Christianity and ecology. Man – master or householder of nature?

1. Entity type Lemma
2. Original titleХристиянството и екологията. Човекът – господар или стопанин на природата?
3. Language term Bulgarian
4. lemma author Nachev, Ivaylo
5. lemma category Ecology and the environment
6. Publication date 19-9-2018
7. lemma work Християнството и екологията. Човекът – господар или стопанин на природата?
8. lemma manifestations Вяра и общество
9. Keywords Commercialism - technological development - technology and spirituality
10. Url Click Here
11. Lemma body

    1. The aim of this television material is to provide a Christian perspective to ecological problems. In the studio were interviewed archimandrite Kasian and journalist Angel Ivanov.

       Archimandrite Kasian, the abbot of the Kopilovski monastery near Kyustendil in western Bulgaria, commented on the Biblical grounds for engagement with ecological problems, and as well he touched upon the extreme commercialization in present societies. He also told about agricultural activities of his monastic brotherhood which are led by respect to the land that feeds people.        

       According to Angel Ivanov, the ecological thinking is an intrinsic aspect of Christian life. One should be responsible toward the creation of the Creator. One should not demand but be thankful.  Once the process of commercial exploitations of land starts this gratitude may fade away. At the same time, one should think about bringing fruits not only in physical but also in spiritual sense.

       Archimandrite Kasian argued that mankind has lost its way in the search of material things. Improvement in technologies and advancement in many scientific spheres often have many negative side effects. Sciences not only failed to solve problems but also brought mankind in a vicious circle. Intellectual and spiritual development lags behind. So, people, nowadays can hardly comprehend the full potential in texts of the Fathers of the Church. In his opinion measures to protect environment are positive but people should not be forgotten. He also spoke of erosion of values in present Bulgarian society, which should be attributed to the “terrible atheistic regime” under the communist rule. The economic catastrophe in a world scale which he attributed to the “global intervention of science” is practically “an irreversible process”. Archimandrite Kasian pointed as a positive personal example the choice he had made decades ago to quit a career in atomic physics, as this would have had very negative consequences for his personal development (noted in this respect the negative sides of incidents, like that with the Chernobyl nuclear plant).

       According to Angel Ivanov, the Christians have the duty to pay attention not only to the creation but also to the Creator, including in current environmentalist disputes, but this duty is not fully fulfilled. 

       The guests agreed that environmental topics attract wide attention nowadays. The voice of the Christians is hardly heard in contrast to secular environmentalist movements.