Drafts by Mick Pope
Robots and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been the subject of science fiction... more Robots and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been the subject of science fiction for decades. With the increasing role of AI in society, some are predicting that AI will make humanity obsolete, if not extinct. Isaac Asimov’s collection of short stories, I, Robot examines one scenario for the evolution of AI and its relationship to humanity. This paper examines various themes raised in I, Robot by reading it in conversation with the Primeval history of Genesis 1–11, in particular chapters 1–4. The themes examined include myth building, the imago Dei, the Fall, and the direction of history. A comparative reading of the two texts demonstrates how the development of AI will not threaten humanity’s status as imago Dei. It does however challenge humanity not to capitulate to the narrative of the inevitable rise of AI to replace much of our role in carrying out the cultural mandate. Instead, as God’s agents in the world, we are called to participate in the bringing of order of out chaos, instead of capitulating to our own creations.
Martial arts are understood to promote violence at best, and syncretism for Christians at worst. ... more Martial arts are understood to promote violence at best, and syncretism for Christians at worst. However, my 30 years of martial arts experience have shown that two major components in martial arts training are flow, and cooperation. Flow is the mental state in which a person is fully immersed in a feeling of energised focus while performing an activity. In martial arts practice, this can be achieved in the dialectic of both competing and cooperating with a training partner. This paper examines how this practice of 'flowing with the go' can be understood as a form of spiritual practice by studying the combat sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
We live in a new geological age, the Anthropocene. We are at risk of becoming homeless due to our... more We live in a new geological age, the Anthropocene. We are at risk of becoming homeless due to our disruptive impact of the Earth system. The biblical story is one of home and homelessness, from the expulsion from home in Genesis 2-4 to our new home in Romans 8. In this chapter, I explore how the framework of Genesis 2-4 applies to mission in today's world as the Anthropocene unfolds. How have our actions abrogated the divine command to care for the Earth? How do we understand the present crisis as our expulsion from the divine presence, and how do we make our home once more with God in our disrupted world? The Anthropocene Human influence on the Earth system has been so profound, a new geological epoch has been suggested; the Anthropocene. 1 While the definition has been debated, the most likely candidate is the period known as the 'Great Acceleration.' 2 This period is characterised by an increase in socioeconomic trends such as rapid population growth, energy use, and fertilizer consumption. The Great Acceleration is also marked by an increase in the human impact on the Earth system, including a rapid increase in greenhouse gas emissions, surface temperatures, ocean acidification, marine fish capture, and extensive land clearing. The disruption of the various aspects of the Earth system can be quantified in nine planetary boundaries, which represent a safe operating space for humanity. It is estimated that we are pushing seven of these boundaries, threatening our own existence. 3 While Clive Hamilton is insistent that the Anthropocene represents a break with the past, requiring a new science to describe and explain it, the Anthropocene does not appear ex nihilo from history. 4 Lewis and Maslin have shown that the modern Anthropocene was preceded by a series of events of escalating scale and impact on the planet. The first is the Pleistocene extinctions of megafauna as humans migrated around the globe. The second, is the origins of and intensification of farming, with its extensive land clearing and emissions in carbon dioxide and methane. The third is the European invasion of the Americas and deaths of up to 50 million people due to European diseases, war, enslavement and famine. The resultant deaths produced a measureable drop in global carbon dioxide concentrations due to the collapse of agriculture. The last event is the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1760. 5 Even allowing for the Anthropocene beginning at a very early date, the Great Acceleration is fundamentally different to preceding stages, and may be referred to as the Hyper-Anthropocene. 6 Hence, the Anthropocene and its antecedents are associated with changes in human interactions with the environment, and impacts upon humans themselves. This includes both the improvement of the human condition, albeit unevenly distributed, and our damage of and alienation from the rest of creation. Aspects of this process of damage and alienation will be examined below.
Geoengineering is the deliberate modification of planetary systems to counteract climate change. ... more Geoengineering is the deliberate modification of planetary systems to counteract climate change. Such techniques carry the risk of deleterious side effects, and are theologically and morally questionable. This paper examines geoengineering through a reading of the creation text of Genesis 1, and the Elijah cycle of 1 Kings 16-18. Geoengineering can be seen as the application of a Baconian reading of Genesis 1, as opposed to John Walton’s creation as temple, and Graham Paulson’s Aboriginal theology of divine presence in the land. Geoengineering can also be understood as a form of Baalism. In the Australian context, the most moral geoengineering option is shown to be ceasing the use of coal.
Refereed theology papers by Mick Pope
Journal for Culture and Religious Theory , 2024
The Anthropocene represents the sum of anthropogenic impact upon the planet, from climate change ... more The Anthropocene represents the sum of anthropogenic impact upon the planet, from climate change and ocean acidification to the threat of mass extinctions – including the pollinators of our food, land use changes for agriculture, and the disruption of key natural cycles of phosphorus and nitrogen due to the misapplication of fertilizers. Agriculture plays a key role in the Anthropocene, at both the production and consumption end. Raj Patel and Jason Moore see cheap food as one of the key elements in the rise of capitalism. This rise in turn produced the Great Acceleration of the global economy in the 1950s, which marks the beginning of the Anthropocene. Ellen Davis identifies the present crisis as the result of humans being fully habituated to industrial culture. The solution according to Davis is to become fully human. This full humanity is achieved by recognizing the agrarian nature of the bible, and that God’s work as cultivator and caretaker provides the model for our behavior. This paper explores a theology of the Imago Dei and our vocation of the soil by examining the agricultural themes in the two creation accounts. This theology is then applied to the human vocation in the Anthropocene in two ways. Firstly, from the Priestly creation account, the earth is sacred space, a temple in macrocosm as Jon Levenson identifies it. In it, Elohim the creator God makes provision for human and more than human alike. Humans seek their food in agricultural activity. The seventh day of creation is declared as holy, providing an aetiological account of the Sabbath and the rest that the land is to enjoy from human agricultural activity. To bear the divine image to the rest of creation involves self-limiting our impacts upon it. In the Garden story, the human pair represent royal humanity exercising wise rule in the land. The Garden represents the Tabernacle, again identifying working the soil as a holy vocation. Davis concludes that the human pair were to work for the soil, serving its needs. The parallels with the Tabernacle indicate that this royal/cultic role allows creation to be what it was intended to be, i.e., praising its creator in a manner specific to its nature. The identification of the image of God in humans as associated with tending the soil to provide for our own needs but without sacrificing it or the needs of other creatures implies the Hebrew Bible sees humans as fundamentally agrarian. We are to be connected to the soil. While not advocating a return to a fully agrarian society, much less the “blood and soil” ideologies of right-wing extremism, a connection to soil literally grounds humanity, acknowledging our own finitude in the context of the finite resources of the soil. I suggest that all humans should at some time and in some manner become involved in the activity of growing food. In tending plant and soil, we learn our utter reliance on divine provision through natural process and bring our busy existence back to the timescales of these process. Such practices are designed to encourage a slower, more reflective mode of thinking about our responsibilities to all of creation.
Sea level rise is direct result of anthropogenic climate change, the disruption of the climate sy... more Sea level rise is direct result of anthropogenic climate change, the disruption of the climate system by the burning of fossil fuels. Modern sea level rise can be understood through the functional ontology of the Old Testament. The creation account of Genesis 1 represents a demythologised account of God constraining chaos into an ordered system. The Noahic Flood of Genesis 6-8 is the result of human sin releasing the forces of chaos to undo the ordering of creation. This language is taken up in the rest of the Old Testament to describe acts of judgment against Israel’s covenant violations. Modern sea level rise may then be understood as the release of chaos due to a violation of our role as image of God to represent the God of order to the rest of creation.
Sacrificing the Sioux: Oil, pipelines, Girard, and the new colonialism
The Other Journal, 2017
Recent events in North Dakota illustrate the violence that is inherent in our fossil fuel addicti... more Recent events in North Dakota illustrate the violence that is inherent in our fossil fuel addiction and the role that nonviolent resistance plays in unmasking this violence.
Anglican EcoCare Journal of Ecotheology, 2016
Ecotheology provides a lens through which to read the bible, hearing the often ignored voice of t... more Ecotheology provides a lens through which to read the bible, hearing the often ignored voice of the non-human creation. Aesthetics is the study of beauty as a desirable value, examining the relationship between a value-generator and a value-enjoyer, typically human beings. This article examines an aesthetic ecotheology, one that takes seriously the idea that beauty and its appreciation are shaped by evolutionary history, but that without grounding in the being and purposes of God, the idea of beauty collapses into a meaningless reductionism. God is the supreme value-enjoyer, and also works through value-generating mechanisms. Furthermore, since traditional ideas of beauty have been Eurocentric, and hence damaging in the Australian context, stress is placed here on our need to transcend such aesthetic biases in developing a contextualised aesthetic ecotheology.
Ross Langmead has made a unique and important contribution to the fields of missiology, ecotheolo... more Ross Langmead has made a unique and important contribution to the fields of missiology, ecotheology and ecomissiology by identifying some of the limitations of evangelical theology, and tracing the contours of ecotheology necessary to undergird an effective ecomissiology. Central to his thinking is the Incarnation, where God assumes flesh and hence demonstrate that he values the whole of creation. In this paper, I firstly enumerate five principles of mission and discipleship from an ecological perspective, that ecological mission, flows from ecotheology; is all about reconciliation; is living out of a different vision; is discipleship in community; involves reflective and active ecopraxis. I then go on to pursue some of these themes further, both from a theological framework – extending and questioning Langmead’s ideas, and presenting practical examples.
Missiology is traditionally understood in terms of evangelism - sharing the gospel message of Chr... more Missiology is traditionally understood in terms of evangelism - sharing the gospel message of Christ's salvific work for humanity. Eco-missiology describes a theology of mission to the nonhuman creation, and often relies on the highlighting of a few key ―green‖ texts largely shorn of their context. A careful reading of Paul's letter to the Romans shows that Romans 8, with its shared hope of human and non-human creation is central to God's fulfilment of his covenant promises. Many other aspects of this letter such as his discussion of empire and idolatry also inform a biblical eco-missiology.
Wilderness is a debated term today, given that no place on Earth is free from modification via hu... more Wilderness is a debated term today, given that no place on Earth is free from modification via human activity, such as anthropogenic climate change or the spread of DDT through the biosphere. This is of particular interest in the Australian seen, given the challenge to the status and integrity of World Heritage Areas. Definitions of what or what doesn’t count as wilderness, what should be conserved and what conservation means are philosophical as well as scientific questions because they pose questions about what is of value, how that value is measured, etc. Such issues are therefore open to theological analysis, to guide Christians through decision making processes in conservation and ecomission. This paper will examine key Old Testament texts that speak about the role of wilderness and places beyond human settlement alongside those that set out the creation mandate to explore ideas of divine sovereignty, human stewardship, nature, the image of God and proper humility.
Theology papers and articles by Mick Pope
A Religious Ethic for the Anthropocene? A Response to Freya Mathews
We live on a planet which we dominate in every aspect. Whether it is use of arable land or fresh ... more We live on a planet which we dominate in every aspect. Whether it is use of arable land or fresh water, modifying the climate, or polluting water, soil, and air with our waste products, the Anthropocene is not an age to celebrate.
S140 Climate Change: Current scientific information about climate change and global warming are p... more S140 Climate Change: Current scientific information about climate change and global warming are presented, together with some of the implications for the Earth and society. In the light of the data about climate change as well as the environmental impact of development, the author concludes by asking whether we will learn from history and take
steps corporately and individually to manage the resources of the Earth.
S141 Christ and the Camera Lens: This paper develops a theology of wildlife documentaries, in particular examining the value of displaying predation.
Eco-missiology sees mission in terms of reconciliation at all levels. It recognises that the God ... more Eco-missiology sees mission in terms of reconciliation at all levels. It recognises that the God who creates is also the God who redeems all that he has made. This holistic mission includes both eco-justice for the poor as well as care for creation for its own sake. This talk will develop an eco-missiological framework based upon a narrative reading of the Bible, including reflections on eco-praxis such as holistic mission and dialogue with environmentalists.
Books by Mick Pope
What does it mean to love our neighbours in a world that is warming?
That is just one of the que... more What does it mean to love our neighbours in a world that is warming?
That is just one of the questions dealt with in A Climate of Justice. Justice, we are reminded, is important to Christians because justice reflects God’s character. There are many issues of justice that currently concern Christians: the refugee crises and the treatment of asylum seekers; the ways in which indigenous people around the world are treated, including the way in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples lag behind non-indigenous Australians.
Dr. Mick Pope examines these and other justice issues through the lens of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, as well as within the context of climate change. What will come as a surprise to many is the role climate change is found to play in addressing these key issues of justice.
A Climate of Hope: Church and Mission in a Warming World
Reverend Tim Costello AO, CEO World Vision Australia
With this book Claire Dawson and Mick Pope ... more Reverend Tim Costello AO, CEO World Vision Australia
With this book Claire Dawson and Mick Pope have set deep concern alongside shining hope, as they issue a timely call to action for Christians to get serious about climate change. This is urgent business, and I hope and pray that this work will ignite a righteous energy to care for creation.
Contributed chapters by Mick Pope
'Oil and Blood on the Bayonet': Empire, Oil, War and Ecology in Anne Elvey, Deborah Guess, and Keith Dyer (eds), Ecological Aspects of War: Religious and Theological Perspectives (Adelaide: ATF, 2016)
The title of this essay comes from the song 'What are we Fighting for?' This final song on Live's... more The title of this essay comes from the song 'What are we Fighting for?' This final song on Live's 2003 album Birds of Pray explains the perceived connection between oil and geopolitics, particularly U.S. foreign policy. This essay examines the connection between oil, empire and war in pursuit of oil. The continued use of oil as an energy source is not an ecological good, and therefore the building of empire based on the aggressive acquisition of this resource is morally wrong. By examining oil driven conflicts, this essay describes a positive feedback loop in the climate system. After examining the basics of oil, I will look at oil history and why in particular the U.S. has become so dependent upon oil, and how this dependence has influenced their foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East. I focus on the U.S. primarily because it was the first nation to centre its economy on oil and because it dominates current global consumption. I then consider two conflicts involving oil: Iraq and East Timor. Oil imperialism will then be examined by considering Paul's critique of empire in Romans.
“Rediscovering a spirituality of creation for the Anthropocene,” in Nature of Things ed. Graham Buxton (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2016).
Wilderness has been defined as areas “untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does... more Wilderness has been defined as areas “untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” Such places often “provide a common ground for shared experience of what some people call the revelation of God in creation.” In The Earth is Full of Your Creatures, I examined the fact that there is no longer any genuine undisturbed wilderness, instead advancing the idea that it was the presence of wild creatures that made wilderness wild. The doxological nature of creation is in its variety, shear abundance, and danger.
This present chapter seeks to advance that work in three ways. Firstly, it places a spirituality of creation within the framework of the Anthropocene, the domination of the Earth by humanity. Secondly, it extends the discussion of wildness to include other aspect of the Earth, including land, atmosphere, and oceans. Thirdly, it examines the biblical dialectic of dominion and creation care versus divine providence and care for creation. This is contextualized to examine the myth of terra nullius, and the need to learn from Aboriginal theology.
“The Self-emptying Godhead: Perichoresis, Kenosis and an Ethic for the Anthropocene,” in Ecotheology and Nonhuman Ethics in Society: A Community of Compassion (Ecocritical Theory and Practice) ed. Melissa J. Brotton (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2016).
The Earth has now entered the Anthropocene, an era where humanity is a, if not the major geologic... more The Earth has now entered the Anthropocene, an era where humanity is a, if not the major geological force. The Anthropocene is characterized by the threatened or actual breaching of the nine planetary boundaries which represent a safe operating space for humanity. In 1990, theologian Hans Küng called for a global ethic to deal with this ecological crisis. More recently, Pope Francis has called for the idols of modernity to be unmasked. Modernity is associated with reductionism, both as a methodology which has delivered great advancements but also failed to deal with the consequences, and as a hermeneutic which has eroded meaning and desacralized nature.
In this chapter, I shall develop a Christian ethic for the Anthropocene based upon three ideas. Firstly, ethics is emergent, i.e. it represents a higher order description of reality that is both epistemologically and ontologically non-reductive. Secondly, ethics is based in the dynamical, relational Trinity. God is loving relationship within Godself, known as the perichoretic Trinity. This relationship is a model for, and is extended to, humans and non-human creation in a way that that neither confuses the creature/creator difference as in panthentheism or distances God as does the impassable God of classical theism. Instead, it is the ever present Trinity who re-enchants or re-sacralises creation. Thirdly, the shape of ethics is self-emptying or kenotic, as demonstrated in creation (the Father), redemption (the Son) and creativity (the Spirit).
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Drafts by Mick Pope
Refereed theology papers by Mick Pope
Theology papers and articles by Mick Pope
steps corporately and individually to manage the resources of the Earth.
S141 Christ and the Camera Lens: This paper develops a theology of wildlife documentaries, in particular examining the value of displaying predation.
Books by Mick Pope
That is just one of the questions dealt with in A Climate of Justice. Justice, we are reminded, is important to Christians because justice reflects God’s character. There are many issues of justice that currently concern Christians: the refugee crises and the treatment of asylum seekers; the ways in which indigenous people around the world are treated, including the way in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples lag behind non-indigenous Australians.
Dr. Mick Pope examines these and other justice issues through the lens of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, as well as within the context of climate change. What will come as a surprise to many is the role climate change is found to play in addressing these key issues of justice.
With this book Claire Dawson and Mick Pope have set deep concern alongside shining hope, as they issue a timely call to action for Christians to get serious about climate change. This is urgent business, and I hope and pray that this work will ignite a righteous energy to care for creation.
Contributed chapters by Mick Pope
This present chapter seeks to advance that work in three ways. Firstly, it places a spirituality of creation within the framework of the Anthropocene, the domination of the Earth by humanity. Secondly, it extends the discussion of wildness to include other aspect of the Earth, including land, atmosphere, and oceans. Thirdly, it examines the biblical dialectic of dominion and creation care versus divine providence and care for creation. This is contextualized to examine the myth of terra nullius, and the need to learn from Aboriginal theology.
In this chapter, I shall develop a Christian ethic for the Anthropocene based upon three ideas. Firstly, ethics is emergent, i.e. it represents a higher order description of reality that is both epistemologically and ontologically non-reductive. Secondly, ethics is based in the dynamical, relational Trinity. God is loving relationship within Godself, known as the perichoretic Trinity. This relationship is a model for, and is extended to, humans and non-human creation in a way that that neither confuses the creature/creator difference as in panthentheism or distances God as does the impassable God of classical theism. Instead, it is the ever present Trinity who re-enchants or re-sacralises creation. Thirdly, the shape of ethics is self-emptying or kenotic, as demonstrated in creation (the Father), redemption (the Son) and creativity (the Spirit).