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An Ecological Model of the Trinity Within The New Cosmology

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An Ecological Model of the Trinity Within The New Cosmology
An Ecological Model of the Trinity
Within The New Cosmology

Advancement of modern technology and scientific discovery, as well as the sociological developments of the past century, has changed the way humanity relates to the world. Human culture, particularly American culture, has developed a predominant world-view of earth’s resources and human relationships as things to be used and manipulated for personal gain. Scientists are warning with increasing urgency that the survival of the planet is at risk. Global warming caused by depletion of the ozone layer is negatively affecting climate change and the polar ice caps are melting at previously unimagined rates. Pollution, deforestation, manipulation and indiscriminate consumption of the planet’s natural resources have also contributed to an ecological crisis. Much of the environmental destruction can be directly connected to exploitation of people and cultures by business and industry for purposes of economic gain.
Science alone cannot persuade the human community to make the swift and pervasive changes needed to begin repairing damage done to the earth. Human consciousness must begin to understand the interrelatedness of people and ecological systems that sustain life on the planet. The injury done in the name of scientific and economic progress can begin to be mitigated by a response from communities of faith. Contemporary ecological theology establishing creation as a revelation of the divine is a starting point for promoting the need for reconstruction of environmental and cultural systems. Humanity needs more than ever to discover the direct relationship of God’s intimate relationship with the universe as well as God’s being in intimate relationship with the individuals. Collaboration of current theological and scientific philosophies can help reveal a God “so intimately present in the world that the world can be regarded as an incarnate expression of the Trinity, as creative, as



Bibliography: Boff, Leonardo. Holy Trinity, Perfect Community. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2000. Bruteau, Beatrice. God’s Ecstasy: The Creation of a Self-Creating World. New York: The Crossroads Publishing Company, 1997. Downey, Michael. Altogether Gift: A Trinitarian Spirituality. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2000. ______. The God Of Evolution. New York: Paulist Press, 1999. Fatula, Mary Ann, OP. The Triune God of Christian Faith. Collegeville, Minnesota: Herder and Herder, 1970. ________. The Holy Spirit: Unbounded Gift of Joy. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1998. Foley, Edward and Schreiter, Robert, ed. The Wisdom Of Creation. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2004. Gottlieb, Roger S. ed., This Sacred Earth: Religion, Culture, Environment. New York: Routledge, 1996. Hunt, Ann. What Are They Saying About The Trinity? New York: Paulist Press, 1998. Johnson, Elizabeth A. She Who Is. New York: Crossroad, 1992. LaCugna, Catherine Mowry, ed. Freeing Theology: The Essentials of Theology In Feminist Perspective. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993. ________. God For Us: The Trinity & Christian Life. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1973. McFague, Sallie. The Body Of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993. Metzger, Bruce M. and Murphy, Roland E. editors. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. O’Collins, Gerald, S.J. The Tripersonal God: Understanding and Interpreting the Trinity. New York: Paulist Press, 1999. Rahner, Karl, S.J. The Trinity. Translated by Joseph Donceel. New York: Herder And The Liturgical Press, 1990. ________. Opportunities For Faith: Elements of a Modern Spirituality. Translated by Edward Quinn. New York: The Seabury Press, 1970. ________. The Christian Commitment: Essays in Pastoral Theology. Translated by Cecily Hastings. New York: Sheed And Ward, 1963. Preliminary Text, 2003 Zizioulas, John Orthodox Congress given in October, 1993.) Reprinted from Orthodox Peace Fellowship’s Occasional Paper nr. 19, summer 1994. http://www.incommunion.org/Met-john.html/

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