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Series:   Elements of Christianity and Science

Christianity and Agroecology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2025

Matthew Philipp Whelan
Matthew Philipp Whelan
Affiliation:
Baylor University

Summary

This Element draws on the transdisciplinary field of agroecology to clarify and deepen Catholic social teaching's natural law ethic. In response to the ecological crisis, social teaching has begun to appeal to ecology and the exemplarity of natural ecosystems to foster care of creation. Some have criticized this natural law ethic, along with its invocations of balance and harmony, as overly idealized, advocating instead for an alternative view in which ecological dynamism and ambiguity preclude appeals to ecology for guidance. While sympathizing with these criticisms, this Element offers a different way forward, contending that social teaching's natural law ethic should be revised rather than abandoned. Agroecology displays an approach to tilling and keeping the earth that accommodates dynamism and ambiguity, while also discerning ecological principles and processes that are mimicked agriculturally. In short, this Element argues that engaging agroecology can help social teaching clarify, concretize, and deepen its understanding of natural law.
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Keywords

Catholic social teachingagroecologyenvironmental ethicsnatural lawLaudato si’
Type
Element
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Series: Elements of Christianity and Science
Online ISBN: 9781009158213
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 30 June 2025

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