Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 36:1 (Oct 2023)
Article: Drawing On The Collective Wisdom Of The Past To Develop A Transformative, Scripture-Infused Eco-Theology For Land Use In Africa
Author: Katharine Norton

Conspectus 36:1 (October 2023) p. 72

Drawing On The Collective Wisdom Of The Past To Develop A Transformative, Scripture-Infused Eco-Theology For Land Use In Africa1

Katharine Norton

SIL Nigeria; Theological College of Northern Nigeria

About the Author

Ms. Katharine Norton is originally from the Republic of Ireland but has spent most of her adult life in Africa. She works with SIL Nigeria, specializing in Scripture use, helping people to apply the Bible in their language to all aspects of their daily lives. In 2017 she and her colleague Yunana Malgwi co-founded Faith and Farming, a Scripture use program that helps farmers, herders, and other land users to engage with the Bible in the language that they use as they work on the land or with their animals. The program has been well received and has been taught in communities and Bible colleges in Nigeria, to participants from seventeen African countries, and it is also branching out into Asia. When Katharine is not writing or teaching, she enjoys working on the two acres around her house where she experiments with small-scale, environmentally friendly agricultural projects that can bless local farmers, students, and pastors. E-mail: [email protected]

This article: https://www.sats.edu.za/drawing-collective-wisdom-past-develop https://doi.org/10.54725/conspectus.2023.3.8

Abstract

How can eco-theology impact people, communities, countries, and continents? Two things are necessary. First, a thorough engagement with the beliefs, attitudes, and actions, both past and present, that make up a community’s interactions with each other and with their environment. Secondly, an examination of these beliefs, attitudes, and actions in the light of Scripture. All aspects of land use should be considered as related and interconnected, whether farming, herding, fishing, hunting, tree cutting, tree planting, or mining. Engaging with traditional and current beliefs and practices in the local language in the light of Scripture helps churches and communities to consider local environmental degradation, celebrate local wisdom, and release community members to move forward with hope as they seek to make positive changes in every aspect of land use in their communities and beyond. This article laments the widespread environmental degradation in Africa but celebrates indigenous wisdom about the environment. It draws hope that the spiritual connections to nature and Scripture in the local language can inform a Scripture-infused eco-theology which will enable communities to flourish. Inspired by experiences of the Faith and Farming program in Nigeria and beyond, it concludes with eight practical steps that communities can take to help them move forward with hope.