Needed: A Systems Theology for Our Times
Yesterday’s post ― It’s a Start ― was to do with a meeting of our Creation Care committee. I noted that, although the title of the group is ‘creation care’, virtually all the discussion was to do with climate change. Yet climate is just one part of the overall predicament that we face. Indeed, climate can be seen as a consequence of more foundational problems. In attempting to solve climate issues by themselves, we could reach sub-optimal solutions.
Another aspect of the discussion was that it did not have a specifically religious theme ― the same conversation could have taken place in any number of secular meetings of concerned citizens. (The meeting did, however, start and conclude with carefully chosen prayers.)
A challenge for the faith community is to find a message that stands out from general expressions of concern. But, before working our messaging, we need to figure out a theology that speaks to these difficult and rather scary issues. And that theology needs to be a systems theology.