Dr. Thomas Berry, a catholic priest, cosmologist, and geologist, is a proponent of the Earth Wisdom environmental worldview through his advocacy for Ecotheology. In his Schumacher lecture,“The Ecozoic Era”,he argues that a misunderstanding of and lack of respect for the natural world have resulted in such an enormous disturbance of the biosphere that humans have endangered the survival of all life on earth, including their own (Berry 194). Despite humanity’s apparent progress in industry and mass production/consumption, pursued to ensure quality/longevity of life (for example the innovations surrounding petroleum and acquisition of natural resources), humans have corrupted the balance of carbon which makes up all life on earth in such a short amount of time that nature has been unable to adjust. Berry argues that this decimation of the planet’s Biosystems is a product of humanity’s lack of concern for macrophase biology, or “the integral functioning of the entire complex of Biosystems of the planet” (Berry 194), brought about by blinded concern for the smaller scale, microphase elements of solely human efforts. The macrophase biology lens views land, water, air, life, and the human mind as the 5 basic and essential spheres that must be acknowledged and respected in a functioning planetary life system. Our human error has been that we believe we can, without large scale and permanent consequences, exploit natural processes for humanity’s immediate benefit.
Berry believes that humans cannot view environmental preservation with the end that our current industrial system which plunders the earth for resources can acceptably continue. He insists that the current system has bankrupted the earth, and the only way forward is dissolution of the present industrial establishment. He suggests that a new, non-anthropocentric biological period, the “Ecozoic Era”, must replace our current anthropocentric worldview which is terminating essential geo-biological planetary systems. Our current planetary distresses of mass extinction, spent resources, and general natural devastation Evidence for Berry being a proponent of the Earth Wisdom environmental worldview is seen through his belief in the universe as a natural communion, with every component of the earth being relationally integral. He argues further that the habitation of humanity on earth must respect the right of other members of earth to habitation as well; just as an individual organism cannot survive in fragments, the earth community on a macrophase biology level cannot survive in fragments. The Ecozoic Era can be brought in through a human understanding of the Integral Life Community: “a new mode of mutual presence between the human and the natural world” (Berry 196-197). This new era guided by an Earth Wisdom worldview must remedy present anthropocentric stewardship worldviews utilized in environmental preservation capacities, instead holding that Earth- not humanity- is primary, and can survive the loss of humanity, but humans cannot survive the loss of Earth.
His Ecotheology element comes into his lecture when he claims that human understanding of ourselves and our roles in the universe is dictated by the stories we believe about how our universe came into being. He states that our reverence for the universe which could have prevented earth’s current decimation was lost when the story became scientific and eliminated the reverence for the natural world which was emphasized in religious/spiritual stories. The Ecozoic Era must be pursued ecumenically to restore that universal reverence and revise the present methods of human operations which hold that humanity has a natural dominion over earth.
Another work of Thomas Berry is his book, Evening Thoughts: Reflecting on Earth as Sacred Community. A common thread between his reflections in the previously mentioned lecture and this book are his claims that humanity must proceed with “a great work”, creatively transforming infrastructures though a spiritual reverence for the intrinsic rights/value of all creatures that exist; God’s creatures, both abiotic and living. His argument is reminiscent of Leopold’s science based land-ethic, but with an added, non-scientific element of the natural world as a manifestation of the divine. He argues that one of the major reasons why wonder and awe for the interdependent earth community have disappeared is the disagreement between fundamentalist religion and mechanistic science. Modern science and Christianity are, according to Berry, one of the foundational reasons why we find ourselves in this present day environmental crisis, as it enforces a worldview where humans possess (God or nature given) a dominion over the universe to use its resources as humans see fit.
(Image: Pope Francis, Laudato Si’. Google Images, public domain.)
The Christian narrative that Berry finds to be most important for environmental progress is not the dominion worldview, but a worldview founded in the belief that God created nature in his image, and to respect the divinity of nature means to act as stewards and destroy our notions of a planetary hierarchy where humanity has the most value. This sentiment was echoed by Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’, or “Praise be to you, my Lord”. Pope Francis reflects upon the Gospel of Creation, and how the relationship between God, our human neighbors, and earth have been broken. Those three relationships between humans and the universe are presently believed to be in conflict with each other, but should actually be given respect as harmonious. As the earth and the universe is a gift from God, Pope Francis agrees with Berry’s sentiment through the Pope’s claim that the universe story should not be guided by unbridled exploitation in the name of God given dominion, but by stewardship for natural resources with respect to harmony, divinity, and interdependence of earthly relationships (Carter). In order for the new universal story of the Ecozoic Era- the endeavor of “the Great Work” -to be accomplished, humans must bridge that disagreement and find a bio-spiritual, Eco-theological kinship with all parts of the “single, if highly differentiated community” on earth (Berry, Evening thoughts 57).
WORD COUNT: 1107
2 line discussion question: Berry acknowledges the immense damage done (on a macro-biological level) by humanity’s current anthropocentric industrial systems, and suggests a reformulation of values to acknowledge the Integral Life Community. I am unsure what he would propose to address the damage that has already been done in addition to preventing humanity from doing more damage?
CITATIONS:
Carter, Joe. “A Guide to Laudato Si: A Section by Section Summary of Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the Environment”. Action Institute Powerblog. June 17, 2015. Online source: http://blog.acton.org/archives/79408-a-guide-to-laudato-si-a-section-by-section-summary-of-pope-francis-encyclical-on-the-environment.html
Berry, Thomas. “The Ecozoic Era”. Eleventh Annual E.F. Schumacher Lectures. Schumacher Center for New Economics. Great Barrington, MA. 1991. P192-203.
Berry, Thomas. Evening Thoughts: Reflecting on Earth as Sacred Community. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco. 2015. Print. P43-59; p145-151.
Environmental Ethics 
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