Gemeren, van, Tom
(2018)
From Cosmology to Ecology.
Master thesis, .
Abstract
The eschatological ethic of 1 Cor 7.29-31, in which Paul deals with his threatened and changing world, has the potential to be politically reactivated in our ecological discourse. Paul’s creative use and critique of his politico-philosophical environment, combined with the rediscovery of the Apostle by Continental Philosophy, shows the relevance of his thought for rethinking the world. In Paul’s Graeco-Roman context κόσμος included an all-encompassing worldview. Originally an indication for order, the term came to designate society and the universe. Through this development the societal hierarchy was projected on the macrocosmos and legitimized as natural. Paul’s critique to the dominant Graeco-Roman κόσμος -ideology, nuancing the κόσμος in the perspective of Christ’s resurrection, can inspire an ecologically informed ethic in which the natural status of the universe prescribes our behaviour. In the destabilized world, Paul instructs to use the possibilities of the current world-order while remaining in it. Although the structure of the world is temporal, humans should prevent to destroy the world themselves by using the world in a limited way. Translated into an ecological program, the Apostle prevents the ambition of saving the world and inspires to use the world’s resources in a responsible and sustainable way. Continental Philosophy shows the ability of Paul to speak outside of church and university. Keeping the subjective reactivation of Badiou and Žižek in mind, Paul can not only be a Christian ecologist, but an audacious politician as well. In this way, Paul’s cosmology has the potential to be translated into a modern-day ecology.
| Type: |
Thesis
(Master)
|
| Supervisors (RUG): |
| Supervisor | E-mail | Tutor organization | Tutor email |
|---|
| Kooten, G.H. van | G.H.van.Kooten@rug.nl | | | | Roig Lanzillotta, F.L. | F.L.Roig.Lanzillotta@rug.nl | | |
|
| Academic year: |
2017- 2018 |
| Date of delivery: |
31 Aug 2018 |
| Last modified: |
31 Aug 2018 09:27 |
| URI: |
https://rcs.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/391 |
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