Teologie en ekologie

Abstract

Theology and ecology
Ecology is a term traditionally used in the biological sciences. The word 'ecology' used in this sense means the science which studies the relation of living organisms (usually plants and animals) with their environment and the resultant life patterns. Changes in the environment result in changes of the life patterns of the living organism in that ecosystem. Since the industrial revolution and especially in the past decades man has so drastically changed the ecosystems on a global scale that he is no longer an outsider and consumer in this process; man is intimately involved not only as change-agent, but also as one whose life, standard of living, future and very existence is at stake. And where man and his future is so intimately involved, ethical and theological questions arise and call to be addressed. This paper deals with the main components and extent of the present ecological crisis and with the theological response to the ethical and religious issues involved.