Nature, Space and the Sacred Transdisciplinary Perspectives

Contents: Preface, Sallie McFague; Editorial, S. Bergmann; P.M. Scott, M. Jansdotter Samuelson and H. Bedford-Strohm; Nature space and the sacred: introductory remarks, Sigurd Bergmann; Part A Earthing the Sacred: Transforming the theological climate in response to climate change: Jesus and the mystery of giving, Anne Primavesi; The whole household of God: the use of the oikos metaphor in the built and non-built environment, Ernst M. Conradie; Interpreting heaven and earth: the theological construction of nature, place and the built environment, Forrest Clingerman. Part B Ethics in Natural and Built Space: Atmospheric space, climate change and the communion of saints, Michael S. Northcott; Biodiversity and Christian ethics: a critical discussion, Anders Melin; Master of the universe or the humble servant: how the concept of sustainable development is affecting our understanding of humanity and nature, Björn Vikström; The proper praise for an architecture of the improper - Joseph Beuys: building with butter, Annette Homann; Ideal landscapes - landscape design between beauty and meaning, Carola Wingren; The altar of the dead: a temporal space for memory and meaning in the contemporary urban landscape, Anna Petersson. Part C Nature as Entanglement: The wedge and the knot: hammering and stitching the face of nature, Tim Ingold; Knowing natural spaces: reinterpreting deep ecology as phenomenology, Kingsley Goodwin; Seeking transformation in a consumer world: can we achieve a unity of ends and means?, Anna Duhon and Lisa M. Jokivirta; Restoring or restorying nature?, Glenn Deliège. Part D Sacred Geographies: Indigenous, embodied knowing: a study in Crow/Apsaalooke space, nature and the sacred, John A. Grim; Natural sacred places in landscape: an Estonian model, Marju Kõivupuu; The domestic order and its feral threat: the intellectual heritage of the neolithic landscape, Tihamer R. Kover; Sacred sites in Kyrgyzstan: spiritual mission, health and pilgrimage, Gulnara

Biography

S. Bergmann, Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway; P. M. Scott, Lecturer, University of Manchester, UK; M. Jansdotter Samuelsson, Lecturer, Karlstad University, Sweden; H. Bedford-Strohm, Dean of the Faculty for Human Sciences, University of Bamberg, Germany.

'Transdisciplinary scholarship is fruitful and it will be the way that research is done in the future. In its use of many perspectives, this study on space is a model for such transdisciplinary research. There is earlier work on the sacred and space (Eliade, for example) and in the philosophy of space (see work by Otto F. Bollnow) but in this volume we find contemporary and fruitful interactions between geography, architecture and spirituality. New images of the environments of the earth emerge. Different cultures of space in Europe, Middle Asia and Japan are brought into mutual encounter. Doors to little known areas are opened. I found this study fascinating.' Jürgen Moltmann 'That scholars of religion are engaging with those of other disciplines and vice versa in the manner represented here, is a cause for celebration, and the book achieves what its editors set out to do: provide a first exploratory mapping of the spatial interactions between religion, nature and culture. I look forward to the publication of the proceedings of the next conference, hoping to benefit from how these scholars and others are learning from one another, as well as speaking to one another, about this crucially important issue of our age.' Modern Believing '... the book is very much worth exploration by scholars working in religious and environmental studies. The editors' thesis that humans must think and use space differently in order to pursue more satisfactory forms of environmental agency provides enough thematic continuity to move from essay to essay with critical interest. As she does, the reader will discover in many essays glimmering insights created by a unique traverse of cultural and disciplinary territory. She will also find several emerging scholarly voices whose projects will shape future directions in the field. In sum, this book is a welcome contribution of theme and method to the developing intersection of religious and environmental studies.' SOPHIA