Environmental ethics, evolutionary science, and openness theology

Evaluation of the God/human/world relationship in Christian environmental ethics is necessary due to difficulties regarding competition in nature and the traditional concept of God. Theological ethics of the environment are needed that are practical, compatible with science, and that promote human responsibility. This dissertation examines the problems of theodicy and theism coming from traditional Protestant Christianity that continue to prevent it from producing an intelligible environmental ethic. It analyzes the concept of God's self-limitation in openness theology and its pragmatic stress on experience. With openness theology, the dynamic qualities of nature and God are adequately accounted for, providing a new vision and framework for future Christian environmental ethics.