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Biographical Notes
Virginia Sharp

What has been the Church's attitude to creation, how has the doctrine developed; where and why has it failed in its responsibility towards creation and what solutions are being proposed? The purpose of this book-list is to gather together a selection of recent writings to form a brief introduction to the Christian doctrine of creation, Christian attitudes to nature, and to indicate what opinions in the Churches are being voiced today about mans' responsibility to nature.

Some recent bibliographies on the subject should be mentioned first. G. Bauer's bibliography on "Theology and Development: a Systematic Bibliography" (pp. 289346) forms the final chapter of Theology Meets Progress; Human Implications of Development, edited by P. Land (Rome, Gregorian University Press, 1971). It consists of several hundred titles in different languages. A selection of periodicals relating to the topic is listed in Foi et Vie of October 1974 as part of a brief un-annotated list on "Nature, environnment, ecologie" (pp. 189-191) and Foi et Vie of April 1977 carries two select lists by E. Kressman and T. Monod with books and periodical articles by theologians and scientists in various languages. Both are well annotated and Monod's is further developed into a bibliographical article: "L'autre dimension de l'ecologie" (pp. 169-188).

The Catholic doctrine of creation is presented by R. Guelluy in La Creation (Tournai, Desclee et Cie., 1963). In a historical and systematic study he traces the development of the doctrine through scripture, the early Church and Church documents. An overall view of Catholic theology, the reasons why Christian doctrine of creation has been neglected and why it is limited, is given by R. Butterworth in The Theology of Creation, (Notre Dame, Fides, 1969). A major doctrinal inadequacy has been in the separation between creation and salvation, as creation is the first step in God's saving the world. Man must see and enter into God's own point of view for his plan of the world.

A great contribution to the theology of creation and of man's responsibility to and place in it is Teilhard de Chardin (Le phenomene humain, 1955; Le milieu divin, 1967). Teilhard sees limitations in the theology of creation that only stresses God's goodness and the goodness of all things, as detracting from the value of man's effort of progress in the world. Man is called to cooperate with God in his creative activity; in reaction to this limited theology Teilhard rethinks the idea of creation. A coherent summary of his thought is presented by R. Faricy in his study Teilhard de Chardin's Theology of the Christian in the World (New York, Sheed and Ward, 1967) with bibliography. A theology of Christian involvement in the world inspired by Teilhard's thought is presented by the same author in Building God's World (New Jersey, Dimension Books, 1976). The theology of creation is fundamental for Christian life and man's involvement in the world; and in his article "Matter and Holiness" The Teilhard Review (Vol. X, No. 2, June 1975, pp. 34-40) the same author shows the development of Teilhard's spiritual doctrine with special reference to "Note on the Idea of Christian Perfection". (1942 in Les directions de l'avenir, Paris, Seuil, 1973, p. 113-117): nature is not static but grows and develops; the emphasis is on man's insertion into the material world. Teilhard's vision is also presented by N.M. Wildiers in Teilhard de Chardin (Paris, Editions Universitaires, 1960). He sees a great unity in Teilhard's seemingly eclectic and chaotic activity; the nucleus of his spiritual life is in two concepts, God and the Universe, which form the central axis of his theology. The above authors do not see previous theology of creation as mistaken but as inadequate for today. They stress the continuous reformulation of Christian truths in the light of the development of human culture.

The consequence of an unbalanced selection of scripture for interpretation is shown by W. Brueggemann in his article "The Triumphalist Tendency in Exegetical History", Journal of the American Academy of Religion (Vol. XXXVIII, No. 4, 1970, pp. 367-380 especially the section "Creation Theology and Responsibility" pp. 373375). The Church has neglected the creation tradition in Genesis 1-2, the Psalms and second Isaiah. The Church was so committed to salvation theology that it neglected to affirm man's potentiality for being responsible and effective in caring for creation. The author urges the Church to consider seriously those parts of Scripture which relate to the world now: the Wisdom-CreationRoyal tradition.

Foi et Vie dedicates the entire issue of October 1974 to "Ecologie et theologie", with contributions by twelve authors dealing with the fundamental theological problem of man's place in, and rights regarding creation. The articles are arranged in two sections: the first concerns the ecological position and the second seeks answers from the Biblical and theological point of view. Two contributions are of special interest, W.A. Visser't Hoof t in "Materiaux bibliques pour l'elaboration d'une theologie de la nature" (pp. 96-107) stresses man's responsibility towards creation. Man's role is that of administrator rather than proprietor, as the true proprietor is God. He sees the Christian fault not as springing from a wrong doctrine but from not hearing and transmitting all the substance of Biblical Kerygma concerning creation. A. Martin in "Une reflexion theologique sur l'ecologie" (pp. 171-175) would like to see a theology of ecology on similar lines as the theology of revolution and liberation.

C. Birch, a biologist, shows in his article "Creation, technologie et survie de l'homme", Le christianisme au XXe siecle (No. 14, 5 avril 1976 pp. 6-8 and No. 15, 12 April, 1976, pp. 6-8) the results of man's failure to "replenish the earth". He sees a bad theology in regarding plants and animals purely in terms of their usefulness. There is confusion about the relationship of man to nature in the technological culture. It is necessary to re-think the theology of nature and to re-interpret the relationship between man and creation. Birch sees the liberation of nature and the liberation of man as inseparable.

J. Navone in "Christian Responsibility for the Environment", American Ecclesiastical Review (Vol. 169, No. 10, December 1975, p. 681-689) draws attention to two Church documents, The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity (1965) and The Church and Human Rights (1975) by the Pontifical Commission of Justice and Peace. Although they show concern for basic human rights and needs, positive mention of the quality of the environment, the problems of ecology and man's need for a sound relationship with nature is missing; concern is only implied. The author looks at several recent studies on the environment emphasising specific areas where theological reflection for Christian responsibility for nature and environment is necessary. Man's failure towards nature is again shown up by A. Dumas in "Crise ecologique et doctrine de la creation", Recherches de Science Religieuse (October - December 1974, vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 563-578).

The ecological crisispresents man with choices that must be made in favour of survival's sake and Dumas feels that the doctrine of creation must be reinterpreted as the confession of our faith. C. De Celles, "Ecology: A Theological Perspective", The American Benedictine Review, March 1974, Vol. XXV, No. 1, pp. 75-95, blames the disaster onto man's predatory spirit rather than on science and technology, and his answer to the problem is that man must treat nature as God treats it: it must be respected for its own sake as all things are good. The Christian must work as a responsible steward. He takes St. Francis as an example of one who saw a value in all created things as the Biblical and Jewish tradition does.

A renewed love and responsibility for creation and regard for its goodness is called for by C. Derrick in The Delicate Creation: Towards a Theology of the Environment (Connecticut, Devin-Adair, 1972). Like De Celles he stresses the tenderness and fragility of creation. The need for repentance and a change of attitude towards nature in terms of respect towards it is stressed in Man and Nature, edited by H. Montefiore (London, Collins, 1975). As in Birch's article above, attitudes towards nature are linked with attitudes towards man. In the work Theology Meets Progress (above) theology is related to the social sciences. Here the need of the Gospels being rooted in real life through the disciplines of economics, politics and sociology is emphasised.

Finally two works by Barbara Ward must be cited: Only One Earth, B. Ward and R. Dubois, (Middlesex, Penguin, 1972) and A New Creation (Rome, 1973), both of which have become classics in this field. The latter, commissioned by the Pontificial Commission Justice and Peace, is a commentary on the Document of the 1971 Synod of Bishops `Justice in the World". Man is called to be co-creator with God to build the world and the author underlines the importance of using science as a responsible tool in the stewardship of the earth. Only One Earth is an unofficial report which B. Ward and R. Dubois were commissioned to make by the Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. The authors emphasise the importance of knowing the ecological position and accepting collective responsibility for discovering more about the natural system and how man's activities affect it, so as to avoid the disastrous effects caused by man's untimely interference.