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Sacred Gaia: Holistic Theology and Earth System Science

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Biologist and theologian Celia Deane-Drummond has written, 'Gaia should not be allowed a place as a form of theology' (1992:283). Anne Primavesi's latest book shows just how worthwhile it can be to ignore this advice.

Primavesi has written a first-rate theological reflection on the significance of humanity's place in the universe, thoroughly embedded, that is, is the processes of evolution. At the same time, however, she is able to critique Darwin's political biases in the light of more recent systems thinking, and to relate the controversial 'Gaia hypothesis' about the earth as a living system, to a more general and wide ranging discussion of the implications of 'autopoeisis'. In less than two hundred pages, the author suceeds in covering a wide range of important material, much of it rarely considered by theologians. For those lacking confidence in their knowledge of systems science I would recommend reading Fritjof Capra's 'The Web of Life' in conjunction with this book. Primavesi's organising principle of 'selfScape/socialScape/poeticScape/earthScape' is imaginative and helpful.

'Sacred Gaia' goes much further than, for example, Rosemary Radford Ruether's 'Gaia and God' in taking seriously the specific ramifications of the Gaia theory for theology. However, if I have a criticism, it is that there is no mention of the problem of testing Lovelock's claims in a meaningful way. In other words, Primavesi seems more interested in appropriating 'Gaia' as an attractive idea than as an accurate description of how life and the planet really interact. I am among those who are also strongly attracted to the idea, but it doesn't clarify matters to understate the difficulties of verifying certain features of systems theory.

All told, though, this is a sophisticated, highly engaging and groundbreaking book.

Dr. Primavesi spoke recently at a seminar on the Future Faith, and her view is grounded in a provocatively new and thoughtful understanding of theology as an earth science. I was privileged to hear her speak and found that it was easier to absorb what she had to say in lecture than it was to absorb what she has written in this excellent book. Perhaps that was because there was so little time to go back over what she said where with this book I found myself review the material several times before I was satisfied.

And there is no end to interesting concepts, ideas and models to keep one interested. One of the first "ah ha" moments was when Dr. Primavesi stated that "The acceptance of this 'truth within situations' by scientists today means, for them, that 'the epoch of certainties and absolute oppositions' is over." She then goes on to point out that we are "inside the truth" and not separable from it, so that all we can do is define a truth from within the situation. This of course applies to not only our science, but our understanding of our evolutionary processes, and our theology. She sees that human language, that vehicle we use to communicate ideas, thoughts, and experiences, anthropomorphizes all that we try to verbalize. Thus we cannot avoid the appearance of separation of ourselves from our environment.

As she moves on into the religious aspects of our struggle with good and evil, Dr. Primavesi states that "The complexity of interactions in our world is such that their outcomes, their effect-explosions, can never adequately computed, represented or predicted by us. This realization lay at the heart of Darwin's dissatisfaction with the insufficiency of human reason as an instrument for understanding the universe." And she concludes that even today, with all our scientific progress, we underestimate the issue of our being in this world and what we do to it, ourselves, and our progeny as we live our daily lives. We fail to look at the whole complex system as one interdependent system.

Sacred Gaia presents us with a model that affirms life as a continuous gift and points out the implications of such a model for religious understanding of our existence. A most profound and engaging book.