An Ecotheology of Wondering, Intervening, and Enmeshment:
Deep Incarnation and the Three Ecologies
LECTURE BY NIELS GREGERSEN • March 30, 2022
Ecotheologians have rightly called those who profess a Creator to care for creation in an era of climate change and widespread species extinction. Nevertheless, ecotheology has been criticized for promoting an indiscriminate ethic based on a selective use of the sciences. In order to reorient the discourse, Professor Gregersen presents a typology of three ecologies. Ecology #1 is about nature as other than human culture, having a value of its own. Ecology #2 concerns human stewardship for nature, including interventions into nature. Ecology #3 expresses the entanglement of human culture within the full nexus of nature, in which we are enmeshed as natural beings even as we actively shape our conditions. He then demonstrates how the vital notion of “deep incarnation” speaks to the three ecologies.
Niels Henrik Gregersen is Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Copenhagen. He is the author of several books and has edited a dozen volumes in theology and the field of science and religion. Dr. Gregersen’s research interests include science and religion, with a focus on the significance of evolutionary theory and complexity studies; contemporary theology, especially the topics of creation and incarnation; philosophical and social anthropology, especially concerning risk-taking and generosity. He lectures widely in Europe and the USA, and has been a keynote speaker at major conferences in South Africa, Australia, and Asia (China, Japan and South Korea). Learn more about Neils by seeing his academic profile or his recent videos.