Interfaith Scholarship on Faith and the Environment

Religion and nature as a distinct field of study is growing. Scholars in a wide range of fields from theology and philosophy to history and sociology are increasingly recognizing the role of religious values and beliefs in our interactions with the natural world. Among the indications of the rapid development of this field — and resources for study and research — are:

• Books, textbooks, and articles — see a select bibliography of works on religion and the environment;
• A series of major conferences on World Religions and Ecology, sponsored by the Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions and the Forum on Religion and Ecology, with published proceedings from each;
• Other occasional conferences, such as "The Good in Nature and Humanity: Connecting Science, Religion and the Natural World" at Yale University and "Nature and the Sacred: A Fierce Green Fire" at Oregon State University, to name only two;
• Websites with scholarly resources such as the Forum on Religion and Ecology, ReligionandNature.com, and Harvard Divinity School's Environmental Ethics and Policy Program;
• Publication of the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature (Continuum, 2005), with over 1,000 entries by more than 500 scholars from around the world;

• The Bioresponsibility area of the Dialogue on Science and Religion Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which encourages joint exploration of questions of environmental policy by the religious and scientific communities;
• Scholarly journals such as Worldviews: Environment, Culture, Religion and Ecotheology: The Journal of Religion, Nature, and the Environment; and
• The Religion and Ecology interest group in the American Academy of Religion, which has held sessions at annual meetings of the AAR since 1991.

Find additional resources and information about scholarship on faith, ethics and the environment in the Jewish, Catholic, Mainline Protestant and Eastern Orthodox , and evangelical communities.

An environmental group in Western Michigan recognizes the importance of religion and spirituality in motivating action.