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Old Testament Essays

On-line version ISSN 2312-3621
Print version ISSN 1010-9919

Old testam. essays vol.23 n.3 Pretoria  2010

 

Eco-theology and losing the sacred

 

 

Peet J. van Dyk

Unisa

Correspondence

 

 


ABSTRACT

Within an eco-theological context Christianity, more specifically Protestantism, has been blamed for our current ecological crisis due to the fact that it has lost its sense of the sacred. The purpose of this article is to explore how this de-sacralisation or disenchantment of nature may be linked to a specific cosmology or worldview and the theological implications such a loss of the sacred may have on the eco-theological debate. It is concluded that it is not possible to regain a sense of the sacred, except if one is willing to revert back to a pre-Renaissance magico-mythical worldview and that eco-theologians should rather search for more appropriate metaphors when arguing for the conservation of the environment.


 

 

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Correspondence:
Prof. Peet van Dyk
Department of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, University of South Africa
P.O. Box 392, Unisa, 0003
E-mail: vdykpj1@unisa.ac.za

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