Theology in the Capitalocene - Rambling Readers

eBook

English language

Published May 18, 2022 by 1517 Media.

ISBN:: 978-1-5064-3158-1

No rating (1 review)

In times of rising pressures and catastrophe, people yearn for alternatives. So does the planet. Protests are often a start, bubbling up from growing unease and discomfort with what is. But the success of protests depends on being able to make oneself heard and on political, economic, cultural, or religious power. And without the parallel production of political, economic, cultural, and religious alternatives, even protests tend to get stuck in the imagination of the dominant systems, often without knowing it. Rebellion is not revolution, nor does it always lead to transformation.

2 editions

Andii reviewed Theology in the Capitalocene by Joerg Rieger

Capitalocene, theology and social justice

No rating

This is a book for people who are comfortable with learning new stuff, who would like to make and assess links between theology, climate and environmental emergencies and who aren't afraid to consider economic analyses which include socialist takes. All of those things float my boat, so it has been an interesting read for me. It is undertaken with a scholarly meticulousness which is reassuring and yet doesn't become boring. The task of thinking theologically about what is now emerging as a new world paradigm is vital if churches and Christians are to respond well and to be more likely to lean into God's agenda. The danger otherwise is that we will continue to be hoiked along by political and spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly realms.

I warmed to the fact that the title has 'capitalocene' rather than anthropocene. This because I think (as the book says itself …

This is a book for people who are comfortable with learning new stuff, who would like to make and assess links between theology, climate and environmental emergencies and who aren't afraid to consider economic analyses which include socialist takes. All of those things float my boat, so it has been an interesting read for me. It is undertaken with a scholarly meticulousness which is reassuring and yet doesn't become boring. The task of thinking theologically about what is now emerging as a new world paradigm is vital if churches and Christians are to respond well and to be more likely to lean into God's agenda. The danger otherwise is that we will continue to be hoiked along by political and spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly realms.

I warmed to the fact that the title has 'capitalocene' rather than anthropocene. This because I think (as the book says itself in its opening sections) that we have to recognise that the determining force for planetary change over the last couple of hundred years has been driven by capital -that is profit-seeking, oppressive cost cutting and exploitative wage setting if not outright slavery and resource theft. (I keep using in my own head the term 'mammonist' to help ground it in scriptural discourse to some extent.)

I love the ambition of the book: to take in a global view of economics, environment and social conditions and bring these into dialogue with theology in such a way as to help us as Christians to navigate what is taking place. This is actually what we need to be doing to help shape the formative agenda for Christian discipleship for the next couple of generations (and probably/possibly beyond). In my book that latter is the second mark of mission in relation to the third, fourth and fifth and in tandem these enable approaches to the first mark which have a chance of credibility.

I don't think there are easy answers, and they are not offered here. But as a way to help us to analyse and relate to Christian theology, this is a useful book to read and reflect on. I think it will be appearing in some of my bibliographies.

Link-Love Theology in the Capitalocene on Bookshop Joerg Rieger’s Website Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice Website Homebrewed Christianity Interview

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