LEADER 05094nam 22007695 450 001 9910793007603321 005 20210715011217.0 010 $a0-8232-8495-6 010 $a0-8232-8134-5 010 $a0-8232-8133-7 024 7 $a10.1515/9780823281343 035 $a(CKB)4100000007010115 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC5553409 035 $a(StDuBDS)EDZ0002046506 035 $a(OCoLC)1056952172 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse68837 035 $a(DE-B1597)555501 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780823281343 035 $a(EXLCZ)994100000007010115 100 $a20200723h20182019 fg 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcnu|||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aWhen God Was a Bird $eChristianity, Animism, and the Re-Enchantment of the World /$fMark I. Wallace 205 $aFirst edition. 210 1$aNew York, NY :$cFordham University Press,$d[2018] 210 4$dİ2019 215 $a1 online resource (180 pages) 225 0 $aGroundworks: Ecological Issues in Philosophy and Theology 300 $aThis edition previously issued in print: 2018. 311 0 $a0-8232-8132-9 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tPreface --$tIntroduction --$tChapter 1. Song of the Wood Thrush --$tChapter 2. The Delaware River Basin --$tChapter 3. Worshipping the Green God --$tChapter 4. ?Come Suck Sequoia and Be Saved? --$tChapter 5. On the Wings of a Dove --$tAcknowledgments --$tNotes --$tIndex 330 $aIn a time of rapid climate change and species extinction, what role have the world?s religions played in ameliorating?or causing?the crisis we now face? Religion in general, and Christianity in particular, appears to bear a disproportionate burden for creating humankind?s exploitative attitudes toward nature through unearthly theologies that divorce human beings and their spiritual yearnings from their natural origins. In this regard, Christianity has become an otherworldly religion that views the natural world as ?fallen,? as empty of signs of God?s presence. And yet, buried deep within the Christian tradition are startling portrayals of God as the beaked and feathered Holy Spirit ? the ?animal God,? as it were, of historic Christian witness. Through biblical readings, historical theology, continental philosophy, and personal stories of sacred nature, this book recovers the model of God in Christianity as a creaturely, avian being who signals the presence of spirit in everything, human and more-than-human alike. Mark Wallace?s recovery of the bird-God of the Bible signals a deep grounding of faith in the natural world. The moral implications of nature-based Christianity are profound. All life is deserving of humans? care and protection insofar as the world is envisioned as alive with sacred animals, plants, and landscapes. From the perspective of Christian animism, the Earth is the holy place that God made and that humankind is enjoined to watch over and cherish in like manner. Saving the environment, then, is not a political issue on the left or the right of the ideological spectrum, but, rather, an innermost passion shared by all people of faith and good will in a world damaged by anthropogenic warming, massive species extinction, and the loss of arable land, potable water, and breathable air. To Wallace, this passion is inviolable and flows directly from the heart of Christian teaching that God is a carnal, fleshy reality who is promiscuously incarnated within all things, making the whole world a sacred embodiment of God?s presence, and worthy of our affectionate concern. This beautifully and accessibly written book shows that ?Christian animism? is not a strange oxymoron, but Christianity?s natural habitat. Challenging traditional Christianity?s self-definition as an other-worldly religion, Wallace paves the way for a new Earth-loving spirituality grounded in the ancient image of an animal God. 410 0$aGroundworks (New York, N.Y.) 606 $aHuman ecology$xReligious aspects$xChristianity 606 $aAnimism 606 $aBirds$xReligious aspects$xChristianity 606 $aHoly Spirit 606 $aGod (Christianity) 610 $aAugustine. 610 $aBible. 610 $aChristianity. 610 $aGirard. 610 $aHeidegger. 610 $aHildegard. 610 $aHoly Spirit. 610 $aMuir. 610 $aanimism. 610 $abird-God. 610 $aenvironment. 610 $aindigenous. 615 0$aHuman ecology$xReligious aspects$xChristianity. 615 0$aAnimism. 615 0$aBirds$xReligious aspects$xChristianity. 615 0$aHoly Spirit. 615 0$aGod (Christianity) 676 $a231 700 $aWallace$b Mark I.$f1956-$4aut$4http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut$01583434 801 0$bDE-B1597 801 1$bDE-B1597 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910793007603321 996 $aWhen God Was a Bird$93866533 997 $aUNINA