Creation, God, and Humanity: Engaging the Mystery of Suffering within the Sacred Cosmos – by Catherine Wright (H3)

We live in a sacred yet unfinished world in crisis and this reality is relatively new; our evolutionary worldview only came to the forefront in the last few centuries but the phenomenon we call climate change has only become more common in the last several decades. Creation, God, and Humanity awakens believers to the sacred revelation to be discovered in our encounters with creation and constructs an ecological theological anthropology to highlight the interconnectivity among God, creation, and humanity. This new relational framework is not without deep roots in the Christian tradition. Classic figures such as St. Francis, Hildegard of Bingen, the Desert Mothers, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Irenaeus, and Maximus the Confessor all witness, in various ways, their theological anthropologies. An ecological theological anthropology that fosters a deep solidarity with creation holds great promise today, especially for Christians who desire to describe, interpret, and respond to suffering faithfully and compassionately in a sacred, evolving world.