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Sustainability: Economics, Ecology, and Justice
Can a livable society also be sustainable? How can we move beyond anthropocentrism without surrendering humanity's unique contribution to the globe? What of the contradictions conservative economics seems to reveal in so-called liberal approaches to economics and ecology? Does Christianity have anything to say about living in a world of limits? In 'Sustainability', John Cobb argues that reflections on ecological issues inevitably raise religious questions as well. Admittedly, traditional Christian teaching to subdue the earth had contributed to the mindset responsible for the crisis we are facing today. But Christianity can contribute to the discussion of how to keep the planet from ecological disaster. For one thing, Christianity can keep ecological issues closely tied to those of social justice -- a necessity for a sustainable society. Christianity can also make clear the need for individual change of heart (conversion) that is a prerequisite to real social and economic change. As the Earth Summit testified, our world stands in need of new visions, to nurture new ways of integrating its human, mineral, animal, vegetable, and energy components. 'Sustainability' is John Cobb at his best . . . timely, incisive, and vigorous.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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About the author
John B. Cobb Jr.
102 books27 followersJohn Boswell Cobb Jr. was an American theologian, philosopher, and environmentalist. Cobb was regarded as a preeminent scholar in the field of process philosophy and process theology, the school of thought associated with the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. He was the author of more than fifty books. In 2014, Cobb was elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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April 13, 2007
John B. Cobb, Jr. has been a prophetic voice to American Christians on issues of global justice (both environmental and social) for nearly a half-century now. Unfortunately, much of his wisdom has remained unheeded, which doesn't speak well for us, given the usual fate of those who ignore prophets...
In this book, written in 1992, Cobb presents a deep understanding of the interrelation of social justice, environmental sustainability, and global economics that most people in the church are only beginning to understand now. He calls for Christians to reject the false beliefs that have become so wed to the faith in our age, including what he sees as a Biblically unjustifiable anthropocentrism, and an understanding of poverty as the ultimate evil. The latter ultimately leads us to neglect the true goods of the natural world provided by God for the false benefits of consumerism that destroy our communities, not merely by swapping relationships with people for relationships with things, but through the creation of economic structures whose whole focus is the breakdown of communities, focused as they are on amassing material wealth for individuals rather than well being for communities.
Cobb's book is a call for Christians to understand how the structures they are implicitly and explicitly supporting - agriculture dominated by agribusinesses, households based on consumption, 'development' in the Third World, the spread of 'free' trade (which he demonstrates is generally more exploitative than liberative) - are damaging to themselves, to those they purport to serve, and to God. He thus calls for Christians to join with both the environmental and global justice movements, not only to learn from others already engaged in the work Christians should be taking on anyhow, but also to provide a perspective that can add spiritual depth and, most of all, hope.
The one way in which this book is not satisfying is that it fails to fully develop each perspective that it presents, nor does it always present an argument for each of its conclusions. This is, in large part, because Cobb has made these arguments in previous works, and is trying to present an overall vision here. But that could be a frustration for some readers.
Some quotes to consider:
“Perhaps for affluent Christians the deepest level of response to the awareness of limits is the recognition that we cannot free ourselves from guilt.” (19)
“Only as local communities regain basic control over their own economies can there be health in human community and an effective community of people within the larger environment of living things. Further, it is only by this radical decentralization that dependence on exhaustible supplies of energy can be overcome.” (48)
“Where revolutionary structural change is possible, its support is an option for Christians.” (23) [By 'revolutionary' you can take him to mean changes that are culturally radical, rather than, say, Marxist class struggle.]
“It is past time for us as Christians to repudiate the anthropocentrism that is often practiced by us and in our name. The world needs our leadership, not only in acknowledging that nature is our context but also in appreciating the intrinsic value of this nature.” (99)
In this book, written in 1992, Cobb presents a deep understanding of the interrelation of social justice, environmental sustainability, and global economics that most people in the church are only beginning to understand now. He calls for Christians to reject the false beliefs that have become so wed to the faith in our age, including what he sees as a Biblically unjustifiable anthropocentrism, and an understanding of poverty as the ultimate evil. The latter ultimately leads us to neglect the true goods of the natural world provided by God for the false benefits of consumerism that destroy our communities, not merely by swapping relationships with people for relationships with things, but through the creation of economic structures whose whole focus is the breakdown of communities, focused as they are on amassing material wealth for individuals rather than well being for communities.
Cobb's book is a call for Christians to understand how the structures they are implicitly and explicitly supporting - agriculture dominated by agribusinesses, households based on consumption, 'development' in the Third World, the spread of 'free' trade (which he demonstrates is generally more exploitative than liberative) - are damaging to themselves, to those they purport to serve, and to God. He thus calls for Christians to join with both the environmental and global justice movements, not only to learn from others already engaged in the work Christians should be taking on anyhow, but also to provide a perspective that can add spiritual depth and, most of all, hope.
The one way in which this book is not satisfying is that it fails to fully develop each perspective that it presents, nor does it always present an argument for each of its conclusions. This is, in large part, because Cobb has made these arguments in previous works, and is trying to present an overall vision here. But that could be a frustration for some readers.
Some quotes to consider:
“Perhaps for affluent Christians the deepest level of response to the awareness of limits is the recognition that we cannot free ourselves from guilt.” (19)
“Only as local communities regain basic control over their own economies can there be health in human community and an effective community of people within the larger environment of living things. Further, it is only by this radical decentralization that dependence on exhaustible supplies of energy can be overcome.” (48)
“Where revolutionary structural change is possible, its support is an option for Christians.” (23) [By 'revolutionary' you can take him to mean changes that are culturally radical, rather than, say, Marxist class struggle.]
“It is past time for us as Christians to repudiate the anthropocentrism that is often practiced by us and in our name. The world needs our leadership, not only in acknowledging that nature is our context but also in appreciating the intrinsic value of this nature.” (99)
Displaying 1 of 1 review