who can ask Job where man is when the foundations of the earth were laid but who also speaks of knowing every man while he is in his mother's womb or of knowing every strand of a person's hair. If man acknowledges his place in relation to God and to other creatures, there is no reason for man to think he can proceed from himself alone and be able to dominate nature, including his natural instincts. On the contrary, a deep sense of humility and of responsibility about one's place in the universe fills a person who acknowledges that he is a creature like any other but also one that is made in the image of God. A full realization that one is made in the image of a loving and personal God is the spring for a true sense of self-respect and respect for others. There is meaning in loving others and communicating to them because we are all made in the image of a loving and communicating God. There is meaning in being compassionate to other living forms because they are made to feel pain by a God who intended all of his creation to live in peace and harmony.
We can then restructure the social and deep ecology models to reflect God as the ultimate source and bracket for social order and moral eco-community thus:
