A New Climate for Christology: Kenosis, Climate Change, and Befriending Nature

by Sallie McFague

Overview

For decades, Sallie McFague lent her voice and her theological imagination to addressing and advocating for the most important issues of our time. In doing so, she influenced an entire generation and empowered countless people in their efforts to put religion in the service of meeting human needs in difficult times.

In this final book, finished in the year before her death in 2019, McFague summarizes the work of a lifetime with a clear call to live in "such a way that all might flourish." The way, she argues, is the "kenotic interpretation of Christianity: the odd arrangement whereby in order to gain your life, you must lose it. The way of the cross is total self-emptying so that one can receive life, real life, and then pass this life on."

A masterful and life-giving summing-up of a theology that makes a profound difference for us, our communities, and our planet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506478739
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	11/02/2021
Pages:	125
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Sallie McFaguewas the Carpenter Professor of Theology at VanderbiltDivinity School, where she taught for thirty years. She is now Distinguished Theologian in Residence at the Vancouver School of Theology in Vancouver, British Columbia. Among her many influential works, all from Fortress Press, are:

Life Abundant: Rethinking Theology and Economy for a Planet in Peril (2000)

Super, Natural Christians: How We Should Love Nature (1997)

The Body of God: An Ecological Theology (1993)

Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age (1987), which received the American Academy of Religion's Award for Excellence

Metaphorical Theology: Models of God in Religious Language (1982)

"Sallie McFague is a prominent figure among the growing number of theologians who have been attempting to rethink the Christian understanding of God's and humanity's place in the physical world."

-Chronicle of Higher Education

"The power of McFague's work is in its ability to speak to the American Protestant mainstream, challenging Christians with models of God that reflect both ecological sensitivity and concern for justice."

-Sharon Welch, Harvard Divinity School

Table of Contents

Publisher's Note vii

Prologue: Jesus Christ and Climate Change ix

Introduction: Kenosis, Christ, and Climate Change 1

1 The Kenotic Stories of Jesus and God 23

2 Postmodern Insights for Climate Change 45

3 Divine and Human Relational Ontology 55

4 God as Friend and We as Friends of the World 69

5 Christian Theology in View of Kenosis, Theosis, and Postmodernism 89

Afterword: A Reflection on Kenosis and Christianity 107

Notes 111

Index 119

Editorial Reviews

"A breathtaking—and breath-giving—regeneration of the ancient symbol of kenosis as a rigorously ecological practice." —Catherine Keller, Drew, The Theological School

"The late Sallie McFague left us with yet one more amazing gift. In her usual inimitable, clear, and compelling prose, McFague offers Christians a response to the existential threat that climate change poses to our planet and all of its inhabitants." —Ellen T. Armour, Vanderbilt Divinity School

"The insightful challenge McFague gives in A New Climate for Christology demands our full consideration." —Miguel de la Torre, Iliff School of Theology

"Sallie McFague's last gift to theological discourse should spur Christians to think realistically about our relatedness to other species and systems of Earth and to act responsibly to mitigate the climate crisis." —Jame Schaefer, Marquette University

From the Publisher