In yesterday’s DM and video, I praised the recent document from the Vatican International Theological Commission on “Taking Care of Our Common Home.” Here I offer some critique of the document. Overall, I would give it a B or B+.
What could be improved on?
First, by leading with a long theological discourse on the Trinity, it creates a context that is not at all welcoming to other religious traditions. Creation, after all, belongs to all of us, as does science that studies creation.
Why not begin with what we have in common and the work we need to accomplish together before time runs out for our species?
Instead, the document ends with that and begins with fourth-century “fathers” parsing dogmatic discussions about the Trinitarian mystery. While offering some insights and inspiration, an in-house theological discourse is hardly inviting to those of other traditions.
Also: Why isn’t this document officially translated into English? The current AI translation frequently makes no sense.
Thirdly, why call for an “ecological spirituality” when we already have a name for what is needed, a name bequeathed to us by the great Pére Chenu, OP, who named the “creation spirituality” tradition in the last class he ever taught.
The word “creation” is far larger than the word “ecological,” for it includes all 13.8 billion years of the cosmos, including but not limited to the 4.5 billion years of our Earth home. Creation made Earth possible and still does. When we gaze at the stars at night, we are gazing at an ancient sky. “Ecology is functional cosmology,” as Thomas Berry teaches. Begin with the whole, not the part.
Creation Spirituality is a living movement with a rich heritage already, a theological lineage, a pedagogy for re-learning mysticism and the sacredness of things and much more. Its current incarnation was developed by scientists and theologians working together in North America, including Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, Rupert Sheldrake, indigenous teachers like Sister Jose Hobday and Lakota elders, and the martyred rainforest defender, Sr. Dorothy Stang. Not a single reference to any of them is among the many references in this document, and Teilhard de Chardin is mentioned only in a footnote.
Fourthly, it was Aquinas, not Bonaventure, who brought the most important scientist of the Middle Ages, Aristotle, into linking faith and science. Having the courage to break with Plato and Neo-Platonism, he paid a severe price, being condemned three times after he died. Science historian Michael Polanyi said Augustine “destroyed interest in science for 1000 years” in the West.
Aquinas said the cosmos began from God’s “sheer joy” that all creatures participate in the joy of existence and that “revelation comes in two books: Nature and the Bible.”
Fifthly, the entire document lacks any mention of the essential role of the divine feminine in eco-spirituality. Earth is called “Mother Earth” for a reason. Patriarchy and patriarchal theology obstruct a creation spirituality. According to Rosemary Ruether, dualism is the foundation of patriarchy. Dualism is Augustine saying, “spirit is whatever is not matter.” Non-dualism is Aquinas saying, “spirit is the elan and vitality in everything.”
Adrienne Rich names a second patriarchal foundation: “fatalistic self-hatred.” This is one reason beauty, joy, and gratitude for creation constitute the starting point, the Via Positiva, for a creation spirituality.
The section on spirituality is paper thin and ignores the four paths of CS even though Laudato Si is built on them.
Thank God there is only one reference to “original sin” in the entire document. As Elie Wiesel put it, “not only is original sin not in the Bible, it is alien to Jewish thinking.” Jesus never heard of original sin.
He did hear of original blessing/original goodness. Anyone acquainted with Genesis one knows this. Certainly humanity is flawed—but we improve by holding up the goodness of existence.
Banner Image: Ecology as cosmology, creation ongoing: “Mystic Mountain” in the Carina Nebula, with a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust being pushed apart from without by light and winds from nearby stars and from within by jets of gas from infant stars. Photo by NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)
Queries for Contemplation
Do you agree that the return of the Divine Feminine and moving beyond patriarchal dualism and self-hatred is integral to an earth-based and creation spirituality? And that recognizing the “very goodness” of creation that Genesis One talks about is integral to inspiring and motivating humanity to care about it?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality
Passion for Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond
Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake,The Physics of Angels: Exploring the Realm Where Science & Spirit Meet
Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake, Natural Grace: Dialogues on creation, darkness, and the soul in spirituality and science
Western Spirituality: Historical Roots, Ecumenical Routes
Charles Burack, ed., Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society
