Challenging knowledge in RE: Vol 3: Environment

This is the third in our series applying different disciplines to the content of RE. It examines theology and natural sciences, focusing on the contributions of both of those disciplines to our thinking about the natural world.

The resource offers clear accounts of those two disciplines, with Investigator Files written by our experts, Dr Alexander Hall (environmental science, pp. 22–23) and Dr Simeon Zahl (theology – Resource 4.1 online). It provides case studies from
four environmental charities, including secular and Sikh examples (pp. 4–7). The book includes eight perspectives on the relationship between humans and nature – voices from atheist Humanist via Buddhist and Pagan to ethical vegan (pp. 8–11 and Resource 3.3 online)

The creation account in Genesis has been influential in western thought and we examine it in some detail, offering perspectives from the first to the twenty-first centuries (pp. 16–19), and
exploring concepts of dominion and stewardship (pp. 14–15). Practical scenarios on rising sea levels alert students to the work of environmental science (pp. 28–31 and Resource 9.3 online).
Students bring their theological learning to bear as they consider the extent that science can guide on what choices to take, once the data is in. Students use nature documentaries to analyse the
potentially prophetic role of popular science and scientists (pp. 32–33)

The focus on the environment is important, not least because climate change is such a pressing existential crisis, of great concern to students. This resource supports students’ learning about religious attitudes towards and responses to the environment; it offers clarity on how theological and scientific knowledge differ and relate; and it encourages students to reflect on how their own personal worldviews affect their ways of seeing and responding to the natural world.