Lynn White Jr.'s ‘The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis’ After 50 Years

Abstract

Over the past half-century, Lynn White Jr.'s 'The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis' has stimulated examination of the relationship between religion, particularly Christianity, and attitudes toward nature in the U.S. and elsewhere. The article contrasts critiques of the Lynn White thesis as expressed in White's scholarly work (Medieval Technology and Religion, Medieval Technology and Social Change) with the far broader response to 'Roots' by not only medieval historians but also scholars in the fields of environmental philosophy and ethics, Religion and Ecology, and modern history. The bifurcated response to White reveals how the White thesis became a f lashpoint for discussion of environmental issues outside and beyond medieval studies, a discussion that until recently took place largely independently of continuing work in medieval environmental history itself. Only within the last decade or so have the main lines of criticism of the White thesis by medieval historians begun to be integrated into a more unified consensus, leaving as White's legacy the fundamental point that religion is an important, if not the only, factor in how human societies relate to the natural world.

The Theocentric Worldview: Sustainability Education for Religion and Spiritual

“…As a conclusion for his article, White (1967) called for a rejection of the axiom and embrace an alternative Christian view based on the ecocentric doctrine of Saint Francis who believes in the equality of all creatures including human beings. White's conclusion that our ecological crisis has its roots in religious traditions, including Islamic traditions, had been refuted by several other scholars (Kula, 2001;Minteer & Manning, 2005;Whitney, 2015).…”

Psychological and Theological Predictors of Environmental Attitudes among a Sample of UK Churchgoers

“…Some religions have been blamed for creating damaging worldviews that set humans over and above the rest of creation, leading to a sense that the earth is primarily a resource to be used for the benefit of the human race. White's well-known attack on those aspects of the Judaeo-Christian movement that promoted an attitude of 'dominion' over creation (White 1967) fuelled debate among historians and theologians, and produced a number of studies that looked for differences either between Christian affiliates and others, or between Christians of different traditions (for reviews see Hitzhusen 2007;LeVasseur and Peterson 2016;Pudlo 2019;Taylor 2016;Taylor, Van Wieren, and Zaleha 2016;Whitney 2015). Over the last few decades a number of studies from the USA have shown less positive environmentalism among some Christian groups, particularly those thought likely to promote human mastery over nature (Arbuckle and Konisky 2015;Clements, McCright, and Xiao 2014;Eckberg and Blocker 1989;Hand and Liere 1984;Shaiko 1987).…”

Salvation for All Creation: The Meaning of the Atonement In Colossians 1: 15-23 from Mosehe’s Perspective and the Implication for Eco-Theology in the Protestant Church in Southeast Sulawesi

“…Lynn White Jr., in a famous essay The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis, states that the Industrial Revolution marked a turning point in the history of human relations and the natural environment. [7] In the climate of the Industrial Revolution, scientific hypotheses are mated to the possibilities of technology, and the fruits of that marriage are an increase in both human desire and ability to exploit, even destroy the natural environment.…”

“…Both sides, for White Jr., provide the background for anthropocentrism tendencies. It is the anthropocentrism that makes people only see the natural environment as a resource for human consumption that can continue to be explored and exploited for the benefit of humans [8].…”