The Human Place in Creation

In the created world only the human being combines material and spiritual elements. Human existence is thus differentiated from non-human creation in a qualitative way. In light of this fact, the Church Fathers often speak of the human being as a "little world," a "microcosm" of the whole of the creation. . . .   This means that the natural world is fully integrated with the human being and the whole of the creation. At the same time humanity, created in God's image and likeness, transcends the material world because it participates in God spiritually and consciously, unlike the rest of the creation. Humankind then stands on the boundary between the material and the spiritual worlds as a connecting link. . . . We are called to exercise dominion over all creatures on earth (cf. Gen. 1:28), i.e. to be stewards of God's material world, caring for it, maintaining it in its integrity and perfecting it by opening it up to God. . . . ("Orthodox Perspectives on Creation," I.9.-11.)

Human Sin and the Environmental Crisis

The human fall . . . which was essentially a sinful exercising of human freedom, introduced forces of disintegration into the body of creation. Humanity experienced a two-fold alienation. On the one hand, it was estranged from the Creator, since Adam and Eve tended to hide themselves away from the sight of God (cf. Gen. 3:8) as their communion with the source of life and light was broken. On the other hand, humanity lost its capacity to enter into a proper relation with nature and with the body of the creation. Enmity between the natural world and human beings replaced the relationship of harmony and care. Domination and exploitation of the creation for selfish ends by greedy human beings became the order of history. Thus, manifold forms of disintegration set in which converged in the fact of death and corruption. Fear of death instilled anxiety, acquisitiveness, greed, hatred and despair in human beings. Modern forms of economic exploitation, racial oppression, social inequalities, war, genocide, etc. are all consequences of the fear of death and collective signs of death. ("Orthodox Perspectives on Creation," II.13.)

Human Redemption and the Redemption of Creation in Christ

God's will, wisdom and love for the creation in general and for humankind in particular are revealed in the Incarnation in an inexpressible way. . . . One of the Trinity . . . became Incarnate, became man, revealing his Lordship over the whole of the creation, and showing humanity a Lordship in stewardship and service. . . . Through the Incarnation of the Word of God human beings can enter again into a relation with their Creator which restores them in the divine image and enables them both to secure their being and to regain the lost condition of their well-being. It is in this context of the salvation which is offered by God in Christ not only for human beings but also for the whole of the creation that human beings have a special responsibility to exercise their freedom in a way which serves God's gracious activity for the reintegration and transfiguration of all reality. ("Orthodox Perspectives on Creation," I.12, II.15.)

Eucharistic Response

. . . The created world is not simply our possession but it is a gift — a gift from God the Creator, a healing gift, a gift of wonder and beauty — and that our proper response, on receiving such a gift, is to accept it with gratitude and thanksgiving. This is surely the distinctive characteristic of ourselves as human beings: humankind is not merely a logical or a political animal, but above all a "eucharistic animal" [Greek eucharistos, grateful], capable of gratitude and endowed with the power to bless God for the gift of creation. Other animals express their gratefulness simply by being themselves, by living in the world in their own instinctive manner; but we human beings possess self-awareness, and so consciously and by deliberate choice we can thank God with eucharistic joy. Without such thanksgiving we are not truly human. (Patriarch Bartholomew I, "Sacrifice: The Missing Dimension"(PDF).)