Abstract
In this chapter I explore representations out of the wealth of recent material written on the sacramentality of the cosmos and adjudicate its significance in relation to the place of nonhuman animals in Christian theology and ethics. In particular, I consider whether this retrieved strand of Christian thought breaks from the dominant tradition and, if so, to what extent. This consideration will require an in-depth search into Orthodox theology, as Eastern Christianity has best maintained the affirmation of cosmic sacramentality. However, while such an affirmation has been somewhat wanting in the West, I do not want to ignore the recent developments in Roman Catholicism that have retrieved it. Thus, what follows examines the concept of cosmic sacramentality in general, with attention to both Eastern and Western theologians.
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Notes
See J. Martos (2001), Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to Sacraments in the Catholic Church, rev. and updated ed. (Liguori, MO: Liguori/Triumph), pp. 19–74.
See Martos, Doors to the Sacred, pp. 40–44; K. Irwin (1998), “Sacramentality and the Theology of Creation: A Recovered Paradigm for Sacramental Theology,” Louvain Studies 23: 167–168.
For Catholics, see J. Hart (2006), Sacramental Commons: Christian Ecological Ethics (New York: Rowman & Littlefield)
D. McDougal (2003), The Cosmos as the Primary Sacrament: The Horizon for an Ecological Sacramental Theology (New York: Peter Lang).
T. Runyon (1980), “The World as the Original Sacrament,” Worship 546: 495–511.
For a clear synopsis, see K. Osborne (1988), Sacramental Theology: A General Introduction (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press), pp. 69–99.
See M. Kadavil (2005), The World as Sacrament: Sacramentality of Creation from the Perspectives of Leonardo Boff, Alexander Schmemann and Saint Ephrem (Leuven: Peeters), pp. 68–81.
Irwin, “Sacramentality and the Theology of Creation,” 159. On the necessity of the retrieval of this notion, see K. Irwin (2002), “A Sacramental World? Sacramentality as the Primary Language for Sacraments,” Worship 76:3 (May): 197.
Denis Edwards makes a similar claim in his ecological exploration of the Eucharist. See D. Edwards (2008), “Eucharist and Ecology: Keeping Memorial of Creation,” Worship 82: 194–213
Edwards, “Eucharist and Ecology,” 207–208; see also K. Irwin (1994), “The Sacramentality of Creation and the Role of Creation in Liturgy and Sacraments,” in Kevin W. Irwin and Edmund J. Pellegrino (eds), Preserving the Creation. Environmental Theology and Ethics (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press), pp. 67–111.
For historical considerations, see J. Schaefer (2009), Theological Foundations for Environmental Ethics: Reconstructing Patristic & Medieval Concepts (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press), pp. 65–102
R. Bordeianu (2009), “Maximus and Ecology: The Relevance of Maximus the Confessor’s Theology of Creation for the Present Ecological Crisis,” Downside Review 127: 103–126.
See A. Schmemann (1973), For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press).
See D. Staniloae (2000), The Experience of God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. 2: The World: Creation and Deification, translated and edited by I. Ionita and R. Barringer (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press).
V. Lossky (1976), The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press)
K. Ware (1995), The Orthodox Way, rev. ed. (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press), p. 46.
J. Chryssavgis (2006), “The Earth as Sacrament: Insights from Orthodox Christian Theology and Spirituality,” in R. D. Gottlieb (ed.), The Orthodox Handbook of Religion and Ecology (New York: Oxford University Press), pp. 92–114.
J. Meyendorff (1974), Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends (New York: Fordham University Press), p. 142.
N. V. Harrison (2008), “The Human Person as the Image and Likeness of God,” in M. B. Cunningham and E. Theokritoff (eds), The Cambridge Companion to Orthodox Christian Theology (New York: Cambridge University Press), p. 86.
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© 2014 Ryan Patrick McLaughlin
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McLaughlin, R.P. (2014). The Sacramentality of the Cosmos. In: Christian Theology and the Status of Animals. The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137344588_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137344588_8
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