Abstract
Taking the threatening anthropogenic global environmental destruction—the anthropocene—as a starting point, this paper examines the Catholic tradition, which has remained relatively indifferent to this looming crisis, asking what might help it to change its focus from a decided human ecology to one that counts the human as an integral part of the larger natural ecology. Thomas Berry, whose teachings underlie this work, suggests that since the tradition has grown out of a cosmological perspective that places the human being at the center of ethical deliberations and separate from the natural world, it needs to rely on other Earth-centered and ecological expressions to help Catholics to discover more harmonious avenues of being on Earth, which he describes as a fourfold wisdom—the wisdoms of indigenous peoples, classical traditions, women, and science. Through a critical weaving of these wisdoms into a conversation with the Catholic tradition, this article examines the efficacy of the fourfold wisdom to transform the tradition into a more Earth-honoring expression. While this work concludes that the fourfold wisdom is effecting change where engaged, it also reflects on the challenges and opportunities this engagement faces in light of current realities within the Catholic tradition.
Highlights
Our modern industrial civilization, while having yielded many benefits for human kind, has brought about the acidification of oceans, the destruction of countless forests, the loss of fresh water, the degradation of soils, and the pollution of the atmosphere
Berry stresses that our destructive patterns of living cannot be critiqued effectively or sufficiently from within the traditional humanist ethics or religions, as these have arisen out of a cosmological perspective that places the human being at the center of ethical deliberations, separate from the natural world ([17], p. 198)
It was suggested that since the tradition has grown out of a cosmological perspective that places the human being at the center of ethical deliberations and separate from the natural world, it needs to rely on other Earth-centered and ecological expressions to help
Summary
While having yielded many benefits for human kind, has brought about the acidification of oceans, the destruction of countless forests, the loss of fresh water, the degradation of soils, and the pollution of the atmosphere. Thomas Berry proposes a fourfold wisdom: the wisdom of indigenous peoples, classical traditions, women, and science Within these four types of wisdom, he maintains, humans can find more Earth-centred and ecological expressions through which they can uncover a new spirituality of living in continuity and intimacy with creation. There is a brief discussion of how these different types of wisdoms might inspire one or more of the teachings, rituals or sacraments of the Catholic tradition so that they become more Earth-honoring It is when we weave all four types of wisdom into a communal conversation, allowing each type of wisdom to clarify and affirm but to qualify and inform the other types of wisdom, that we are presented with a more robust portrayal of what I contend Berry intends with his proposal. This article culminates with an assessment of the fourfold wisdom in the form of a conversation with the Catholic tradition in light of current realities within the tradition, and what the future might hold for such a conversation
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