Hope in the Age of Climate Change: Creation Care This Side of the Resurrection

It is difficult to be hopeful in the midst of daily news about the effects of climate change on people and our planet. While the Christian basis for hope is the resurrection of Jesus, unfortunately far too many American Protestant Christians do not connect this belief with the daily witness of their faith. This book argues that the resurrection proclaims a notion of hope that should be the foundation of a theology of creation care that manifests itself explicitly in the daily lives of believers. Christian hope not only inspires us to do great and courageous things but also serves as a critique of current systems and powers that degrade humans, nonhumans, and the rest of creation and thus cause us to be hopeless. Belief in the resurrection hope should cause us to be a different sort of people. Christians should think, purchase, eat, and act in novel and courageous ways because they are motivated daily by the resurrection of Jesus. This is the only way to be hopeful in the age of climate change.

Chris Doran is Associate Professor of Religion at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. His research and teaching have been on a variety of areas related to the interaction between theology and science. His current work focuses on developing theological responses to climate change and its effects on human and nonhuman creatures as well as the rest of creation.