The Accra Confession as Dangerous Memory: Reformed Ecclesiology, the Ecological Crisis, and the Problem of Catholicity

Henry S Kuo

doi:10.3390/rel11070320

Abstract

This study presents the Accra Confession as a theological response to the ecological crisis from a Reformed perspective while also addressing its critical weakness, namely the problem of universality in both Reformed ecclesiology and global approaches to ecological destruction. Because of a fragile universality, both Reformed churches and global institutions find it difficult to agree on a concrete plan to address climate change. Theologically, this difficulty arrives not primarily from disagreement with the existence or causes of climate change but how Christian theological values translate concretely to acts of justice. This study proposes a way to ground these discussions on the concept of dangerous memory by resourcing the theology of Johann Baptist Metz. Dangerous memories allow stories of the suffering vanquished to be constitutive to the construction of caritas, which in turn serves as a suitable theological foundation for addressing differing approaches to engaging climate issues. Reading the Accra Confession as dangerous memory, then, provides a valuable resource to the Reformed community by allowing the testimonies of those affected adversely by climate change to substantially inform theological discourses on climate justice.

Highlights

This study presents the Accra Confession as a theological response to the ecological crisis from a Reformed perspective while addressing its critical weakness, namely the problem of universality in both Reformed ecclesiology and global approaches to ecological destruction
When the ecological crisis is set within the broader context of the search for peace within society, we can understand better the importance of giving attention to what the earth and its atmosphere are telling us: namely, that there is an order in the universe which must be respected, and that the human person, endowed with the capability of choosing freely, has a grave responsibility to preserve this order for the well-being of future generations
The Paris Conference shifted to an approach “from below” where the emphasis was placed not on a universal conformation to a specific and globally-agreed-upon target emissions level, but on a voluntary approach in which individual countries assessed their own situations with respect to climate change and committed to their own climate mitigation goals, implementing domestic strategies to achieve them

Summary

Introducing the Challenges of Universality in Church and Climate Change

The engagement between religion and environment, the ecological crisis the world is encountering, is a discussion that is timely, necessary, and increasingly urgent with each passing day. The second challenge is to articulate the nature of and contexts surrounding the ecological crisis This is not to say that climate change is not a real and serious problem, but that the nature of the problem is not scientific. Religious and theological considerations matter to the climate crisis because such inquiries assist in that questioning of at least some of the elements which contribute to the problem at hand and, hopefully, provide resources for the necessary resistance and praxis. This reality, compounds the complexity of the matter and, generates a multiplicity of approaches to tackling ecological destruction. Metz to show how considering the Accra Confession as dangerous memory can provide resources for churches of Reformed persuasions to concretely and charitably engage climate change together as a community

The Double-Bind of the United Nations’ Climate Response Efforts

The Accra Confession

The Accra Confession as Dangerous Memory

Findings

Confessing a Reforming Ecological Sensibility and Universal Praxis