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“This pathbreaking work changes the way we think about American environmentalism and its religious history. In particular, it challenges us to think about why we are ‘devoted to nature’ and how we are entangled with its processes. Berry has made a valuable contribution—clarifying our history so as to see a path forward.” —Mary Evelyn Tucker, Director of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University and coauthor of Journey of the Universe
“In this fascinating study that fuses environmental history and religious studies, Evan Berry has profitably illuminated the religious roots of environmentalism in the early twentieth century. His provocative interpretations and claims deserve a robust pondering and will engender debate, no doubt.”—Bron Taylor, Professor of Religion and Nature at the University of Florida and author of Dark Green Religion
List of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Whither Religion?
1. Recreation and Soteriology
2. Congregating around Nature
3. Sacred Space and the American Environmental Imagination
4. Recreation and Spiritual Experience
Conclusion: The Mechanics of Religious Change
Notes
For Further Reading and Research
Index
About the author
Evan Berry is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at American University and Codirector of its Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs master's program.
Summary
Tracing the theological character of American environmental thought from its Romantic foundations to contemporary nature spirituality, this book explores the religious underpinnings of American environmentalism.
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"Berry’s exclusive attention to recreation rather than labor may not immediately engage readers interested in agriculture, but his deft ability to show the ways that Christian theology permeated ostensibly secular organizations should encourage agricultural historians to re-examine their own subjects with a view toward religion. . . . his rich argument about the spiritual and social motivations of the early American environmentalists is persuasive and should receive wide attention."
