Sacred Nature The Environmental Potential of Religious Naturalism

Sacred Nature examines the crisis of environmental degradation through the prism of religious naturalism, which seeks rich spiritual engagement in a world without a god. Jerome Stone introduces students to the growing field of religious naturalism, exploring a series of questions about how it addresses the environmental crises, evaluating the merits of public prophetic discourse that uses the language of spirituality. He presents and defends the concept of religious naturalism while drawing out the implications of religious naturalism for addressing some of the major environmental issues facing humans today. This book is designed for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as scholars specializing in contemporary religious thought or environmental studies.

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter One: Introducing Religious Naturalism

Chapter Two: Alternative Starting Points: Experiences of the Sacred and the Big Picture

Chapter Three: Appreciative Perception

Chapter Four: Spirituality for Naturalists

Chapter Five: The "G---d" Word

Chapter Six: Needed Paradigm Shifts

Chapter Seven: Learning from Indigenous Peoples

Chapter Eight: Religious Naturalism in the Public Square: Towards a Public Ecotheology

Conclusion

Index

Jerome A. Stone is a Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, William Rainey Harper College, and formerly taught at Meadville Lombard Theological School. He is also a Community Minister affiliated with the Unitarian Church of Evanston, Illinois.