4.1 The sacramentality of creation and ethical imperative to venerate

The belief that the faithful can experience God’s presence in the physical world and discern some attributes of God through the world permeates the Bible. Eminent Christian theologians reflected on biblical texts during the patristic and medieval periods and early scientists reflected on their discoveries to express a shared faith that the visible world manifests the invisible God.

4.2 The goodness of creation and ethical imperative to value

The creation story in the first chapter of the book of Genesis has stimulated centuries of theological reflection on the goodness of creation. In this story, God is depicted as creating and declaring each type of creature as ‘good’, and the totality of creation as ‘very good’. Other biblical passages have enriched discussions of the goodness of God’s creation, including Psalms 103 and 104, Sirach 39:12–35, and 1 Tim 4:4. Also highly important for Christianity is the assumption of creation’s goodness in the prologue to the Gospel of John and in Col 1:15–20 wherein the Word of God – Jesus the Christ – has been integral to the world’s creation from its beginning and is vital for human redemption.

After early Christians defended and clarified their belief in one uncreated God who created the universe (Athenagoras 1885; Irenaeus 1885) and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed solidified belief in three persons in one God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), theologians wrote more explicitly about the goodness of creation. The context of their teachings and the nuances of their reflections varied: some theologians responded to contemporary heresies; others commented on the Genesis 1 story of creation and God’s valuing creatures; and some wove their understanding of the goodness of creation into systematic treatments of God’s relation to the world. All shared a faith perspective that is profoundly monotheistic: God is the creator of all natural beings that constitute the universe; each animate and inanimate entity has a God-given nature and purpose in itself and in relation to others that constitute an orderly creation; the entire universe is utterly dependent upon God for its existence; and human creatures are responsible to God for how they function in the world of many different creatures. These theologians also shared a non-evolutionary worldview in which all living and inanimate creatures were created with specific natures and established in an orderly relationship to function as God intended.

Christian theologians writing from this pre-scientific understanding of the world discouraged complaining about any aspect of God’s creation. Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313–386) cautioned against finding fault with the sun, fire, rain, snow, hail, wild beasts, snakes, scorpions, and darkness God created and instead urged wondering about them and trying to understand their purposes within God’s awesome creation (Cyril 1984). John Chrysostom (c. 347–407) pointed to the goodness of all creatures, including those that are harmful to humans, and warned against disparaging any as ‘arrogant folly’ and ingratitude to God (Homilies on Genesis 1–17 10.12; Chrysostom 1986: 135–137). Augustine (354–430) observed that humans who are displeased by the natural state or behaviour of creatures and experience discomfort from them are thinking only about themselves and how they are affected personally, whereas they should be recognizing the nature of creatures in themselves ‘without regard to our convenience or inconvenience’ (City of God 12.4; Augustine 1972: 475). From his faith perspective, ‘all nature’s substances are good, because they exist and therefore have their own mode and kind of being, and, in their fashion, a peace and harmony among themselves [...] in the orderly scheme of nature’ that God made and sustains in existence (City of God 12.4; Augustine 1972: 476). Augustine lauded the goodness of Earth ‘by the height of its mountains, the moderate elevation of its hills, and the evenness of its fields’ and the cosmos ‘with its own sun, moon, and stars’, all of which God created from nothing (ex nihilo) (The Trinity 8.3.4; Augustine 1963: 247).

Aquinas (1225–1274) emphasized the goodness of all types of creatures in themselves, each of which God endowed with a particular way of existing and a particular way of functioning in relation to other creatures (plants relying upon soil, air, and water, animals relying upon plants, and humans relying upon animals and plants to sustain their physical needs) (ST 1.96.1; Aquinas 1981: 486). He described these differences as ‘grades of goodness’ that are ordered to one another to achieve their temporal common good while God maintains the totality in existence (Summa contra Gentiles 3.71.3; Aquinas 1956: 237–242; ST 1.47.1–3; Aquinas 1981: 245–248). He explained that God gave humans ‘natural dominion’ over other creatures that humans are intended to use to sustain their bodies while God maintains ‘sovereign dominion’ over all (ST 2-2.66.1; Aquinas 1981: 1470).

Current theologians point to parallels between these pre-scientific reflections on the goodness of creation and philosophical discussions about the intrinsic value of animate and inanimate entities apart from their usefulness to humans. Especially significant are retrievals of Aquinas’s thinking by theologians and Christian ethicists who underscore the intrinsic goodness and value of all creatures (Kavanaugh 1997). Valuing creatures intrinsically would require limiting the human use of animals and plants for the necessities of life and directing their use ‘to the good of all humanity’ (Porter 1990: 178). Taking this inclusive approach would also require considering future humans and striving to ensure that all current uses of other species and abiota are compatible with the flourishing of ecosystems and the biosphere of Earth (Scheid 2016).

Bishops who are responsible for promulgating the faith of the Roman Catholic Church (the ‘magisterium’) have also reflected on the goodness of creation. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the bishops underscored the intrinsic value of other creatures and criticized a distorted human self-centredness (anthropocentrism) that has reduced other species, the air, land, and water to unbridled use and abuse. All must be valued, the bishops urged, because ‘[e]ach creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection’ (USCC 1994: 339). In the first papal encyclical dedicated to the ecological-social crisis, Laudato si’ On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis emphasized the intrinsic value of each living and inanimate creature apart from human use and the intrinsic value of ecosystems within which humans, other species, the air, land, and water function (Francis 2015: no. 69, 86, 115, 118, 140). He dedicated a significant section of his encyclical to lamenting and correcting the rampant anthropocentric attitudes that have accelerated the rate of species extinction, degraded and destroyed ecosystems, and threaten the biosphere of Earth (Francis 2015: no. 115–136).

Scientifically informed theologians who reflect on the goodness of the Earth community and the entirety of the universe underscore God’s valuing the self-development of the universe within which Earth emerged approximately 4.5 billion years ago; God’s valuing the evolutionary process within which modern humans emerged from and with other species and systems approximately 250,000 years ago; and God’s valuing species, abiota, and their interactions through which they achieve their common good as ecosystems and the encompassing biosphere of Earth (Schaefer 2005: 805–806). These many diverse species and systems can be recognized as God’s valued and valuable possession both intrinsically (in themselves) and instrumentally (through the interactions of humans, other biota, and abiota that enable their flourishing). People who believe in God can be understood as discoverers of the value of one another and of other species and systems and as responders to their value out of a desire to share in God’s valuation of the past, present, and future.

4.3 The beauty of creation and ethical imperative to appreciate

Expressions of delight over the beauty of the God’s creation permeate the Bible and prompt the faithful to appreciate other species and systems of Earth. In biblical texts, the beauty of creatures is attributed to God’s artistry in making them and God’s agency in sustaining their existence (1 Chr 29). The harmonious functioning of creatures in relation to one another reflects God’s wisdom (Ps 104; Wis 13) and gives glory to God (Ps 19). From the perspectives of these writers, the beauty of creatures and their functioning harmoniously as God intended should stir the faithful to wonder and to know more about them (Job 37; Ps 145). An appreciation for the beauty of creatures may be assumed in the New Testament from occasional comments by Jesus in the gospels in which he discourages his disciples from worrying about what they will eat and wear and encourages them to have confidence that God will provide for them as God provides for birds and flowers that are dressed in ‘splendour’ (Luke 12:27).

Early Christian theologians delighted in the beauty of God’s creation. Cyril of Jerusalem urged his catechumens to observe ‘the spring, and the flowers of every kind in all their likeness still diverse one from another [...] the deepest crimson of the rose, and the purest whiteness of the lily’, the ‘thickness of knots around reeds’, ‘golden-tinted clouds’, wild beasts, cattle, fish, ‘drops of dew’, and colourful minerals, all of which God ‘the Artificer’ made (Cyril 1984: 9). In homilies on Genesis 1, Basil of Caesarea (330–379) glowingly described the beauty of the world and urged his listeners to witness through their senses the abundance of beauty that is observable in animals, plants, landscapes, and the sky. He lauded ‘cornfields waving in the hollows, meadows verdant and abounding with varied flowers, woodland vales in bloom, and mountain peaks shaded over with forest trees’ (Hexaemeron 2.6–7; Basil 1963: 31–32). When viewing the area in which he chose to live, he expressed delight with the cool and transparent streams, the deep ravine through which a river glided, the whirlpool when the river encountered rocks, and the breezes from the river (Basil 1926: 14: 46–48). He marvelled at the sense perception of sheep and goats that enables them to avoid harmful plants, starlings whose physical makeup allows them to consume hemlock, meadows deep with abundant grass, the fertile earth, the dense woods with their many types of trees, the thick and leafy bushes, and the grapevines heavy with ripening fruit (Hexaemeron 5.3–8; Basil 1963: 70–80). He studied the activities of bees when constructing honeycombs, the discipline of cranes in flight, the relationship between storks and crows, the monogamous turtledove, and many other creatures (Hexaemeron 8.1–6; Basil 1963: 118–128). He urged his listeners to pay attention to all creatures, to never cease admiring them, and to give glory to God for them (Hexaemeron 5.9; Basil 1963: 81).

Though an entire treatise by Augustine of Hippo on the beauty of creation is no longer extant (Confessions 4.13.20; Augustine 1960: 106), his works are filled with exclamations of awe, astonishment, delight, and wonder about the world. In City of God, he extolled the ‘manifold diversity of beauty in sky, earth, and sea’, the ‘loveliness’ of light in the sun, moon, and stars, the ‘dark shades of woods, the colour and fragrance of flowers’, the ‘bright plumage’ and songs of ‘the multitudinous variety of birds’, the ‘living creatures of all shapes and sizes’ from tiny bees to immense whales (City of God 22.24; Augustine 1972: 1075). In Confessions, he expressed his appreciation for the beauty of the land, ferocious animals, elements of weather, mountains, trees, cattle, and birds (Confessions 7.13.19; Augustine 1960: 173), the agility of a mosquito, and the work of ants (The Literal Meaning of Genesis 3.14.22; Augustine 1982: 89–90).

Appreciation for the beauty of creation is evident in ‘Description of the Position and Site of the Abbey of Clairvaux’ during the twelfth century (Unattributed 1993). Throughout, the author acclaimed the beauty found within the site – the ‘stout oak’ that salutes the ‘height of heaven’, the ‘subtle branches’ of the lime tree, the ‘pliant ash’, many ‘sweet’ fruit-bearing trees, the ‘chorus of brightly feathered birds that caress’ the ears with the ‘sweetest melody’, the sky that ‘smiles serene and clear,’ the ‘delights of colour, song and scent’, the ‘kindred river’, the ‘smiling face of the earth with its many hues’, the vast meadow, the ‘translucent water’, the ‘clear air’ that enables everything to shine, the ‘verdant bank of a pool filled with pure and running water’, and the ‘sweet spring’ that quenched the author’s thirst (287–291).

In ‘The Three Days of Invisible Light’, Hugh of St Victor (c. 1096–1141) marvelled over the crocodile’s ability to chew without moving its lower jaw, the salamander’s remaining in fire without being harmed, the hedgehog who spikes apples when rolling in them and who ‘squeaks like a wagon’ when moving, the ant who foresees the upcoming winter and fills its stores with grain, and the spider who weaves a web to capture prey. He appreciated the consistency of the shape, ribs, and teeth of the leaves of a tree and the arrangement of the mulberry and strawberry seeds. He expressed gratitude to God for senses through which to experience ‘very sweet and pleasant’ aspects of the natural world, and he urged frequent training of the senses to facilitate investigating creatures’ characteristics (Hugh 1996).

Some early Christian theologians wrote more abstractly about the beauty of the entire world, attributing its beauty to God’s wisdom in having designed all creatures with natures intended to function in harmony with one another. According to Basil of Caesarea, God intentionally designed the universe as a ‘mighty’ and ‘elaborate system’ within which all creatures are attracted to one another in ‘one fellowship and harmony’ (Hexaemeron 2.2; Basil 1963: 22–24). For Augustine, each creature contributes to the overall ‘splendour’ and ‘perfection’ of God’s entire creation (City of God 11.22; Augustine 1972: 453–454) that is ‘a scheme of ordered beauty’ (City of God 12.4; Augustine 1972: 475–476). Thomas Aquinas saved his superlatives for the harmonious functioning of all creatures in relation to one another that constitutes ‘the most beautiful order given to things by God’ (ST 1.25.6 Aquinas 1981: 141).

Jesuit theologians have explored the beauty of God’s creation in detail and depth. Gerard Manley Hopkins S.J. (1844–1889) wrote about the beauty of God’s creation in the poems ‘Pied Beauty’, ‘Spring’, and ‘Hurrahing the Harvest. In ‘Binsey Poplars’ and ‘God’s Grandeur’, Hopkins lamented human failures to appreciate the beauty that God made possible (Hopkins 2018). John Navone S.J. (1930–2016) authored Toward a Theology of Beauty with the intention of stimulating other theologians to contribute to a systematic way of thinking about the beauty of God’s creation and demonstrating appreciation for Earth’s beauty in words and actions (Navone 1996).

Feminist theologians have underscored the importance of developing a way of knowing about others (‘attention epistemology’) that can foster appreciation for their bodies and a healthful relationship with them. To achieve a ‘subject-subject’ relationship that could be helpful for preserving plant and other-than-human animals, Sallie McFague (1933–2019) urged ‘detailed, careful, concrete attention’ to a tree, flower, or bird, and becoming ‘transfixed by its beauty’ (McFague 1997: 37).

4.4 The integrity of creatures and ethical imperative to cooperate

Another important expression of faith that surfaces in the early Christian theological tradition and illuminates the interrelatedness of all creatures is the integrity of creation. From the opening of the Old Testament to the closing of the New Testament, the writers underscored their belief that God created many diverse creatures and intended them to function in relation to one another according to their natures, thereby ensuring creation’s internal flourishing, while God maintains the entirety in existence.

Belief in the relatedness of all creatures is obvious in the Genesis 1 story of creation wherein each type of creature has an indispensable function that God is depicted as valuing and their functioning as a cohesive unity is highly valued. Within this story, humans are created last and charged with responsibility to God for how they function in relation to other creatures. Humans are depicted throughout the book of Psalms within the panorama of living and inanimate creatures (Ps 104) that are wisely arranged by God to function cooperatively (Ps 103). All creatures are depicted as sharing in human rejoicing and sorrows: in Isaiah 35, nature rejoices in Israel’s future salvation; in Joel 1:12, the wheat, barley, vines, and trees droop with sadness when Yahweh punishes Judah; in Amos 1:2, shepherds’ pastures mourn over the corruption of city life, social injustice, and meaningless ceremonies; and in Jonah 3:7–9, men and beasts repent for the Israelites’ evil behaviour. Furthermore, the entirety of creation is affected by human failure to image God (Gen 3–4; Hos 4:1–3) and awaits sharing in the ‘new heaven and new earth’ (Rom 8:19–23). Key to this anticipated sharing is the belief that all creatures were made through Jesus the Christ, the Word of God, at the beginning the world (John 1), that all things exist for and through Jesus (Heb 2:10), and that all creatures are held together and sustained in existence through Jesus (Col 1:15–20).

Before the scientific revolution, eminent theologians reflected metaphysically for centuries on the integrity of all living and inanimate creatures (Van Till 1996). In homilies on the Genesis 1 story of creation, Basil of Caesarea explained that God knew what the world needed to be able to function in the future. God fully equipped the world accordingly and empowered its cooperative functioning at the beginning of time while maintaining the entirety of existence. According to Basil, the world is a ‘mighty’ and ‘elaborate system’ that was brought to ‘perfection’ through powers God established in the world (Hexaemeron 5.6; Basil 1963: 69) to yield ‘an unbroken bond of attraction into one fellowship and harmony’ (Hexaemeron 2.2; Basil 1963: 22–24).

Augustine of Hippo shared Basil’s view of the integrity of the world and its ability to function through capabilities given and sustained by God. Focusing on the changeable nature of the universe, Augustine explained that God implanted ‘seeds’ within the world when creating ‘the order of things in the heavens, on the earth, and in the sea’ and intended all to function cohesively (The Trinity 3.2.7; Augustine 1963: 100). Within this order, material bodies are affected by ‘subtler and stronger bodies’ to prompt changes within the ‘commonwealth of all creation’ (The Trinity 3.4.9; Augustine 1963: 104). These seeds remain hidden in the material elements, generate when the conditions are suitable, and grow gradually according to rules that God established when creating the world (The Trinity 3.8.13; Augustine 1963: 108).

Thomas Aquinas approached the integrity of diverse creatures from a metaphysical perspective. Recognizing the distinctiveness of natural entities from non-living elements to living vegetation, sensible/irrational creatures, and rational creatures, he described them as ‘grades of goodness’ (SCG 2.44.16; Aquinas 1956: 136) in an ‘order of generation’ (SCG 3.22.8; Aquinas 1956: 87) with capabilities to be, act, and interact according to their natures. He attributed their unity to God’s wisdom in ordering them in relation to one another to achieve their mutual good – their internal cooperative functioning – while God maintains the world’s existence (ST 1.47.1–3; Aquinas 1981: 245–248). He lamented that humans do not always use their innate ability to reason, seek good only for themselves, and cause evil to occur in an otherwise orderly creation (ST 1.49.3 ad 5; Aquinas 1981: 256).

Aquinas’ thinking about the orderly functioning of all creatures stimulated a prominent Jesuit in the twentieth century to describe the interactivity of diverse living and inanimate creatures as a ‘community of creatures’ in which humans are integral constituents (Wright 1957: 181). His insights stimulated an exploration of the four ways in which Aquinas thought about creatures’ inter-activities (in relation to one another and in relation to God) that parallel the functioning of ecosystems when humans are acknowledged as integral actors who cooperate with other species and abiota (Schaefer 2003: 173–177). As the primary cause of existence, God intends that all creatures cooperate according to their natures as secondary causes to achieve their shared temporal good – their flourishing. Human creatures use their unique intellectual abilities to cooperate with other species and abiota for their mutual good and seek God’s grace to facilitate making decisions about how to cooperate. Cooperating with others is integral to a theocentric way of life in which the loving and caring attitudes and actions of Jesus the Christ are imaged (Gustafson 1981: 276–278).

Recent studies by evolutionary biologists on the prevalence and importance of cooperation within the evolutionary process have significance for recognizing the need for human cooperation with other species and abiota to facilitate the flourishing of ecosystems and the encompassing biosphere of Earth. Evolutionary biologists recognize ‘natural selection’ as the mechanism through which species compete for limited resources and some have a better chance to thrive, reproduce, and pass on their genes. They also recognize that some ‘selfish replicators’ have forsaken their reproductive potential to help one another and prompt the construction of new levels of organization (e.g., genomes, cells, multicellular organisms, social insects, and human society) over vast periods of time (Nowak 2006). This evidence of cooperation within the evolutionary process has been stimulating research by and discussions among natural and social scientists, mathematicians, economists, philosophers, theologians, and ethicists (Nowak and Coakley 2013). Their efforts to probe the importance of cooperation from their various perspectives are complementary to promoting human cooperation as a faith-based ethical imperative within a system of ecological ethics.

4.5 Creation as God’s gift and ethical imperative to receive gratefully

As scientists continue to point to the degradation and destruction of ecosystems and threats to the life-supportive capacity of Earth, Christian leaders have been urging their followers to think deeply and practically about the world as God’s gift to be received with gratitude in words and actions. That the world is God-given is assumed from the beginning to the end of the Bible and summarized in the doctrine of creation.

Biblical and theological foundations for thinking about the world as God’s gift have been explored in depth by scholars (Schmitz 1982; O’Callaghan 2022). Among the early Christian theologians who reflected on the world as God’s gift, Ignatius of Loyola thought poignantly about how his followers should respond. In ‘Contemplation to Attain Love’, the final reflection of Spiritual Exercises that he wrote for members of the Society of Jesus, Ignatius led them in (1) reflecting individually on the gift of the world that God has given to all, and on particular gifts that God has given to each person; (2) considering how God gives existence to the elements, life to plants, sensation to animals, and intelligence to humans; (3) recognizing how God works for each person in the heavens, elements, plants, fruits, cattle, and all things by giving them existence, conserving them, and concurring with their particular activities; and (4) realizing how all these gifts come from God like rays from the sun. Contemplating these gifts should stir ‘profound gratitude’ and commitments to serve God ‘more by deeds than by words’ (Ignatius 1991: 176–177).

Pope Francis expounded on the world as God’s ‘original gift’ within which humans are interconnected to all other creatures and urged the faithful to show gratitude to God for them through actions (Francis 2015: no. 5). He encouraged imitating God’s ‘generosity through self-sacrifice’ (no. 220); demonstrating the value of other species and ecosystems for themselves and not exclusively for human use (no. 69, 115, 118, 140); practising self-restraint when encountering and using the goods of Earth (no. 220, 226); respecting the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples about caring for the land (no. 146); establishing ecologically protective laws at appropriate levels of governance (no. 38); working for justice for current vulnerable generations and concern for future generations (no. 159, 227); and advancing science and technology to serve others (no. 131). Earth is a ‘loving gift’ from God, the pope insisted, a gift to be received for all people, to be shared by all people, to benefit all people, and to be preserved and protected by all people for their common good (no. 67, 71, 76, 95, 159).

When serving as the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby called for ‘new hearts’ when thinking about interrelationships and implored Anglicans ‘to receive as gift, with wonder and gratitude, the gift of each other with our differences, the gift of creation, supremely the gift of God’. These gifts constitute ‘the greatest tools to build the greatest hope for the greatest future’ (Welby 2020). Archbishop Winston Halapua taught from his Polynesian context in which islanders are struggling to survive as fossil fuel emissions from materially developed nations are forcing the inundation of salty sea water into low-lying land and freshwater. He explained the islanders’ beliefs that their lives and contexts are ‘precious gifts of creation’ for which they accept ‘responsibility as custodians of the legacy of the past for the sake of the future’ and ‘live out of abundant generosity’ by contributing ‘to each other what is lacking in any situation’. He lamented the ongoing abuse of God’s creation that is epitomized by the islanders’ plights and urged growth in understanding that humans are ‘interconnected with the environment and that the gifts of creation are not to be abused but are to be honoured and shared’ (Halapua 2008: 35–39).

Through the lens of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Patriarch Bartholomew viewed the world as ‘God’s gift of love to us’ (Bartholomew 2012g: 100), a gift that must be returned with ‘gratitude and love’ (Bartholomew 2010) by protecting it from harm and showing self-restraint when consuming its goods (Bartholomew 2012f: 107). He urged replacing consumption with sacrifice, greed with generosity, and wastefulness with a spirit of sharing, and he implored his followers to cultivate an asceticism of ‘conscious awareness and deeper recognition that humanity is dependent not only on God, but also on the world, and indeed on the food chain, just like every other creature made by God’ (Bartholomew 2012e: 201). Aware of ecological crises throughout the world, Bartholomew lamented the accelerated rate of species extinction, the degradation and destruction of ecosystems, and threats to the biosphere of Earth. He judged them as manifestations of human failure to receive, respect, and respond to God’s gift with gratitude (Bartholomew 2010), and he was the first leader of a world religion to declare these manifestations as ‘sins’ against God (Bartholomew 2009; 2012d: 152; 2012g: 99). From his faith perspective, the ‘thoughtless and abusive treatment of even the smallest material and living creation of God’ constitutes ‘an unforgivable insult to the uncreated God’ (Bartholomew 2012i: 227).

Leaders of several Christian denominations have collaborated in efforts to care for God’s gift of Earth and to express their gratitude in words and actions. One of the most prominent ecumenical efforts is the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation that was initiated in 1989 by Patriarch Dimitriou and held annually on the first day of September. In 2015, Pope Francis embraced this day of prayer for Roman Catholics and extended it to a ‘Season of Creation’ to be held from 1 September–4 October (the feast day of Francis of Assisi). The ‘Season of Creation’ is currently concelebrated worldwide with the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation, and other Christian denominations. This ecumenical spirit was highly active in 2021 (prior to the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) when Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop Welby, and Pope Francis issued a joint statement in which they underscored the individual and collective responsibility of caring for Earth – a ‘God-given endowment’ that has been abused with catastrophic consequences (Bartholomew, Welby, and Francis 2021).

Professing members of Christian denominations have put their faith into action by caring about and for God’s gifts of Earth’s ecosystems. For example, the Sisters of Charity of New York, Sisters of the Divine Compassion, Maryknoll Sisters, Dominican Sisters of Hope, and Sisters of Our Lady of Christian Doctrine established Religious Organizations Along the River to protect the Hudson River ecosystem as a ‘pure gift’ they are protecting and described their efforts as their ‘gift’ to Earth (Herlinger 2021). The Franciscan Sisters in Iowa and the Benedictine Sisters in Wisconsin have restored grassland and forest ecosystems and invited local people to explore, reflect, and help protect them with gratitude to God (Rowe 2021).

4.6 The kinship of creatures and ethical imperative to live companionably

According to the different stories of creation in Genesis 1 and 2, humans are creatures among many diverse animate and inanimate creatures. All are valued according to their natures, as evidenced in Genesis 1–2 and subsequently in Genesis 6–9, wherein representatives of various types of creatures are saved by Noah as God commanded. Other creatures are also depicted as sharing the curses and joys of the Israelites (Joel 1:12), mourning over corruption in city life and social injustice (Amos 1:2), doing penance when Judah, the southern kingdom, is punished by God for evil deeds (Jonah 3:7–9), rejoicing in anticipation of the future salvation of the ancient Israelites (Isa 35:1–2, 6–10), and groaning in travail for the redemption of the people (Rom 8:19–23).

Stories by and about early Christian desert fathers, Celtic wanderers, and English hermits convey their close relationships with animals whose habitats they shared while seeking intimate and unencumbered relationships with God. Categorized as ‘hagiographies’ (legends of the saints), these stories convey the saints’ attitudes toward and affinity for animals who were often the only living beings with whom they interacted in their otherwise solitary lives (Schaefer 2009: 150–164). The saints protected and fed the animals and demonstrated piety towards them in the fullest medieval sense (loving, affectionate, kind, faithful, compassionate, devoted and, in a sacramental sense, reverential). The saints appreciated and preserved the habitats they shared with animals and valued their reciprocity when they helped the saints with their tasks. They treated animals as their followers, disciples, and companions and used familial language toward them. Stories of animals lamenting for dying and deceased solitaries convey the close affinity they had with the animals in their midst. The blossoming of these attitudes and actions appears in the writings by and about Francis of Assisi (Francis 1982; Bonaventure 1978a; Ashley 1985: 415–423). The term ‘kinship’ best captures the saints’ close and caring relationships with animals in their shared habitats.

Though the saintly desert fathers, Celtic wanderers, English hermits, and Francis of Assisi had affinity for the animals and habitats they shared, they did not have scientific knowledge about them. They did not know that all species and phenomena have a common beginning approximately fourteen billion years ago when elements essential for life were produced in the furnaces of stars and approximately 3.5 billion years ago when life emerged within Earth. Nor did they know how closely related humans are to other species molecularly. When informed by contemporary cosmology and biology, some current theologians have concluded that humans should recognize and demonstrate in their attitudes and actions an even more profound sense of kinship than expressed prior to the scientific revolution.

Theologians who are cognisant of the emergence of humans from and with other species in the evolutionary process have urged Christians to stand beside other species and natural systems as their ‘cherishing brother’ who is ‘God’s creation and bears God’s image’ (Sittler 1954: 372), to recognize that humans exist as creatures among other diverse creatures in a ‘community of creation’, to accept and live their ‘ecological vocation’ (Johnson 2014), and to urge them to practice the presence of God in animals (McDaniel 2006). In the writings by St Francis and his contemporaries, Franciscan scholars have identified attitudes and actions that serve as models for members of his order (Nothwehr 2002; Delio 2003). They have urged embracing and demonstrating Franciscan piety for all creatures in the fullness of its meaning (Horan 2018) and encouraged situating human behaviour within the context of companionship with other species and abiota in the journey of life (Himes and Himes 1990).

Popes of the Roman Catholic Church have demonstrated Francis of Assisi’s influence on their thinking about the ecological crisis. Pope John Paul II designated Francis of Assisi ‘the heavenly Patron of those who promote ecology’ because ‘he offers Christians an example of genuine and deep respect for the integrity of creation’ (John Paul 1979). He subsequently issued the first papal statement dedicated to the ecological crisis, proclaiming it a moral responsibility for the faithful to address. In this statement, he pointed to Francis of Assisi as the inspiration for ‘keeping alive a sense of ‘fraternity’ with all those good and beautiful things which Almighty God has created’ and reminded Christians of their ‘serious obligation to respect and watch over them with care’ (John Paul 1989). Pope Francis opened his encyclical, Laudato si’ On Care for Our Common Home, with a quotation from Francis of Assisi and proceeded in several paragraphs to explain the saint’s contributions to thinking about human kinship with other species, ecological integrity, and the sacramentality of Earth (Francis 2015: no. 1, 10–12).

4.7 The moral virtues and imperatives to live virtuously

Virtues are positive habits of action that demonstrate a person’s character. Though theologians have identified many moral virtues, four are prominent in the Christian theological tradition: prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. Prudence is the habit of making well-informed decisions. Justice is the habit of giving to others what is due to them and ensuring that the necessities of life are available to others. Temperance is the habit of controlling one’s desires, including the desire for material goods. Fortitude is the habit of controlling one’s fears when encountering obstacles to be prudent, just, and moderate. Moral virtues are distinguishable from intellectual virtues (wisdom, science, art, and understanding) that perfect the power of reason in the person (ST 1|2.57.1–6; Aquinas 1981: 827–833) and theological virtues (faith, hope, and love) that are given innately to each person and unite the person to God (ST 1|2.62.1–4; Aquinas 1981: 851–853). While the inclination to be moral is innate in each person, Aquinas explained, the moral virtues must be activated in and perfected by the person (ST 1|2.58.1–3; Aquinas 1981: 833–835).

These four moral virtues are exemplified throughout the Bible. Acting justly looms large among the prophets of the Old Testament who warned the Israelites about their unjust social behaviour toward the poor, widows, and orphans and urged the wealthy to restrain themselves in accumulating material things (Isa 1–4). Justice is underscored in Psalm 72 as a key virtue of an Israelite king who is entrusted with caring about and for vulnerable people. Prudence is detailed in the deuterocanonical book of Wisdom 7–8 wherein kings are expected to make knowledge-based decisions. Fortitude is exemplified in narratives about men and women who, motivated by their faith in God, hope and confidence in God, and love for God, conducted themselves courageously under difficult circumstances.

The moral virtues are also prominent in the New Testament in which Jesus the Christ is the epitome of virtue. According to the writers of the gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the letters by Paul and other missionaries, Jesus demonstrated prudence, justice, moderation, courage, compassion, and many more virtues throughout his ministry, and his followers were urged to image these virtues. Caring about and for poor and vulnerable people are demonstrations of justice that are especially prominent in the Gospel of Luke. The virtue of temperance is underscored in Paul’s letters to the members of the fledgling Christian communities he visited, whom he exhorted to avoid encumbering themselves with material goods as they anticipated the imminent return of Jesus. Evangelists Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John appealed to their communities to remain steadfast in following Jesus, despite fear of reprisals that are depicted subsequently in the book of Revelation. Many examples of courageous behaviour by Jesus’ disciples are recounted in the Acts of the Apostles and post-biblical literature.

Theologians reflected for centuries on the moral virtues and urged Christians to develop, strengthen, and demonstrate virtuous characteristics in temporal life as they aim for eternal happiness with God. Thomas Aquinas provided a systematic treatment of the moral virtues and their sub-virtues during the thirteenth century that have resonance today for directing responsible behaviour toward other species, ecosystems, and the encompassing biosphere (Schaefer 2003). Theologians who specialize in ethical behaviour have urged turning to the virtues for effectively addressing climate change and other ecological problems (e.g., Jenkins 2016).

4.8 Loving God’s creation and ethical imperative to love

Faith in God who loves the world and imperatives that humans should love God and one another permeate the Bible. For centuries, Christian theologians have reflected on God’s love for the world, human love for one another, and ways in which humans should express their love. Most recently, as the ecological crisis has challenged thinking about human responsibility for relating to other species and systems of Earth, some theologians have reflected on inclusive love as the most effective way of demonstrating love for God and love for one’s neighbours near and far, now and into the future.