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The increasing awareness of environmental issues as ultimately moral issues has led to the intersection of religion and environment. Sacramental Commons presents a unique way of looking at this topic by relating the Christian word "sacrament" (signs of divine presence) to the term "commons" (shared place and shared goods, among people and between people and the natural world), suggesting that local natural settings and local communities can be a source for respect and compassion. Sacramental Commons uses Earth-oriented biblical teachings, and ideas from such thinkers as Hildegard, St. Francis, John Muir, and Black Elk, to provide insights about divine immanence in creation, human commitments to creation, and human accountability to the Spirit, Earth, and biotic community. It extends the concept of "natural rights" beyond humans to include all nature, and affirms intrinsic value in ecosystems in whole and in part. Sacramental Commons declares that the Earth commons and its goods should be shared equitably by human communities and individuals living in interdependent relationships with other members of the community of life. It suggests essential values that will stimulate care for the commons, and embodies them in principles of an innovative Christian Ecological Ethics.
Published | Jul 27 2006 |
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Format | Hardback |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 274 |
ISBN | 9780742545991 |
Imprint | Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |
Dimensions | 238 x 184 mm |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
Sacramental Commons is itself a sacramental occasion. Through John Hart's religiously and morally sensitive reflections, we can discern the natural signs of the Spirit's creative love and, consequently, our responsibilities to sustain the integrity of Earth's sacred habitats and inhabitants. The keynote in Hart's moral vision is a central demand of the Age: the integration of the social and ecological common goods.
James A. Nash, author of Loving Nature
Sacramental Commons reminds people that Indigenous Peoples' struggles for sovereignty and human rights continue today. John Hart honors the life and teachings of Phillip Deere and David Sohappy, spiritual leaders and healers who promoted justice for Indigenous Peoples and respect for Mother Earth. In their spirit, all people should walk with the Creator and care for our sacred Mother Earth. Mitakuye Oyasin . We are all related.
William Means, International Indian Treaty Council
John Hart has taken a leadership role in bringing Western religious traditions to support a more integral human-Earth presence to each other. In Sacramental Commons , John Hart provides a substantial contribution to the Great Work.
From the Afterword by Thomas Berry, author of The Dream of the Earth and The Great Work
The importance of John Hart's contribution is that he recovers natural sacraments and joins them to social sacraments. Discussing a sacramental vision of the world as John Hart does helps to create a new spirituality, that is, a new experience of the Spirit acting within everything. At the same time, he offers a valuable contribution for a culture to appreciate the sacrality of creation and learn to respect it and care for it as it is in itself and as it is in communion with us.
From the Foreword by Leonardo Boff, author of Ecology and Liberation and Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor
Sacramental Commons is a comprehensive vision of Earth as a natural sacrament. Hart produces an ecological systematic theology, or, better, an ecosystemic theology integrated into a sacramental social ecology. It is unexcelled as a genuinely Catholic and catholic (universal) vision of who we are, where we are, and what we ought to do.
Holmes Rolston, III, author of Environmental Ethics and Conserving Natural Value
Sacramental Commons is thoughtful, perceptive and insightful.
Elie Wiesel
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