THEOLOGY 4 PRELIMS
03/01/2021
CONTEMPORARY WORLD
Throw-away Culture
• Specific effects that we see now where the
culture can be seen?
○ Extrajudicial killings
● We forget the value of every human life
● Not only focused on devaluing human life,
it involves how we treat the environment
STUDY
1. What is climate change?
2. What is the impact of climate change to our
community, our country and to the rest of
the world?
3. What are the Human Roots of the present
Ecological Crisis? What human
attitudes/activities/practices contribute to
bad effects of climate change?
Climate Change
• Is one of the most pressing problems that
the entire human family in the world is
facing and which the coming or future
generation will inevitably sugar from: is the
harmful effects of environmental
deterioration of our planet, which we have
caused (United Nations, 2017)
GLOBAL WARMING leads to Climate Change.
But what causes global warming?
- THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT
Therefore: Climate Crisis… Climate and Planetary
Emergency
Cry of the Poor
- “...the deterioration of the environment
and of society affects the most
vulnerable people on the planet.” - Pope
Francis
- Cry of the people greatly affected by the
environmental degradation caused by
pollution, man’s exploitation to the
environment
- Cry of the most vulnerable people on the
planet, poor people
- Poor people contribute a small percentage
as compared to large companies, factories
but they are the ones greatly suffering from
the effects of big countries like China and
the US that contributes greatly to the
environmental degradation we have
- To not protect the environment is also
committing injustice to the poor people
- We must be in solidarity against the
continuing environmental degradation all
around so that we can also help protect the
poor and help them in other ways (housing,
renewing their lives destroyed by floods,
fires, etc.)
VIDEO: Climate Change UN Conference of the
Parties (COP 19) 2013 Warsaw Poland
- Super typhoon Hayan/ Yolanda caused a
massive destruction
- Nadarev Sano: Philippine Climate Change
Commissioner
- His relatives died bc of the typhoon
- Underwent voluntary fasting for the
climate which means that he will
voluntarily refrain from eating food
during the situation until a
meaningful outcome is in sight.
- “We can fix this. We can stop this
madness.”
- Personal experience of Typhoon
Haiyan through his brother
- “Loss and damage is a reality today across
the world.”
“We are failing in addressing effectively the climate
emergency and the biodiversity crisis.” - Atty. Tony
La Vina
- We are known to be the second among the
countries with the greatest exposure to
disaster risks worldwide.
- The catastrophic super typhoons like
Yolanda/Haiyan (Nov. 13), Ondoy/Ketsana
(Sept 2009), Sendong, and Pablo
- Effects of climate change: series of
typhoons (2020)
- Quinta - Oct. 25
- Rolly - Nov. 1
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 - Siony - Nov. 7
- Tonyo - Nov. 9
- Ulysses - Nov. 11
- Developing countries such as the
Philippines -> high risk when it comes to
disasters
- If this will continue, how many super
typhoons can the PH face just to
convince all of the people in the
world that we are in an
environmental emergency?
Greta Thuberg, 15 years old
- In August 2018, she
started spending her
school days outside
the Swedish
Parliament to call for
stronger action on climate change by
holding up a sign reading Skolstrejk för
klimatet (School strike for climate). Soon,
other students engaged in similar protests
in their own communities. Together, they
organised a school climate strike
movement under the name Fridays for
Future.
- At her young age, she is already aware of
the immensity of the crisis that the world is
facing especially when it comes to the
environment
- After the
movement, it
ignited the
people to see the
immensity of the
environmental crisis that we are in
Greta Thunberg, 18, Climate Activist, from Sweden
- Speech addressing the U.N.’s Climate
Action Summit in New York City,
September 23, 2019
- “People are suffering. People are dying.
Entire ecosystems are collapsing.”
- “We are in the beginning of a mass
extinction, and all you can talk about is
money and fairytales of eternal economic
growth.”
- Open our eyes to the environmental
degradation
- “HOW DARE YOU! YOU STOLE MY
CHILDHOOD AND DREAMS >:(“
- “You say you hear us and that you
understand the urgency… Because if you
really understood the situation and still kept
on failing to act, then you would be evil. And
that I refuse to believe.”
- Act upon the knowledge we have
- All of us are challenged to change
- If we kept on failing to act on the knowledge
that we have as an individual, as a citizen of
this world then we would be evil
ANALYSIS
- Articulating and reflecting about the
question together with the help of other
disciplines AND IN THE LIGHT OF
CHRISTIAN FAITH…
- Read Laudato Si’ chapters 1-2
- Guide for reading:
- List down the problems
or challenges that were
identified by Pope
Francis
- What, according to him, is the root
of the environmental crisis?
- Do you agree with his view of the
current situation?
The Pope’s Message in Laudato Si’
Chapter 1
1) What is happening to Our Common Home
a) Realities of our common home
2) The Gospel of Creation
a) God’s plan from the start of his
creation for all of us
3) Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis
4) Integral Ecology
5) Lines of approach and Action
6) Ecological Education and Spirituality
What is happening to our Common Home?
- “To all people of Good will”
- “More than 50 years ago, with the world on
the brink of nuclear crisis, Pope Saint John
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 XXIII wrote an Encyclical which not only
rejected war but offered a proposal for
peace. He addressed his message Pacem
in Terris (Peace on Earth) to the entire
“Catholic world” and indeed “to all men
and women of good will”. Now, faced as
we are with global environmental
deterioration, I wish to address every
person living on this planet… I would like
to enter into dialogue with all people about
our common home.”
- Pope Francis, LS no. 3
- Still addressed to the same people
(all of us) regardless our differences
(e.g. education, economic status,
beliefs)
- Promoted peace
Why is Laudato Si’ addressed to “every
person living on this planet”?
1. All of us are affected - there is already a
CLIMATE EMERGENCY
2. Because we are the ones responsible or
accountable to the present and future
children/generation
a. Intergenerational injustice: a form of
injustice that we commit to the
future generations
3. And we “are capable of rising above
ourselves”
Pope Francis declares ‘climate emergency’
***We can solve this as long as we stay united and
act very quickly, to act “now” as if our very own
house is on fire, it’s burning and we are in a state of
emergency
CLIMATE CHANGE (Francis, LS 23, 25)
- Climate change is a global problem with
grave implications; one of the principal
challenges facing humanity in our day.
- A very solid scientific consensus
indicates… a disturbing warming of the
climatic system… accompanied by a
constant rise in the sea level and, it would
appear, by an increase of extreme weather
events.
- Scientific studies indicate global warming is
due to the great concentration of
greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrogen oxides, and others)
released mainly as a result of human
activity. Concentrated in the atmosphere,
these gases do not allow the warmth of the
sun’s rays reflected by the earth to be
dispersed in space.
- The problem is aggravated by a model of
development based on the intensive use of
fossil fuels…
- The world today is addicted to fossil fuels -
> can be depleted sooner or later
- Continuous use of fossil fuels -> short-term
solution to the technology we have today
- Its worst impact will be felt by developing
countries. Many of the poor live in areas
affected by [this]... their means of
subsistence - agriculture, fishing and
forestry
- Countries affected are primarily the
developing countries and not the countries
using this for their daily lives
- They have no other financial activities or
resources which can enable them to adapt
to climate change or to face natural
disasters
and urges action
● Pope Francis has declared a global “climate
emergency”, warning of the dangers of
global heating and that a failure to act
urgently to reduce greenhouse gases
would be “a brutal act of injustice toward
the poor and future generations.”
● Endorsed the 1.5C limit on temperature
rises that some countries are now aiming
for… A “radical energy transition” would
be needed to stay within that limit,... urged
young people and businesses to take a
leading role.
● “Future generations stand to inherit a
greatly spoiled world. Our children and
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 grandchildren should not have to pay the
cost of our generation’s irresponsibility,”
● “Indeed… young people are calling for a
change.”
○ Esp. if the future is already at stake
Man as the Imago Dei
● “All is not lost. Human beings, while
capable of the worst, are also capable of
rising above themselves, choosing again
what is good, and making a new start…
We are able to take an honest look at
ourselves, to acknowledge our deep
dissatisfaction, and to embark on new
paths to authentic freedom. No system
can completely suppress our openness to
what is good, true and beautiful, or our
God-given ability to respond to his grace
at work deep in our hearts. I appeal to
everyone throughout the world not to
forget this dignity which is ours. No one
has the right to take it from us.” -(Francis LS
205)
○ We are made in the image of God
therefore we are capable of change.
Called to Caring Stewardship
- “Care for our common home…”
● The Pope urges us to respond to the signs
of the times: the ecological crisis we are all
experiencing, especially the global
problem: Climate Change.
● He emphasizes on the need for ecological
conversion, embracing ecological
citizenship through the cultivation of
ecological virtues, leading to selfless
ecological commitment.
VIDEO: The World Exposed (Cardinal Tagle)
Laudato Si’ – Part II (Chapters 3 &4)
- Chapter 1
- Global Degradation
- Global warming
- Throwaway culture
- Inviting us to evaluate our lifestyles
and attitude on producing and
consuming goods
- Chapter 2
- He advises us to put on the gaze of
Jesus who recognizes the paternal
relationship God has with all
creatures
- “In talking with His disciples, Jesus
would invite them to recognize the
paternal relationship God has with
all His creatures. With moving
tenderness, He would remind them
that each one of them is important in
God’s eyes:
- “Are not five sparrows sold for two
pennies? And not one of them is
forgotten before God” (Lk 12:6).”
- Laudato Si’, #96
- Chapter 3
- The Pope dwells on the human roots
of the ecological crisis
- Pope Francis admits that science
and technology an produce
important means of improving the
quality of human life
- Cautions us with the abuse of
technological power so
dominant that in history, it
killed billions of people
- He laments the seemingly
Technocratic Paradigm which is
based on the lie that there is an
infinite supply of the earth’s goods
leading our planet, our common
home to be squeezed dry of its
natural resources beyond every
limit.
- “Nobody is suggesting a return to
the Stone Age, but we do need to
slow down and look at reality in a
different way, to appropriate the
positive and sustainable progress
which has been made, but also to
recover the values and the great
goals swept away by our
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 unrestrained delusions of
grandeur.”
- Laudato Si’, #114
- The Holy Father critiques the
Modern Anthropocentrism which
compromises the intrinsic value of
the world
- He advises the need to slow
down to appropriate the
positive and sustainable
progress which has been
made and recover our
values.
- “Our ‘dominion’ over the universe
should be understood more
properly in the sense of responsible
stewardship.”
- Laudato Si’, #116
- Includes our care for each
other
- “We cannot presume to heal our
relationship with nature and the
environment without healing all
fundamental human relationships.”
- Laudato Si’, #119
- For we are brothers and
sisters, each a keeper of one
another so he calls on us to
denounce the culture of
relativism and exclusion to
protect the dignity of work
and employment and to seek
ethical grounding for our
utilization of biological
technologies.
- Chapter 4
- Pope Francis stresses that “We are
faced not with two separate crises,
one environmental and the other
social, but rather with one complex
crisis which is both social and
environmental. Strategies for a
solution demand an integrated
approach to combating poverty,
restoring dignity to the excluded,
and at the same time protecting
nature.” - Laudato Si’ #139
- This integral ecology as the pope
envisions it should include
environmental, economic, social
and cultural ecologies
- He also underlies the ecology of
daily lives
- “Authentic development includes
efforts to bring about an integral
improvement in the quality of
human life in the city and in the rural
areas, and this entails considering
the setting in which people live their
lives. These settings influence the
way we think, feel, and act.”
- Laudato Si’, #147
- How are we relating with our
environment, with other people, with
the natural resources and
technology available for us?
- This chapter boils down to the
principle of the common good
- “Common good is respect for the
human person as such, endowed
with basic and inalienable rights
ordered to his or her integral
development.” - Laudato Si’, #157
- “Common good calls for social
peace, the stability and security
provided by a certain order which
cannot be achieved without
particular concern for distributive
justice; whenever this is violated,
violence always ensues. Society as a
whole, and the state in particular,
are obliged to defend and promote
the common good.” - Laudato Si’,
#157
But what is the Root Cause of our Ecological
Crisis?
A. Concern for Nature
1. The Human Roots of the Present
Ecological Crisis
a. Environmental, Social and
Human Degradation
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 i.Roots of the present society, its economy, its behavior
ecological crisis that patterns, and the ways it grasps
humanity is having reality - LS no. 139
b. Technocratic Paradigm and - If you are in a poor society,
Modern Anthropocentrism the area is polluted because
c. Problem Tree Analysis most of the people living in
slum areas are uneducated
and don’t have any options
ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND HUMAN
DEGRADATION at all of what they are doing
- The human environment and the natural - How they see human
environment deteriorate together. beings also
- If natural environment is deteriorate
deteriorating, it follows that the - It is essential to seek
human environment is also comprehensive solutions which
deteriorating consider the interactions within
- We cannot adequately combat natural systems themselves and with
environmental degradation unless we social systems. We are faced not
attend to causes related to human and with two separate crises, one
social degradation… environmental and the other social,
- In fact, the deterioration of the environment but rather with one complex crisis
and of society affects the most vulnerable which is both social and
people on the planet: environmental.
- Most vulnerable people: Homeless, - Strategies for a solution demand an
fishers, farmers, coastal integrated approach to combating
communities, and indigenous poverty, restoring dignity to the
people excluded, and at the same time
- “Both everyday experience and scientific protecting nature. - LS no. 39
research show that the gravest effects of - Society, human
all attacks on the environment are environment, and natural
suffered by the poorest” - LS no. 48 environment goes hand in
hand
- On the INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF ALL - Strategies should be
THINGS: addressing the crises
- When we speak of the - Should alleviate the poor
“environment”, what we really mean - Environmental and social
is a relationship existing between health in moving forward to a
nature and the society which lives in more progressive society
it. Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis:
- Nature cannot be regarded as 1. Technocratic-paradigm
something separate from 2. Modern/Tyrannical Anthropocentrism
ourselves or as a mere setting in - According to the LS encyclical, the human
which we live. We are part of nature, roots of ecological crisis can be seen in the
included in it and thus in constant technocratic-paradigm and the
interaction with it. Recognizing the modern/tyrannical anthropocentrism
reasons why a given area is polluted
requires a study of the workings of

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 shapes the lives of individuals and
Technocratic Paradigm
the workings of society. - LS107
- It is the opposite of synthesis or integration
- When we acknowledge
& it is the greatest example of reductionism
environmental degradation, we
- Stollenwerk Daniel J
must not only rely in Science but
- REDUCTIONISM
consult Cultural Science, Theology,
- When knowledge is not integrated;
see the philosophy behind
or when in focusing only to a
environmental degradation
particular field of knowledge one
because it is a complex problem
does not see/fails to see (or
- If it is to be approached in a
intentionally turn a blind eye) the
scientific manner only, there’s a
connection with other
possibility that cultures, religions or
knowledge/research/sciences/disci
religious practices will not be
plines… Therefore, has a narrow
respected and may lead to another
perspective on which dangerous
problem/ more complex problem
prescriptions or solutions may be
- A kind of thinking which only sees one way
based.
in solving problems
- Opposite of synthesis/integration
- How technology conditions and shapes us
- Laudato Si’ advocates the environmental
in a negative way?
science principle “Everything is connected”
- We have to accept that technological
or interrelated. Hence: the need for
products are not neutral:
integration or synthesis.
- For they create a framework which ends up
- There’s no problem in focusing to a
conditioning lifestyles and shaping social
particular field of study which becomes
possibilities along the lines dictated by the
one’s expertise but the subdivision has had
interests of certain powerful groups.
its own downside. Specialists may well
Decisions which may seem purely
develop narrow perspectives on which
instrumental are in reality decisions about
dangerous prescriptions or solutions may
the kind of society we want to build. (LS
be based giving rise to reductionist
107)
science.
- Technological products somehow
- If we can only approach the problem in one
affects the way we think and the way
eye not with both eyes, then there’s a
we consume things
possibility that we will not come up with a
- If it affects us human beings, we can
very comprehensive problem.
say that these technological
- Not only applicable in addressing
products are not neutral because
environmental degradation as
they create a framework which ends
complex as the problem is
up conditioning lifestyles and
- Can also be applied to other
shaping social possibilities along
problems as well
the lines dictated by the interest of
- Product of Critical Thinking
certain powerful groups.
(Answers questions with more than
- Decisions which may be seen purely
one perspective)
instrumental are in reality decisions
- Many problems of today’s world stem from
about the kind of society we want to
the reductionist tendency:
build
- To make the method in aims of
- “BUY, BUY, BUY, BUY, BUY, AND
science and technology, an
BUY”
epistemological paradigm which

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 - This product is conditioning
you to a consumerist lifestyle
without you even knowing
- “Broke ass student here
looking for a sugar dada.” -
Aly, 2021
- Even food products
- We must do something
about it
- “When technology disregards the great
ethical principles, it ends up considering
any practice whatsoever as licit.” (LS 136)
- A combination of “Technology + Greed =
Disaster” (Reese, Thomas)
- The way that humanity has taken up
technology and its development according
to an undifferentiated and one-
dimensional paradigm.
- This paradigm exalts the concept of a
subject who, using logical and rational
procedures, progressively approaches and
gains control over an external object… (LS
106) = a kind of SECULARISM, when one is
already playing God.
- We forget to halt before “the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil”
- When we fail to see that certain
products are already conditioning
us in creating a certain lifestyle that
in the long run destroys or dries up
the resources of our environment
then, we fail to have a priority tends to be given to…
comprehensive solution to the
environmental degradation that we
have.
- We only have a 1D (</3) paradigm
that exalts the concept of a subject
using logical and rational
procedures, progressively
approaches and gains control over
an external object.
- “If I have this because I want this” - As long
as it will not create a particular lifestyle that
would somehow contribute to the
environmental degradation that we have,
then we have created a kind of secularism
when one is already playing god and does
not care of what is happening around him,
he sees only himself as the center and
measure of all things (Protagoras)
“The beginning of Ecological Garbage is Moral
Garbage.” - Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen (May 8,
1895 - December 9, 1979)
- If we fail to come up with a good
morality, if we fail to see the
goodness and if we fail to
distinguish from good and evil, then
we are slowly creating a moral
garbage
- When this starts, it is not a
surprise that ecological
degradation follows
- When we talk about
problems/solutions,
humanity and the
environment must be
discussed together and not
separately that shows a kind
of division
- The Deified Market
- Rooted in the technocratic
paradigm
- How environmental deterioration and
human and ethical degradation are closely
linked:
- Economic powers continue to justify
the current global system where
pursuit of financial gain, which fail to
take into account the effects on
human dignity and the natural
environment.
- Economists, financiers, and experts
in technology believe in this Lie:
that there is an infinite supply of
the earth’s goods, and this leads to
the planet being squeezed dry
beyond every limit. (LS 106)
- Many people will deny doing anything
wrong because *distractions constantly dull
our consciousness of just how limited and
finite our world really is. As a result,
“whatever is fragile, like the environment, is
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 defenseless before the interests of a deified
market, which become the only rule”. (LS
56)
- When we are too distracted with so
many distractions, when we forget
what is important and what must to
be acted upon because of deified
market, we forget that there is
something wrong with the system
that we have
- *Distractions because of RAPIDIFICATION
= everything is fast, rapid, just like a “rat
race” - we have no time to contemplate - we
become impatient, everything now should
be “instant” “fast” even “QUICK FIX”
- We have no time to think critically
and see the bigger picture
- When everything and everyone
becomes impatient, we have
already been distracted and we
forgot what must be done for the
environment
- When we are too engrossed of
having the new cellphone, buying
more things to feel satisfied (PCS ;(
<3), we already forget what must be
done today that is causing so much
destruction and suffering to the
poor people
- What must be done: address the
environmental degradation that is
causing so much destruction and
suffering to the poor people around
the world
- Even in front of a technology as if we are
under a “trance”
- Quick-fix mentality - because of:
“rapidification” The continued acceleration
of changes affecting humanity and the
planet is coupled today with a more
intensified pace of life and work (LS 18);
- We are too engrossed in the fast-
pace of this world
- When science and technology are the only
solutions to environmental problems; when
concern for practicality and efficiency is
the only concern (LS 8)
- Science and technology greatly
help in combating environmental
degradation, but we also have
cultural, theological, sociological
aspects that is needed to be fixed
- How true is this in our daily routine? I’m a
Christian called to Caring Stewardship, and
Contemplation
- Is this the way to do it? The Quick Fix?
- Inayos mo lang mali na ginawa mo
without even trying to solve the
effects of your action to other
people
- Out of sight, out of mind (If I cannot
see it, then it’s not real)
- Everything is connected:
Environmental and social. If we will
approach it only in an environmental
perspective with science and
technology only, there is a chance
that the problem will evolve from
time to time, more complexed
- If it is not approached in the
most complex approach as
possible, we will fail in other
aspects as well
Precautionary Principle
- “This makes it possible to protect those who
are most vulnerable and whose ability to
defend their interests and to assemble
incontrovertible evidence is limited.
- If objective information suggests
that serious and irreversible
damage may result, a project should
be halted or modified, even in the
absence of indisputable proof.
- Here the burden and proof is
effectively reversed, since in such
cases , objective and conclusive
demonstrations will have to be
brought forward to demonstrate
that the proposed activity will not
cause serious harm to the
environment or to those who inhabit
it (LS 186)”
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 - We must be prudent when it comes to
dilemma
- We must be prudent if all the information is
not presented to us
Modern/Tyrannical Anthropocentrism
Anthropocentric? Or Anthropocentrism(?)
- What is an
“Anthropocentrism”
view? Is this bad? Or is
it “Anthropocentrism”?
What is the difference?
Anthropocentrism
- It is a technocentric-mechanistic
environmental worldviews
- Man’s attitude towards the environment at
the dawn of industrialization is
“anthropocentric” and mechanistic
- It focuses on human beings
- Anthropocentric environmental worldview
sees man as the most important creature or
species and therefore all forms of
development that will supply his needs and
wants are deemed justifiable
- Avatar, 2009
- Humanity sees itself as the only
creature even with the existence of
Avatar
- This results in a mechanistic regard for all
the elements of nature “as merel objects to
which humans attach utilitarian values.”
- With this kind of environmental worldview,
man continues to believe that the rich and
teeming natural resources are always at his
disposal and therefore can be exploited.
LYNN WHITE (1907-1987)
- He wrote the very controversial article: “The
Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis”
(1967)
- He said Christianity is to be blamed for the
environmental destruction. Citing that the
Bible especially Genesis 1 commands man
to:
- “Rule” “Have Dominion” or
“Subdue” the earth
- He said Christianity is to be blamed
for the environmental destruction.
Citing that the Bible especially
Genesis 1 commands man to: “Rule”
“Have Dominion” or “Subdue” the
Earth
- WRONG!
- He set forth the thesis that the roots of our
ecological crisis lie in our Judeo-Christian
idea that humanity is to dominate nature
- By seeing nature as alien, as a mere
resource to be exploited, we have wreaked
havoc on Earth and are reaping the
consequences
Is Lynn White Correct? Is Christianity to be
blamed?
- We will not go through the long details of
the historical development regarding this
issue.
- Same claim with: Plato, Friedrich Nietsczhe,
Rene Descartes, etc.
- Medieval Philosophers who try to
directly or indirectly blame the
quote Genesis 1 as one of the
justification of people and
exploiting the environment and
having dominion over it.
- We will go directly to the clarifications given
to us by Pope Francis in His Encyclical
Laudato Si’
Some Clarifications:
- Laudato Si’ does not directly reject the
“anthropocentric view.”
- It is noticeable in LS the word
“anthropocentrism” is always used in a
qualified sense with descriptive adjectives
such as:
- “Tyrannical” (LS 68)
- “Distorted” (LS 69)
- “Modern” (title before 115)
- “Excessive” (LS 116)
- “Misguided” (LS 118, 119, 122)
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 - These are the kind of anthropocentric views
and attitudes that must be avoided.
- Laudato Si’ emphasizes the need to have a
correct and balanced anthropology. (LS 90)
- We don’t have the same dignity with
animals, plants - we have a higher form of
dignity as we are created in the image and
likeness of God
Therefore, NO to Anthropocentrism that is:
- “Tyrannical” (LS 68)
- “Distorted” (LS 69)
- “Modern” (title before 115)
- “Excessive” (LS 116)
- “Misguided” (LS 118, 119, 122)
- We must have a Correct and Balance
Anthropology (LS 90)
- Remember the Christian Vision of the
Human Person
***These are all negative adjectives before
anthropocentrism.
Tyrannical/ Excessive/ Distorted/ Modern/
Misguided Anthropocentrism
- At the root of the senseless destruction of
the natural environment lies an
anthropological error…
- Man, who discovers his capacity to
transform and in a certain sense create the
world through his own work, forgets that
this is always based on God’s prior and
original gift of the things that are.
- Man creates His own plan
- When we forget about God’s plan,
we forget about the real value/way
to approach the environment
- Many think that he can make arbitrary use
of the earth, subjecting it without restraint
to his will, as though it did not have its own
requisite and a prior God-given purpose,
which man can indeed develop but must
not betray.
- Instead of carrying out his role as a co-
operator with God in the work of
creation, man sets himself up in place of
God and thus ends up provoking a
rebellion on the part of nature, which is
more tyrannized than governed by him.
- St. John Paul II Centesimus Annus
(1991) no. 37
- At the root of the senseless
destruction of the natural
environment lies an anthropological
error which unfortunately is
widespread in our day. Man who
discovers his capacity to transform
and in a certain sense create the
world through his own work forgets
that this is always based on God’s
prior and original gifts and the
things that are. Man thinks that he
can make an arbitrary use of earth
subjecting it without restraint to his
will as though it did not have its own
requisites and a prior God given
purpose which can be
redeveloped(?) but must not
betray(???)
- Instead of carrying his role of co-
creator with God, man sets himself
in place of God and thus ends a
provoking rebellion on the part of
nature which is more tyrannized
than governed by him. - Centesimus
Annus (1991)
- When we forget the original God’s
plan to the environment, we create
our own path that is open to
misinterpretation and abuse.
- Yes, ANTHROPOCENTRIC in the sense
that: we are created in God’s image &
likeness, we have a special covenantal
relationship with HIM, we have a special
covenantal relationship with HIM, we have a
special place in the plan of God, in Creation
- But we are not gods, we are to halt before
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
- We must know our limits and we
must not betray the real purpose of
the true anthropocentric view of
God to us
- TO AVOID: an absolute or extreme
anthropocentrism/anthropocentric view
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 - Anthropocentrism: extreme
anthropocentric view
- The need to have a correct & balanced
anthropology.
- Fundamentally, our faith is THEOCENTRIC
“God centered”
- Not man-centered!!!
- We must always acknowledge God’s
plan to the world
- Remember that all the things
we do must be in
accordance with God’s plan
- Only with that
anthropocentric view can the
world change and correct its
wrongdoings
How should we understand: “To Rule” or “To
Subdue”? - Genesis 1:26-27 & 28
- The whole human race is made in the
“image” and “likeness” of God (Israel’s King)
and therefore as a royal race, humans have
“dominion”.
- Royal race: higher dignity than
animals/the rest of God’s creation
- However, the royal language “dominion”
here does not give human beings unlimited
power,
- For *even kings in the Bible had limited
dominion and were subject to prophetic
critique
- Kings before know their limits and
listen to their Gods
- In a Jewish world, this kingly role was
understood in the context of God’s
shepherding rule
- And God’s love for and delight in all
creatures. (Toolan, p. 21)
- To serve people is to be a proper
king
- Dominion over creation by human beings,
actually signifies the imaging of God’s
wisdom and love in the care of creation.
(John Paul II)
- As servants, as shepherds
- Servants: take care of the
environment bc we have a greater
responsibility
- “With great power, comes great
responsibility.” - Spiderman
- It was sin that destroyed this original
harmony with the earth
- “Dominion” in Genesis is not the same as
“Domination”
- Domination: to rule over
- Because “humans as images of God should
reflect in their relationship with creatures,
God’s relationship with His creation” (Cales,
p. 139)
- We must try to think and reflect our
relationship with the rest of the
creation
- Then we can see God’s
relationship with the rest of
creation
- Laudato Si’ - Gospel of Creation
- Clarifications regarding basic
doctrines taught in the encyclical of
Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ were
given. These are the following:
1. The anthropocentric view &
anthropocentrism
2. Correct interpretation of
“have dominion”
3. On the intrinsic value of
other creatures (will be
discussed in the PART 2)
03/08/21
READ POPE FRANCIS’ LAUDATO SI CHAP 1 & 2
(Included in the finals!!!)
Part 2. The Good News of Creation
A. Concern for Nature (LS)
a. The Plan of God for Creation
b. The Role of Man in Creation
The Good News of Creation
- Good news is creation itself, Creation is
“Good News”
- Why are we acting as if the environment is
not a gift? As if it’s not important?
- We are destroying the environment
- We are neglecting the good news
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 - In the wake of modernity, we have been
accustomed to look at the natural world as
inert matter - the Cartesian res extensa, as
in modern science, or as merely as a
storehouse of resources, as in the
neoliberal economy.
- Kureethadam, p. 57
- There are some things that are unthinking
- Res extensa: “unthinking thing”; ;
perspective of modern science which does
not give any value to the environment (for
some, not all)
Chapter 2 of Laudato Si’: “The Gospel of
Creation”
- It presents the theological foundation of the
encyclical’s theological vision
- The environment has its own value and
dignity therefore it must be cared of
- If you have a dualistic value of things, you
will fail to see the real value of the
environment
Creation is Good News because:
1. Creation is very good in God’s own eyes
2. Creation is a profound act of love on the
part of God
3. Creation is God’s first revelation
- Through creation, we can see and
appreciate God
- as if they have no worth in themselves and
Creation is Good News because:
1st
Creation is very good in God’s own eyes
- “God looked at everything He made and
found it very good” - Genesis 1:31
- Evil is only dependent on its source
- Source is not goodness
- God created everything that exists which is
good
- Thomas of Aquinas (Summa Theologiae):
“Evil does not exist, it is only the absence of
something that is good.”
- XiunChu(?): Humanity has this innate
goodness and when can we say that
humanist - it is impossible for man to react
if child falls from a tree
- It is the basic goodness of creation in God’s
own eyes that constitutes the intrinsic worth
of every created reality.
- Polynation: important for our environment
and even for our survival; without the bees,
humanity will cease to exist
- [Ecosystems] have an intrinsic value
independent of their usefulness. Each
organism, as a creature of God, is good and
admirable in itself; the same is true of the
harmonious ensemble of organisms
existing in a defined space and functioning
as a system. (LS 140)
- Pope Francis inaugurates a new era in the
Catholic Church’s approach to the natural
world
- The world of animals, forests, mountains
and waters are inextricably part of God’s
good news for us;
- They express and participate in the
mystery of salvation (Grey Carmody)
- We are called to recognize that other living
beings have a value of their own in God’s
eyes: “by their mere existence they bless
him and give him glory”, and indeed, “the
Lord rejoices in all his works” (Ps 104:31)
- Intrinsic value: God Himself
- In our time, the Church does not simply
state that other creatures are completely
subordinated to the good of human beings,
can be treated as we wish. (LS #69)
- The German bishops have taught that,
where other creatures are concerned: “we
can speak of the priority of being over
that of being useful”.
- We have this hierarchy/priority of
beings (Man as the top)
- The Catechism clearly criticizes a distorted
anthropocentrism.
- Each of the various creatures, willed in its
own being, reflects in its own way a ray of
God’s infinite wisdom and goodness.
Man must therefore respect the particular
goodness of every creature, to avoid any
disordered use of things.:
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 - “By their mere existence, they bless Him
and give Him glory.” - LS 69
- These animals teaches us different values,
patience
- Beauty is created with a purposed; Beauty
is planned and appreciated esp the beauty
that God showed us with the rest of
environment
Creation is Good News because:
2 nd
Creation is a Profound act of love on the
part of God
- Before I formed you in the womb, I knew
you (Jeremiah 1:5)
- Our physical universe is not an accident or
a fluke event
- Creation has to do with God’s loving plan in
which every creature has its own value and
significance…
- The whole creation & every creature is a
sign of God’s outpouring love. Every
creature is brought into existence out of
love and with a definite purpose.
(Kureethadam, p. 60)
- Every person must be valued and must be
given identity
- Everything in the environment has its own
uniqueness
- Everything is made out of love with a
definitive purpose
- “What is my purpose in the world?”
- Laramie, on her opinion with
nursing: “Napressure lang po kala
ko matutuwa ako.” - (Gi Young,
2021)
- Purpose: to marry hyunjin po or any
bias <33
- Unlike a detached study of nature,
“Creation can only be understood as a gift
from the outstretched hand of the Father of
all, and as a reality illuminated by the love
which calls us together into universal
communion,” (LS 76)
- Every creature is thus the object of the
Father’s tenderness who give it its place in
the world. (LS 77)
- The entire material universe speaks of
God’s love. Soil, water, mountain… (LS 84)
- It is all the more in the case of humanity: We
are not here by chance… We were
conceived in the heart of God… “each of us
is the result of the thought of God.”
- We are not here by chance
- “Each of us is willed, each of us is loved,
each of us is necessary” (LS 65)
- Kureethadam, pp. 61-62
- Before I formed you in the womb, I knew
you (Jer 1:5)
- SOCIAL MEDIA GIVES US INSECURITIES
- Kahit sino ka pa man, you are loved
by God ;) <3
- yes. <3
- nEvEr Be WorKaHoLiC :’)
Creation is Good News because:
3rd Creation as God’s Revelation
- Creation is the very first epiphany of
God, God’s first and primordial revelation.
- God has written a precious book/whose
letters are the multitude of created things
present in the universe. (John Paul II, 2002)
- Nature speaks to us of the Creator (cf. Rom
1:20) and his love for humanity (Benedict
XVI, CV no. 48)
- “Nature as a whole not only manifests God
but is also a locus of his presence” (LS 88;
Bishops of Brazil)
- His divine presence, which ensures the
subsistence & growth of each being,
continues the work of creation - St. Thomas
Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, 1, q. 104, art.
1, ad 4)
- The Canadian bishops pointed out that no
creature is excluded from this manifestation
of God: “From panorama vistas to the tiniest
living form, nature is a constant source of
wonder and awe. It is also a continuing
revelation of the divine”. (LS 85)
- The bishops of Japan had a thought-
provoking observation: “To sense each
creature singing the hymn of its existence is
to live joyfully in God’s love and hope”. (LS
85)
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- We must protect God’s creation
- Go to the forest and look at the
harmony the forest has
- The Call to regard each creature as brother
and sister, and the Earth as our common
home as both sister and mother
- Creation carries the imprint of the Divine.
St. Francis of Assisi praises God not only for
creation, but also in Creation.
- But this is not like neo-paganism or new
pantheism
- “Everything is God. We need to
worship the trees, chuchu.”
- We only protect the environment
because ---, but that is not only
God??
- St. Francis of Assisi, invites us to see nature
as a magnificent book in which God
speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of His
infinite beauty and goodness (LS 12)
- If we are with perfection, we can’t
appreciate God
- Nobody knows what happens in heaven
- If we are in heaven, we have
achieved perfection
- Okay going to heaven <3 -
agree
- If you have already seen perfection, why
turn away from perfection?
- Through the greatness and the beauty of
creatures one comes to know by analogy
their maker” Wisdom 13:5
- “His eternal power and divinity have been
known through His works since the creation
of the world” Romans 1:20
- Human beings are Imago Dei. We are
created in God’s image and likeness.
- “In Laudato Si”, Pope Francis returns often
to the symbolic view of creation.
- Created realities are ultimately symbols of
God - its capacity to link the finite with the
infinite.
- As symbols of God, created realities are
vestigia Dei - signs and traces of God’s
presence in creation.
- Kareethadam, p. 64
- Beauty of the environment is the beauty of
God.
- The message of God is simple:
TREAT THE ENVIRONMENT AS
PLANNED
- As you appreciate God
Himself
- The awareness that each creature reflects
something of God and has a message to
convey to us,
- And the security that Christ has taken unto
himself this material world and now, risen,
- It is intimately present to each being,
surrounding it with his affection and
penetrating it with his light. (LS 2210
- Jesus invited his disciples “to recognize the
paternal relationship God has with all his
creatures”
- He reminded them of the Father’s loving
tenderness & care for all creatures and
how each one of them is important in God’s
eyes:
- “Look at the birds of the air: they neither
sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet
your heavenly Father feeds them” (Mt
6:26)(LS 96)
- Then too, there is the recognition that God
created the world, writing into an order and
a dynamism that human beings have no
right to ignore.
- We read in the gospel that Jesus says of
the birds of the air that “not one of them
is forgotten before God” (Lk. 12:6)
- How then can we possibly mistreat them or
cause them harm? LS 221
- There’s something wrong when people
come together in celebration to torture an
animal to death while mocking his despair.
- You can kill animals for food but only for
man’s sustenance
- Pope Francis notes with sadness and with
profound theological insight:
- It is not enough, however, to think of
different species merely as potential
“resources” to be exploited, while
overlooking the fact that they have
value in themselves.
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 - Each year sees the disappearance of
thousands of plant and animal species
which we will never know,
- Which our children will never see,
because they have been lost forever.
- The majority become extinct for reasons
related to human activity,
- Because of us, thousands of species will
no longer give glory to God by their very
existence, nor convey their message to
us. LS 33
- When created, things become Vestigia Dei
(signs & traces of God’s presence in
creation) - creation becomes a true act of
communication.
- In every act of communication, no single
word of expression will be sufficient to
communicate reality.
- It is also true of God’s communication in
Creation
- No one creature not even the human, is
sufficient to represent God
- The infinitely diverse living species are
indeed pages of God’s great Book of
Works, revealing the Creator’s wisdom &
goodness.
- St. Thomas explained that the diversity of
the extraordinary array of creatures
roaming the earth reveals the richness of
the nature of God.
- He sad that: multiplicity and variety “come
from the intention of the first agent” who
willed that “what was wanting to one in the
representation of the divine goodness
might be supplied by another” (LS 86)
- Inasmuch as God’s goodness “could not be
represented fittingly by any other creature.”
(Summa Theologiae, 1, q. 47, art. 1.)
The Plan of God for Creation: Creation’s Call
to Universal Communion
- As part of the universe,
- Called into being by one Father,
- All of us are linked by unseen bonds and
together form a kind of universal family
- A sublime communion
- Which fills us will a sacred, affectionate and
humble respect (LS 89)
- Pope Francis sees human life as a
pilgrimage in communion
- Along with the rest of God;s creatures
- Bonded together by God’s love
- We are in the journey to find our place and
purpose in the world not only for ourselves
but also for other people
- Everything is related,
- And we human beings are united as
brothers and sisters on a wonderful
pilgrimage
- Woven together by the love God has for
each of His creatures
- And which also unites us in fond affection
with brother sun, sister moon, brother river
and mother earth. (LS 92), Kareethadam, p.
?6)
- Our universal communion with the rest of
the human family & with the whole creation
consequently entails:
- The common or universal destination of
all Earth’s goods which are meant to
benefit everyone.
- the sharing of Earth’s fruits is ultimately a
question of fidelity to the Creator, since God
created the world for everyone
- It is the whole creation, the entire physical
universe, and not just humanity alone, that
is destined to be redeemed & transformed
in Christ.
- Thus, no reason for humans to tyrannically
dominate other creatures.
- Rather, humanity’s task is to lovingly
accompany all of creation in their
eschatological journey
- If we aim to be holy, it comes with our
responsibility to care of our environment
- Humanity’s task is to accompany all
creations in their journey
- The ultimate purpose of other creatures is
not to be found in us. Rather, all creatures
are moving forward with us and through us
towards a common point of arrival, which is
God, in that transcendent fullness where
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 the risen Christ embraces and illumines all
things.
- “Creation is destined to communion with
God” (Cajes, p. 147)
- Human beings, endowed with intelligence
and love, drawn by the fullness of Christ are
called to lead all creatures back to their
Creator. (LS, 83)
- The ultimate end of the whole divine
economy is the entry of God’s creatures
into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity.
The Plan of God for Creation
- “For thus says the LORD, the Creator of the
heavens, who is God. The designer and
maker of the earth who established it, not
creating it to be a waste, but designing it to
be lived in: I am the LORD, and there is no
other”. (Isaiah 45:18)
VIDEO: GMA
- Bagyong Yolanda, Leyte
- Maraming namatay na bata
- Victims of climate change caused by
humans
- Air pollution
- Paris, France
- Music is part of the Paris and other
forms of arts
- AG Sano: Filipino artist
- Permanent mural: located at Point
Ephemere, beside Canal Saint Martin
- Agit Sustento - Tacloban
- Musician and tattoo artist
- People were also mourning in Paris
- Nov 13: nagpasabog ISIS sa Paris; 130 ppl
died
- Happened two weeks before
Conference of Parties or COP21
- Two decades have passed since the
meeting among nations took place
concerning climate change
- Haiyan/Yolanda - dinudulot ng climate
change
- Summit in Paris considered as the last hope
in the world
- Yeb Sanio - calling on powerful countries to
join him
- Walked from Paris to Yema sa gitna
ng tag-lamig
- Ipaglaban ang katarungan para kay
Agit at lahat ng naging biktima ng
yolanda
- Pilgrimage from Italy to Paris ang napiling
paraan
- They walked for 1500 kms
- Took them 59 days to arrive in Paris
- Hindi lang bagyo ang epekto ng climate
change
- Sea levels are also rising
- Extreme heat
- Dt. Peter Frumhoff
- Director of Science & Policy, Union
of Concerned Scientists
- El Nino: matinding init, lalo na sa mindanao
- We are among the most affected by climate
change
- “If not now, then when?”
- “If not us, who?”
- The climate crisis is madness
- She let her mother go
- Over 6k people died
- Agit Sustento - music and tattoo artist
- Called a warrior/mandirigma
- He fought for the fading culture of
the Filipinos
- Patay na si Agit :--(
- Died on Nov. 8, 2013
- Our use of fossil fuels - sanhi ng pagkawsak
ng climate
- Climate justice ang panawagan ng marami
ngayon
- Solution: Leyte Geothermal Production
Field in Ormoc, Leye
- The energy from this plant is
renewable
- 30% of electricity in Visayas comes from
Geothermal and kaya pa dagdagan
- Renewable energy lacks support in our
society
- Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel
- We need to help each other out
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- All of us are called to holiness
- We are not only doing all of these things for
ourselves

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