Nature through God’s Eyes: Eco-theological Perspectives in Paul Schrader’s First Reformed

Abstract

Environmental crisis is one of the major issues that humankind is facing today. The crisis can be discussed through a Christian perspective, as the relationship between Christianity and environment has been long discussed for its complexities. Eco-theology is one of the ways for Christianity to bridge its teaching to the environmental crisis. First Reformed, a 2017 film directed by Paul Schrader, is one of the films depicting the interplay between Christianity and environmentalism. This paper examines how First Reformed portrays the process of reconciling Christianity and environmentalism. Using Jürgen Moltmann’s eco-theological concept and Kierkegaard’s concept of despair, this article discovers that while First Reformed demonstrates the ways Christianity could be both an ally and an enemy of environmentalism, the film’s final message leans more towards the way the church can respond to the crisis through embracing insights and values beyond Christianity’s core doctrine that are more in line with environmental concerns, such as seeing nature as a female figure and the idea of harmony illustrated through a yin-yang symbolism.

Representation of Radical Environmentalism in Pom Poko and First Reformed

“…This discussion shift became the central premise of this film. If Pom Poko brings the environmental issue to animal life, this film brings the issue directly to our bodily existence and our existential and theological [16]. This film shows not only environmental issues as a pure ontological security problem but also a religious one.…”