This book presents ecological insights drawn from a reading of Julian of Norwich, considering how effectively she can help us in our current plight. The argument is that to address the ecological crisis with the mindset that created it will only cause more problems, and that to really undo the harm humanity has done and continues to do will take a transformation of selfhood and hence of perception, from the Gestell, technological self that is the child of the Enlightenment to the porous self that we truly are, underneath our buffered, separated, controlling and lonely exterior. The author suggests Julian of Norwich’s text Revelations of Divine Love has the power to effect this transformation if we can learn to read it as disciples, not masters, just as Julian received and responded to her revelations as a performative, porous, receptive disciple. The chapters describe the technological mindset and its causal relationship with the ecological crisis, and articulate in detail how, if they are to transform us, we must read the Julian texts, taking first steps away from our technological selves as we do so. The book then takes significant passages from Julian and reads them in the performative, porous way that has been recommended. It will be of particular interest to scholars of theology and ecology, as well as medieval mysticism.

"This book presents ecological insights drawn from a reading of Julian of Norwich, considering how effectively she can help us in our current plight. The argument is that to address the ecological crisis with the mindset that created it will only cause more problems, that to really undo the harm humanity has done and continues to do will take a transformation of selfhood and hence of perception, from the Gestell, technological self that is the child of the Enlightenment to the porous self that we truly are, underneath our buffered, separated, controlling and lonely exterior. The author suggests Julian of Norwich's text Revelations of Divine Love has the power to effect this transformation if we can learn to read it as disciples, not masters, just as she received and responded to her revelations as a performative, porous, receptive disciple. The chapters describe the technological mindset and its causal relationship with the ecological crisis, and articulate in detail how, if they are to transform us, we must read the Julian texts, taking first steps away from our technological selves as we do so. The book then takes significant passages from Julian and reads them in the performative, porous way that has been recommended. It will be of particular interest to scholars of theology and ecology, as well as medieval mysticism"--

This work is a large, powerfully illustrated interdisciplinary natural sciences volume, the first of its kind to examine the critically important nature of ecological paradox, through an abundance of lenses: the biological sciences, taxonomy, archaeology, geopolitical history, comparative ethics, literature, philosophy, the history of science, human geography, population ecology, epistemology, anthropology, demographics, and futurism. The ecological paradox suggests that the human biological–and from an insular perspective, successful–struggle to exist has come at the price of isolating H. sapiens from life-sustaining ecosystem services, and far too much of the biodiversity with which we find ourselves at crisis-level odds. It is a paradox dating back thousands of years, implicating millennia of human machinations that have been utterly ruinous to biological baselines. Those metrics are examined from numerous multidisciplinary approaches in this thoroughly original work, which aids readers, particularly natural history students, who aspire to grasp the far-reaching dimensions of the Anthropocene, as it affects every facet of human experience, past, present and future, and the rest of planetary sentience. With a Preface by Dr. Gerald Wayne Clough, former Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and President Emeritus of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Foreword by Robert Gillespie, President of the non-profit, Population Communication.

This thesis seeks to answer the question: can the Julian of Norwich texts be read today in such a way that they can help address the twenty-first century ecological crisis, by transforming our 'buffered' subjectivity into the 'porous' subjectivity Julian brought to and learnt from her revelations? The thesis argues that the stresses on the planet that are caused by humanity are themselves symptoms of an underlying human subjectivity enslaved by Gestell, the 'essence of technology', defined by Heidegger, which turns nature and humanity itself into objects to be exploited. This underlying 'buffered' condition is the real challenge, because if current ecological problems arise from a Gestell mindset, then solutions that are sought by the same mindset, however ingenious, are likely to provoke unforeseeable further damaging consequences. The tum to the Julian texts is made on the grounds that the revelatory encounters described therein transform the subjectivity of Julian (as she is found in the text; the thesis makes no claim regarding the historical Julian) and have the potential to transform the reader's subjectivity in tum. This potential of the Julian texts is discovered through an innovative hermeneutical approach using Ricoeurian foundations with additional interdisciplinary insights and analogies, hence 'postRicoeurian'. The approach describes the act of reading as 'performative engagement', involving 'porosity of encounter' and 'niche creation'. A close reading of the Julian texts using this triadic post-Ricoeurian lens is undertaken, seeking to demonstrate that such a reading renders them capable of springing the trap of Gestell by restoring the porosity of the reader's subjectivity. The thesis argues that restoring porosity is Julian's contribution to the ecological crisis, in addition acknowledging that choosing Julian as a route to freedom generates or regenerates a recognition of the sacred in creation.

In the face of the current environmental crisis—which clearly has moral and spiritual dimensions—members of all the world’s faiths have come to recognize the critical importance of religion’s relationship to ecology. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Ecology offers a comprehensive overview of the history and the latest developments in religious engagement with environmental issues throughout the world. Newly commissioned essays from noted scholars of diverse faiths and scientific traditions present the most cutting-edge thinking on religion’s relationship to the environment. Initial readings explore the ways traditional concepts of nature in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and other religious traditions have been shaped by the environmental crisis. Readings then address the changing nature of theology and religious thought in response to the challenges of protecting the environment. Various conceptual issues and themes that transcend individual traditions—climate change, bio-ethics, social justice, ecofeminism, and more—are then analyzed before a final section examines some of the immediate challenges we face in caring for the Earth while looking to the future of religious environmentalism. Timely and thought-provoking, Companion to Religion and Ecology offers illuminating insights into the role of religion in the ongoing struggle to secure the future well-being of our natural world. With a foreword by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and an Afterword by John Cobb

2002 Catholic Press Association Award Winner The classical expression of soteriology (salvation theology) has tended to spiritualize salvation and place it on a supernatural plane where it loses contact with the existential lives of people. In the face of this heritage, questions have risen from contemporary experience that challenge the Christian tradition. Does life have meaning? Is love at the core of all reality? In Gifted Origins to Graced Fulfillment, Kerrie Hide searches for responses to these questions. Hide examines the soteriology presented in the Revelations of Divine Love, composed by Julian of Norwich. She analyzes the understanding of salvation expressed in the Visions, or showings of Julian and expands previous theological inquiry into Julian's texts. After demonstrating how Julian's theology is a trinitarian theology of love, Hide addresses each aspect of Julian's soteriology within the framework of her trinitarian formula. The theological precis reveals that, for Julian, salvation is a process of oneing in a mystical, three-part journey from our origins with God to our ultimate return to God. Hide's analysis provides a hermeneutic for examining mystical literature theologically and demonstrates the important contribution mystical theology makes to the broader field of theology. She contributes a systematic study of Julian's understanding of salvation not undertaken previously. In Part One, Hide examines Julian's Visionary experience and her expression of the experience that led others to reflect on, record, and write about her texts. She also presents a hermeneutic for interpreting Julian's showings. Part Two presents Julian's soteriology as a trinitarian soteriology of oneing and explores how our life is in three stages. In Part Three, Hide delves into our gifted origins. She surveys Julian's creation theology and her anthropology. Part Four focuses on Christology. This section presents Christ's role in redemption through the cross, through his work as servant, and through his function as mother. Part Five inquires into graced endings. The chapters examine the present experience of graced fulfillment in the power of the Holy Spirit and the hope for fulfillment in the eschaton. Finally, in Part Six, Hide draws together Julian's understanding of salvation. She appraises the relevance of these teachings for today. Chapters are Julian of Norwich," *A Hermeneutic for Interpreting the Showings, - *Oneing Through the Trinity, - *Oneing in Being, - *Oneing Through the Crucifixion, - *Oneing Through the Servant, - *Oneing Through Christ, Deep Wisdom and Mother, - *Oneing Through the Holy Spirit, - *One ing in the Eschaton, - and *Julian's Spiritual Understanding.