Book: Faith in a Changing Climate. Table of Contents

Credit: Ian Sutton

We are working on a book Faith in a Changing Climate. Shown here is the top-level working Table of Contents. (We stress the word working — the contents will change as the book progresses.)

The material provided here is a summary of the book’s Table of Contents. The full TOC is available here.

Chapter 1 — An Opportunity for Church Leadership
The Parable of the Inheritance
Organization of This Book
Isaiah (8th century BCE)
Our Predicaments
Three Guidelines
Caution
Paradoxes
From Augustine to Newton to Schrödinger’s Cat
Climate Change Background
Where Is God In All This?
Today’s Church
The Missing Happy Chapter

Chapter 2 — A Journey
The Parable of the Wine Vat
Jeremiah (7th Century BCE)
Lay Theology
All Disciplines
A Chemical Engineer’s Journey
1: The Machine Stops
2: Entropy: Into the Greenhouse World
3: Twilight in the Desert
4: The Hubbert Peak
5: Sustainable Growth — An Oxymoron
6: No Brighter Future
7: City of God
8: Light Bulbs
9: The Ladder of Awareness
10: Laudato Sí

Chapter 3 — The 300-Year Party
The Parable of the Reindeer
Thomas Newcomen (1664-1729)
The Party Starts
The Party Ends

Chapter 4 — The City of Man
The Parable of the Red Queen
Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE)
Thermodynamic Limits
Energy Returned on Energy Invested (ERoEI)
The Tragedy of the Commons
Natural Resources
Climate Change
Environmental
Ecosphere Destruction
Population
Economics
The Consequences
Decline and Collapse
Dark Ages

Chapter 5 — Exile
The Parable of Ozymandias
John Shelby Spong (1931-2021)
Climate Exile
Exile from Eden
A Church in Decline
OK Boomer
Denial
Types of Denial
Responding to Denial
Biblical Apocalypse
Realities
Hope with Patience
Plant a Tree

Chapter 6 — Green Technology to the Rescue
The Parable of the Blind Golfers
Al Gore (1948- )
Wisdom and Cleverness
Listen to the Engineers and Project Managers
Realities
Alternative Energy Sources
Solar Power
Wind Power
Biofuels
Nuclear Power (Fission)
Geothermal
Futuristic Energy Sources
Energy Storage
Carbon Capture and Storage
Geoengineering
Artificial Intelligence

Chapter 7 — Toward a New Theology
The Parable of the Green Factory
Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)
The Slough of Despond
Truth
Theology
Biblical Theology
Historical Theology
Dogmatic Theology
Practical Theology
Elements of a New Theology
Social Justice
Faith vs. Works
Gaia
Plant a Tree

Chapter 8 — A Resilient Church
The Parable of the Church Kitchen
Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-c. 547)
Leadership and Management
The Church’s Opportunity
The Emergent Church
Leaving the Church of Endless Material Progress
Communication
Four Groups
Systems Thinking
Spiritually-Based Leadership
Lessons from the Pandemic
Semper Reformanda
From the Pulpit
The Net Zero Church
Community
Food
The Parish
Monasticism
Mission Statements
A Secular City of God
Taking Action
Four Roads
The First Road — Public Policy
The Second Road — Local Action
The Third Road — Retreat
The Fourth Road — Adaptation

Chapter 9 — Three Guidelines
Noah
1. Understand Physical Realities
2. Accept and Adapt
3. Live within Gaia
Final Thoughts
The Canticle of the Sun

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