A Faith that Loves the Earth: The Ecological Theology of Karl Rahner

This book presents the argument that Karl Rahner’s theology has a profoundly ‘ecological’ dimension. In this argument, ‘ecological theology’ is understood to be a kind of theology which views the natural world as a worthy object of concern, an object which demands theological interpretation. The work undertakes an analysis of four models of ecological theology: feminist, process, incarnational/sacramental, and Hegelian. The study argues that any theology which aspires to be ecological must at least address the questions of human being’s relation to the world, God’s relation to the world, and the place of the material world in the process of salvation. Rahner’s theology is examined in light of his answers to these questions in successive chapters which deal with his theological anthropology, doctrine of God, understanding of the Incarnation, and eschatology. What emerges from this examination is a truly ecological theology, a theology which understands human being, the world, and God as fundamentally related, without reducing any one of these (especially God) to the others. In this way, this book seeks to show that working from a profoundly non-dualistic metaphysical vision rooted in an interpretation of the Incarnation, Rahner develops a thoroughly ecological position which can adequately answer the three crucial questions mentioned above. The conclusion of this book suggests ways in which Rahner’s insights might be appropriated.