Although the Netherlands has become one of the most secular countries in the world, the Bible still plays an important role for many people as a source of cultural and spiritual inspiration. Despite extant empirical research, there remains a pressing gap of knowledge concerning the actual use of the Bible by “ordinary readers.” This makes it more difficult for organizations such as the Dutch Bible Society to engage the public with the distribution of Bible translations and inspirational products. This large-scale mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) research project aims to provide both practical (or commercial) and academic insights on Bible reading practices and views on the Bible among Dutch “readers” in various ‘ideological’ contexts. One of the most significant results is that biographical factors appear more indicative for how the Bible is approached than more ‘conventional’ denominational factors such as church affiliation.
In this article, I examine the possibility of widening the concept of imago Dei so as to include (other) animals next to humans by interacting with the theologians David Clough, David Fergusson and Celia Deane-Drummond. In light of the challenges of creaturely existence in the Anthropocene, I conclude that the traditional idea that only humans are created in the image and likeness of God should be maintained. Such a position does not need to be diminishing to other animals, can take seriously scientific insights on evolution and classic theological arguments, and is especially relevant given the era of the Anthropocene.
Given that today’s mass extinction of species is driven by human activity, it matters profoundly how the place and role of humans vis-à-vis the earth’s biodiversity is construed. In this regard, Anglican theologian Christopher Southgate argues that the idea of being created in God’s image (imago Dei) results in an eschatological calling to counter both anthropogenic and natural extinction as co-redeemers with God. How should Southgate’s perspective be evaluated in light of the ever-worsening extinction crisis and our attempts to mitigate it through conservation efforts? To answer this question, this article connects systematic theology with ethnographic research in the environmental humanities. In particular, it engages the work of philosopher and anthropologist Thom van Dooren on ‘extinction stories’ in order to explore how human and nonhuman life is interrelated in conservation. It is argued that speaking of humans as co-redeemers is problematic, given the crucial difference between God’s saving and redeeming work and human faulty and contingent ‘doings’ in conservation that remain ambiguous.
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