The creative indwelling of the spirit: A Christian ecological theology from an East Asian perspective

Since the writer is deeply concerned with both ecological issues and the Christian masculine theistic understanding of God, for the writer, the connecting principle of these two concerns is the Spirit. From an East Asian perspective, there is an opportunity for understanding the concept of God from a “cosmo-anthropological” perspective which can signify the intrinsic relationship between God and the world, including human beings. In this way, the concept of ch'i helps the writer to understand the cosmological implication of the Spirit and its inclusive presence in all existence. From this standpoint, the writer would like to look at the concept of ch'i as the principle of creativity of God and as the Spirit which signifies immanent transcendence of God in the world, including human beings. Thus, the writer wants to employ Barth's conception of “analogy of relation,” which conceives the analogy in terms of a dynamic relationship of the ch'i as the Spirit.; By investigating the idea of God as Spirit the writer intends to reinterpret the idea of God in relation to the world from the concept of ch'i and its implications from its non-dualistic framework as a hermeneutic tool for my constructive theology.; The writer's methodology is to expound systematically the thought of each of the three theologians, Barth, McFague and Moltmann. This revision is very promising for constructing the idea of God in relation to the world toward a Christian ecological theology from a new ‘cosmo-anthropological’ perspective, that can also be called a new pneumatological perspective. This task of analysis and critique falls under the analogy of relation, which the writer will use for hermeneutic tool for the philosophical and theological task of elucidating a root metaphor that best expresses the immanent-trascendent ch'i as the Spirit. This study will be unfinished but it is a new challenge to explore and develop the unique concept of ch'i and its implications for a construction of a Christian ecological theology.