Ecology and Religion

From the Psalms in the Bible to sacred rivers in Hinduism, the natural world has been integral to the world's religions. John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker argue that today's growing environmental challenges make the relationship ever more vital. The authors explore the history of religious traditions and the environment, and the emergence of religious ecology. They then describe four fundamental aspects of religious life: orienting, grounding, nurturing, and transforming. Readers see how these phenomena are experienced in a Native American religion, Orthodox Christianity, Confucianism, and Hinduism. In this concise primer, Grim and Tucker elegantly illustrate religion's role in sustaining people and ecosystems. Students of environmental ethics, theology and ecology, world religions, and environmental studies will receive a solid grounding in the burgeoning field of religious ecology.