Why Genesis Does Not Teach a Doctrine of Separation from and Exploitation of Nature: An Orthodox Response to Lynn White, Jr.

Both our present science and our present technology are so tinctured with orthodox Christian arrogance toward nature, that no solution from our ecological crisis can be expected from them alone. - Lynn White, Jr., Historical Roots of the Ecological Crisis.

Historian Lynn White (d. 1987) popularized the idea that the Genesis narrative marked an epochal shift in the way humans conceived of and related to nature. White’s arguments have backed ongoing criticism of traditional Christianity as a cause of contemporary environmental problems and therefore something our culture needs to put behind us. But White’s stance was more nuanced than this, since he places the blame on developments unique to Western Christendom after her split with the Orthodox Christian East. During this retreat, we will explore some of the charges that Lynn White, Jr. and his heirs have laid against the Genesis narrative, and counter these with an Orthodox, patristic reading of this most extraordinary text, providing a solid foundation for a uniquely Christian environmental ethic.