KPGM

V. The Theology of the Anthropocene Proposed by Contemporary Theologians

1. Jürgen Moltmann

After renewing Christian eschatology in Theology of Hope, Jürgen Moltmann developed a more systematic ecological theology in God in Creation.

Moltmann does not understand God as a distant ruler who governs the world from outside. Rather, he understands God as the One who dwells within creation, suffers with creatures, and leads creation toward its future.

Moltmann pays particular attention to the Noahic covenant in Genesis 9.

God establishes a covenant not only with human beings, but also with:

“every living creature.”
(Genesis 9:9–17)

Therefore, Moltmann argues that the scope of salvation extends beyond humanity to the whole created world.

His key contribution is that he expands the theology of hope into a cosmic hope and a vision for the restoration of creation.

2. Sallie McFague

Sallie McFague is one of the leading figures in contemporary ecological theology. In The Body of God, she proposed the metaphor of “the world as God’s body.”

This expression is not pantheism, which identifies God with the world. Rather, it is a theological metaphor intended to emphasize that God loves creation and is present within it.

McFague argues that nature should not be understood merely as a resource, but as a sacred space in which God’s presence is revealed.

3. Norman Wirzba

Norman Wirzba is a major contemporary theologian of creation who connects ecological theology with agriculture, food, and community.

He identifies one of humanity’s deepest sins in a consumer-centered way of life.

Wirzba says that gratitude is stronger than consumption. Gratitude restrains the desire to possess more and teaches us to receive the gifts of life given by God with joy.

In particular, he emphasizes that the table is not merely a place where we eat food. It is a sacramental space where our relationships with God, with our neighbors, and with the created world are restored.

4. Pope Francis

The encyclical Laudato Si’, published in 2015, is widely regarded as one of the most important documents in contemporary Christian ecological theology.

Pope Francis defines the climate crisis not simply as an environmental issue, but as a spiritual and moral crisis. He proposes an integral ecology, which sees humanity and nature, economy and society, in an interconnected way.

He emphasizes ecological conversion, arguing that Christians must go beyond participating in environmental protection activities. They must fundamentally transform their patterns of consumption and production, as well as their economic habits and ways of life, according to the gospel.

The new theology required in the age of the Anthropocene is not a new theory that replaces existing theology. Rather, it is a renewed reading, in today’s context, of the great redemptive story that Scripture has proclaimed from the beginning: creation, fall, redemption, and new creation.

Creation theology, ecological theology, kingdom theology, stewardship theology, and cosmic redemption are not separate themes. Together, they form one integrated theological vision.

This vision calls the church to become more than a community that speaks only of human salvation. It calls the church to participate in the mission of God, Missio Dei, through which God reconciles and renews all things in Jesus Christ.

This is the vocation of the church and of theology in the age of the Anthropocene.

VI. The Mission of the Church in the Age of the Anthropocene

“The Church Must Become a Kingdom Community That Cares for Creation”

The Anthropocene is not merely a scientific concept that describes a new age. It is a theological challenge that compels the church to ask again about its identity and mission.

In the face of the climate crisis and ecological crisis, the church must not remain silent or stay on the margins. If the church is a community that worships God the Creator, then caring for and restoring God’s creation must also be understood as an essential part of the gospel.

All ministries of the church—worship, education, mission, spirituality, social engagement, and lifestyle—must be reconfigured within the vision of the kingdom of God and the restoration of creation.

1. Recovering Worship: A Community That Worships God the Creator

1) Worship Is Gratitude Offered to God the Creator

In Scripture, worship is not only gratitude for human salvation.

Worship is the act of praising God the Creator for the whole world God has made.

The psalmist declares:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
(Psalm 19:1)

And again:

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”
(Psalm 150:6)

In Scripture, worship is not an activity of human beings alone. It is a cosmic worship in which all creatures participate together.

2) Worship Is a Way of Life

Worship is not an event that ends inside the church building.

The apostle Paul writes:

“Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.”
(Romans 12:1)

Today, a life that cares for creation is also a form of spiritual worship offered to God.

Saving energy, conserving resources, and respecting life are not merely environmental actions. They are practical expressions of worship before God.

3) Creation Theology Must Be Recovered in Worship

The church needs to recover a spirituality of gratitude and repentance for creation by actively observing occasions such as the Season of Creation, Creation Thanksgiving Sunday, and Environmental Sunday.

Worship must proclaim not only God’s salvation, but also creation and new creation.

2. Recovering Education: A Church That Learns Creation

1) A New Task for Church Education

Today’s younger generation recognizes the climate crisis as one of the most important social issues.

Yet much church education still lacks sufficient theological teaching on creation and ecological ethics.

Together with biblical education, the church should teach the following themes in a systematic way:

creation theology
ecological theology
kingdom theology
the climate crisis and the Bible
ESG and Christian ethics
sustainability and stewardship
consumer ethics and economic ethics

2) Faith and Science Are Not in Conflict

The climate crisis belongs to the realm of science, but the response to it belongs to the realm of theology.

The church should not deny scientific facts. Rather, it should help believers interpret and practice the realities presented by science through the lens of faith.

3) Educating the Next Generation

Youth and young adults are deeply sensitive to ecological issues.

The church must help the next generation understand that faith and the environment are not separate concerns.

3. Expanding Mission: The Mission of God (Missio Dei)

1) Mission Is the Expansion of the Kingdom of God

Traditionally, mission has often been understood as proclaiming the gospel in order to save people.

However, the mission of God, Missio Dei, is much broader than this.

God restores not only human beings, but also the created world.

Therefore, the mission of the church must pursue together:

the salvation of souls
the restoration of society
the care of creation

2) Caring for Creation Is Mission

Forest restoration, water protection, climate action, environmental justice, biodiversity preservation, and the renewal of local communities can all become missional practices that reveal the kingdom of God.

3) The Church Must Become a Community of Hope

In an age of climate crisis, many people fear the future.

The church must not be a community that spreads fear, but a community that bears witness to the hope of God.

4. Conversion of Life: Ecological Spirituality

1) Repentance Is a Transformation of Life

In Scripture, repentance, or metanoia, is not merely an emotion. It is a turning of one’s whole way of life.

Ecological conversion means turning from a consumption-centered life to a life centered on life itself.

2) Stewardship in Daily Life

The church can encourage practices such as:

saving energy
using renewable energy
reducing single-use products
reducing food waste
conserving water
reducing one’s carbon footprint
practicing ecological consumption
using local agricultural products
using public transportation
constructing and maintaining green church buildings

These practices are not merely environmental protection. They are acts of obedience to God.

3) The Spirituality of Gratitude

As Norman Wirzba emphasizes, gratitude is stronger than consumption.

A grateful person does not seek to possess more, but joyfully receives the gifts of creation already given by God.

Gratitude is the starting point of an ecological way of life.

5. Practicing Justice: Climate Justice

1) The Climate Crisis Is a Matter of Justice

Climate change does not affect everyone equally.

Poor countries, island nations, rural communities, the elderly, children, and future generations are often the most severely affected.

Therefore, the climate crisis is more than an environmental issue.

It is a matter of justice.

2) The Bible calls for justice.

As the prophet Micah says:

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)

Climate justice is how we put this biblical justice into practice today.

3) The Church’s Public Responsibility

The church has a duty to speak up in society to:

Support carbon neutrality policies
Protect those most vulnerable to environmental harm
Preserve local ecosystems
Live out bioethics
Build a sustainable economy

This is not merely a political action; it is a confession of our faith in God the Creator.

VII. Theological Questions Confronting the Korean Church

The Anthropocene demands deep self-reflection from the Korean church.

Rather than merely adding peripheral programs, the church must fundamentally re-examine the very way it understands the Gospel.

1. Are we still preaching a Gospel centered solely on human beings?

Is the Gospel meant only for individual human salvation?

Or is it the grand proclamation of cosmic redemption, through which God makes all creation new?

2. Is our understanding of salvation too individualistic?

Have we reduced salvation merely to "going to heaven after death"?

The Bible declares that the Kingdom of God begins here and now.

Along with personal transformation, the church must teach the restoration of society and the created order as an integral part of the Gospel.

3. Does the Kingdom of God encompass the environment and ecology?

The Kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus is the absolute reign of God,

encompassing not only politics, economics, and culture, but the entirety of creation.

The church must understand the environment not as a secondary concern,

but as a vital domain of the theology of the Kingdom of God.

4. Is the church’s mission actively restoring creation?

While the church is zealous in bringing people into the sanctuary,

how much attention does it pay to caring for the creation God has entrusted to us? Mission must be the Mission of God (Missio Dei),

which simultaneously restores the relationships between humans and God,

humans and humans, and humans and nature.

5. Does the next generation view the church as a community of hope?

Today’s youth and young adults are deeply concerned with the climate crisis, life, and sustainability.

If the church remains silent on these pressing questions of our time, the next generation is at risk of perceiving the church as an outdated institution of the past.

However, if the church transforms into a Kingdom community that cares for creation,

the next generation will discover within it the public nature of the Gospel and hope for the future.

The Anthropocene is both a crisis and a newfound opportunity for the church.

The church is no longer called to be a community that preaches the Gospel only within the walls of the sanctuary, but one that cares for creation, nurtures life,

and witnesses to the Kingdom of God in daily life.

Worship must expand into gratitude toward God the Creator;

education into the cultivation of stewardship; mission into God's mission toward the reconciliation of all things;

lifestyle into the practice of ecological conversion;

and social engagement into public responsibility for climate justice.

Such a church will not merely adapt to changing times, but will stand as a Sign of the Kingdom, bridging creation and new creation.

This is the new mission God has entrusted to the Korean church in the era of the Anthropocene, and the path of the Gospel that brings hope to future generations.

VIII. Conclusion: Christian Theology in the Anthropocene Must Be a Theology of 'Creation-Reconciliation-Restoration'

1. The Anthropocene is a new theological question of our time

The Anthropocene is not merely a new epoch proposed by geologists.

It is a historical and civilizational declaration that human beings have gone beyond altering nature to become a threat to the entire Earth system.

Simultaneously, it is a new question of our era to which Christian theology must respond. Today, humanity has achieved dazzling scientific advancements and economic growth since the Industrial Revolution.

Yet, the reverse side of this progress has brought severe crises: the climate crisis, the collapse of biodiversity, deforestation, marine pollution, soil degradation, and environmental inequality.

These crises are not simply failures of technology or policy;

they are spiritual and ethical crises brought about by human greed and a civilization centered on limitless growth—the consequences of human sinfulness that has lost its relationship with God the Creator.

Therefore, the Anthropocene is not just a scientific issue,

but a theological event that prompts us to re-examine creation, anthropology, hamartiology (the doctrine of sin), soteriology (the doctrine of salvation), and eschatology.

2. From beginning to end, the Bible speaks of 'Creation-Fall-Redemption-New Creation'

The Bible is not a book that deals exclusively with human salvation.

The grand meta-narrative weaving through the entire Scripture is the story of God’s enduring love for and restoration of the world He created.

In Genesis, God created the world and declared, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." (Genesis 1:31).

Humans were created in the image of God (Imago Dei) and given the stewardship mandate to cultivate and keep the creation.

However, human sin fractured not only the relationship between God and humanity,

but also the relationships between humans, and between humans and nature. Consequently, the ground was cursed (Genesis 3:17),

and the whole creation has been groaning together (Romans 8:22).

Yet, God did not abandon His creation. In Jesus Christ, God reconciled not only humanity but all things to Himself:

"and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (Colossians 1:20).

The Bible also concludes not with the annihilation of the world, but with "a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1).

This demonstrates that God is not one who discards creation, but one who renews it.

Ultimately, the entire Scripture witnesses to the grand flow of redemptive history: Creation → Fall → Reconciliation → New Creation.

3. Christian theology in the Anthropocene must be an holistic theology

The era of the Anthropocene does not allow theological concern to remain confined to the salvation of the individual soul.

Theology in this era must holistically grasp God’s plan of salvation for all of creation, which He deeply loves.

To this end, Christian theology must develop in the following five directions:

(1) Creation Theology:

Creation is not a mere backdrop for salvation, but the very place where God’s love and purpose begin.

The church must understand creation as God’s gift and proclaim that all creatures exist to manifest His glory.

(2) Ecological Theology:

Ecological theology is not environmental activism repackaged in theological terms.

It is a theology that seeks to biblically restore the relationships between humans and nature, and between God and His creation.

It emphasizes the interdependence and communal nature of life, witnessing to God’s love for all creation.

(3) Kingdom Theology:

The central message of Jesus was the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is not a place we go after death; it is the reign of God establishing justice, peace, life, and reconciliation here on earth.

Therefore, the Kingdom of God is a comprehensive concept that includes politics, economics, culture, education, science, technology, the environment, humans, and nature.

As a sign of the Kingdom, the church must manifest this reign within the world.

(4) Stewardship Theology:

Human beings are not the owners of the Earth, but stewards entrusted with God’s creation.

The mandate of a steward is not exploitation and consumption, but protection, care, and responsible management that takes future generations into account.

Therefore, moderation, gratitude, sharing, and sustainability must become the core virtues of stewardship theology today.

(5) Cosmic Redemption:

The cross of Christ is not an event limited to the forgiveness of individual human sins.

Christ gathers all things in heaven and on earth together in Himself (Ephesians 1:10)

and reconciles all things to God (Colossians 1:20).

Therefore, Christian salvation is cosmic, and the church is called to participate in this ministry of cosmic reconciliation.

4. The church in the Anthropocene must be a community that lives out the Kingdom of God

This theology must not remain a matter of mere academic discussion; it must be embodied in the life and ministry of the church.

The church must praise God the Creator through worship, pass down stewardship to the next generation through education, pursue the reconciliation of humanity, society, and creation through mission, practice ecological conversion in daily life, and fulfill its public responsibility for climate justice and reverence for life within society.

Living this way does not mean adding new content to the Gospel, but rather recovering the inherent dimensions of creation and reconciliation that the Gospel of Jesus Christ originally possessed.

5. A final challenge to the Korean Church

Today, the Korean church stands before a new reality marked by rapid social change, the departure of the next generation, and the climate crisis.

The young generation of this era is asking not just what the church believes, but how that belief transforms the world.

If the church emphasizes only individual soul salvation while ignoring creation, the Gospel risks being misunderstood as a religious message disconnected from the world.

However, if the church becomes a community that cares for the creation God loves, respects life, and practices justice and peace, the Gospel will once again become a message of hope for the world.

The church is not a community that fears worldly crises, but one that lives out God’s future ahead of time.

Protecting Creation is Living Out the Gospel

The church in the era of the Anthropocene can no longer exist as a religious community segregated from the world.

The church must become a Kingdom community that participates in the Mission of God (Missio Dei) to care for creation, bring about reconciliation between humans and nature, and make all things new.

Today, preserving creation is a confession of faith in God the Creator before it is environmental activism; it is the practice of discipleship participating in the reconciling work of Jesus Christ;

and it is the church's calling to live out the new creation in advance through the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, Christian theology in the Anthropocene must advance as a 'Theology of Creation,' a 'Theology of Reconciliation,' and a 'Theology of Restoration.'

This is the history of God's salvation witnessed throughout Scripture, and the timely mission that the church must fulfill before the world today.

"He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!'" (Revelation 21:5).

This promise is not merely a future hope, but God’s present calling for the church living in this era to witness to and practice in the midst of the world.