A New Climate for Theology, Sallie McFague, Fortress Press, Mineapolis, 2008
There are many reasons why this book is relevant to us. After her wonderful book, Life Abundant, she wasn’t sure what to focus on next. She is disappointed that the mainline churches are often focused on narrow issues such as sexual morality, when the more pressing issues of our time can be neglected. She sees climate change bringing to a head the issues of justice and sustainability: issues
that demand a conversion from our greedy consumer-oriented culture to a vision in which all creatures might flourish. (p 1)
Perhaps we feel that we already are convinced of this, but many of us have never read a serious book about climate change. This is an excellent place to begin such reading because McFague is a theologian who is convinced that the glory of God is everybody flourishing. Eremos members would surely join her in that assertion, but perhaps we haven’t the ideas and resources we need to help us take steps to demonstrate our conversion. One reviewer says that McFague leads us step by step towards an urban ecotheology capable of sustaining our work for a sustainable world. There are some wonderful passages, but here is a beautiful quote from page 139:
We do not own the earth - we do not even pay rent for it; it is given to us “free” for our lifetime, with the proviso that we treat it with the honour it deserves: appreciating it as a reflection of the divine and loving it as our mother and our neighbour.