Greening Swedenborg

Catalog description

Taught by GTU/CSS This course examines Swedenborg's writings from a contemporary environmental perspective, looking for ways that his visionary theology might speak to pressing ecological concerns. We will start with a survey of selections from Swedenborg's theology, while glancing towards some of the earlier science to understand how Swedenborg took parts in 18th conversations around natural theology, Divine beauty, and the (organic) order of nature. Swedenborg's work will be approached thru various avenues of eco-theology (Rosemary Radford Ruether, Katherine Keller), ecological literary criticism (Timothy Morton), and the "vibrant materialism" of Jane Bennett. We conclude with considering the ways that Swedenborgian theology was read and received by environmental writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Sarah Orne Jewett, and his contribution to the emergence of a modern environmental imaginary at the end of the 19th century. Reflection Papers, Oral Presentation, Final Research Paper/Project. Intended audience: advanced M.Div/M.A./MTS