| There is a general consensus that we are facing a global ecologic crisis, one tied directly to the affairs of human activity. This global environmental degradation is threatening the well-being and continued existence of life as we currently know it, for all life-forms. Though there are many components to this ecologic crisis, all can be subsumed under the heading of justice concerns---justice for Earth and all her inhabitants. A crisis of such scale requires an environmental/Earth ethic large enough to address justice on a global/inclusive scale.; This dissertation argues that the Christian tradition has a role to play and a vital offering to make. Christianity already has a strong scripturally-based land ethic as well as the concept of hospitality to the stranger/ xe&d12;nov . It is the premise of this dissertation that the Christian rubric of the stranger (other/ xe&d12;nov ) should be broadened to include not only humans, but non-humans and eco-systems as well. Such a broadening is not only both biologically and theologically warranted, it is a non-hierarchical dynamic which speaks to an Earth honoring ethic of relatedness. This dissertation explores: the fluidity of the xe&d12;nov relationship dynamic; several major criticisms of Christianity's culpability in our ecologic crisis voiced by Arthur Schopenhauer, Lynn White, and Christopher Stone; how a broadened understanding of the stranger/neighbor compels a non-hierarchical engagement with the other in our midst. |
