Orthodox ecological theology: Bartholomew I and Orthodox contributions to the ecological debate

Abstract

This article presents the potential of the Orthodox tradition to contribute to the contemporary conversation about how Christianity might respond to the environmental crisis. It especially examines the prominent ecological vision of the ‘green’ Patriarch Bartholomew I, supplementing it with the arguments of other Orthodox authors. It argues that Orthodox theological contributions to the ecological debate stress four different dimensions, evident not only in Bartholomew's writings and speeches, but also characterising most other Orthodox writings on this topic. While they initially seem to focus primarily on the importance of concrete ethical action (1), they also include more explicit theological reflections. Ethical action, for Orthodox thinking, flows out of (2) an ascetic attitude to the world. Such an attitude itself is grounded in a (3) eucharistic and thus ultimately a (4) liturgical ethos. Thus, Orthodox contributions to the current debate go beyond ‘environmental ethics’ to a fully fledged theological response.