Thursday, November 20, 2025

Interreligious Dialogue and Environmental Safeguarding: A Missional Imperative

 Anthony Le Duc


In Missional Theology in Context: Globality, Empire, and a Wounded World. Edited by Buhle Mpofu. Bloomsbury, 2025.

This book discusses Missional Theology from trans-disciplinary and diverse angles from which scholars unpack 'missional theologies' which emerge out of their different contexts spanning from countries such as Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Netherlands, Switzerland Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe. This diversity of contexts and scholarly approaches underscore the notion of 'globality' which is at the heart of 'subverting Empire'; explored through the intersecting themes of environmental justice, social and economic justice, addressing poverty, migration challenges and dealing with all forms of discrimination such as gender and racism. Central to the approach of this book is the notion that 'subverting Empire' requires an urgent and transformational shift from traditional approaches to creative and missional approaches grounded on human dignity and life affirming values as opposed to the death dealing effects of the current global architecture which thrives on exploitation of the poor and marginalized communities.

Missional Theology in Context: Globality, Empire, and a Wounded World: Nicole Ashwood: T&T Clark - Bloomsbury

Prophetic Dialogue as Missional Approach to Promote Environmental Flourishing.

Anthony Le Duc

In Missional Theology in Context: Globality, Empire, and a Wounded World. Edited by Buhle Mpofu. Bloomsbury, 2025.

This book discusses Missional Theology from trans-disciplinary and diverse angles from which scholars unpack 'missional theologies' which emerge out of their different contexts spanning from countries such as Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Netherlands, Switzerland Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe. This diversity of contexts and scholarly approaches underscore the notion of 'globality' which is at the heart of 'subverting Empire'; explored through the intersecting themes of environmental justice, social and economic justice, addressing poverty, migration challenges and dealing with all forms of discrimination such as gender and racism. Central to the approach of this book is the notion that 'subverting Empire' requires an urgent and transformational shift from traditional approaches to creative and missional approaches grounded on human dignity and life affirming values as opposed to the death dealing effects of the current global architecture which thrives on exploitation of the poor and marginalized communities.

Missional Theology in Context: Globality, Empire, and a Wounded World: Nicole Ashwood: T&T Clark - Bloomsbury

Inter-Creationality among the Community of Beings: An Interreligious and Cosmological Perspective

 Anthony Le Duc

In Religion, Culture, and Ecological Flourishing in Asian ContextsEdited by Anthony Le Duc. Bangkok: ARC, 2025
pp. 324–346

DOI: 10.62461/ASVD110125

Download pdf

This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

References

Acharya Buddharakkhita. The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1985.

Berthrong, John H., and Evelyn Nagai Berthrong. Confucianism: A Short Introduction. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2000.

Brasovan, Nicholas S. Neo-Confucian Ecological Humanism. Albany: SUNY Press, 2017.

Bucknell, Roderick S. Reconstructing Early Buddhism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Chilton, Bruce. “Jesus, the Golden Rule, and Its Application.” In The Golden Rule: The Ethics of Reciprocity in World Religions, edited by Jacob Neusner and Bruce Chilton, 76-87. London: Continuum, 2008.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mark A. “The Golden Rule in Confucianism.” In The Golden Rule: The Ethics of Reciprocity in World Religions, edited by Jacob Neusner and Bruce Chilton, 157-169. London: Continuum, 2008.

de Bary, William Theodore, Irene Bloom, and Joseph Adler. Sources of Chinese Tradition, Volume 1. New York: Columbia University Press, 1960.

Elijah Board of World Religious Leaders. “10 Spiritual Principles for Climate Repentance.” Accessed June 2025. https://climaterepentance.com/the-spiritual-principles/

Elijah Interfaith Institute. “The Elijah Board of World Religious Leaders.” Accessed June 2025. https://elijah-interfaith.org/about-elijah/the-elijah-board-of-world-religious-leaders.

Francis. Laudato Si’. 2015. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html.

Holder, John J. “A Suffering (but Not Irreparable) Nature: Environmental Ethics from the Perspective of Early Buddhism.” Contemporary Buddhism 8, no. 2 (2007): 113–130.

Humphreys, Christmas. Buddhism. Harmondsworth, England: Pelican Books, 1951.

James, Simon P. “Against Holism: Rethinking Buddhist Environmental Ethics.” Environmental Values 16, no. 4 (2007): 447–466.

Jiménez, Jacinta. “Compassion vs. Empathy: Understanding the Difference.” BetterUp, July 16, 2021. https://www.betterup.com/blog/compassion-vs-empathy

Johnson, Elizabeth. Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love. London: Bloomsbury, 2014.

Le Duc, Anthony. “Becoming Human, Intercultural, and Inter-creational: Movements toward Achieving Ecoflourishing.” In Ecoflourishing and Virtue: Christian Perspectives Across the Disciplines, edited by Steven Bouma-Prediger and Nathan Carson, 179–190. UK: Routledge, 2024.

Long, Jeffery D. Jainism: An Introduction. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009.

Loy, David. The Great Awakening: A Buddhist Social Theory. Boston: Wisdom, 2003.

Malalasekera, G. P. “The Status of the Individual in Theravāda Buddhism.” Philosophy East and West 14, no. 2 (1964): 149–161.

Muir, John. My First Summer in the Sierra. New York: The Modern Library, 2003.

Payutto, Prayudh. A Constitution for Living: Buddhist Principles for a Fruitful and Harmonious Life. Bangkok: Buddhadhamma Foundation, 1998.

———. Buddhist Economics: A Middle Way for the Marketplace. Accessed June 2025. http://pioneer.netserv.chula.ac.th/~sprapant/Buddhism/buddhist_econ.html#
Wealth%20and%20Spiritual%20Development

PETA. “PETA Honors Gandhi’s Lifelong Commitment to Animal Liberation.” Accessed June 2025. https://www.peta.org/features/gandhi/

Pratchett, Terry. Small Gods. HarperCollins e-books, 1994.

Punnadhammo Mahāthero. The Buddhist Cosmos: A Comprehensive Survey of the Early Buddhist Worldview. Canada: Arrow River Forest Hermitage, 2018.

Sadowski, Ryszard F. “The Role of Catholicism in Shaping a Culture of Sustainable Consumption.” Religions 12 (2021): 598.

Sahni, Pragati. Environmental Ethics in Buddhism: A Virtues Approach. New York: Routledge, 2007.

Sangharakshita, trans. Dhammapada: The Way of Truth. UK: Windhorse Publications, 2000. Online version.

Schaeffer, Jame. Theological Foundations for Environmental Ethics: Reconstructing Patristic and Medieval Concepts. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2009.

Schopenhauer, Arthur. The Basis of Morality. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1903.

Singer, Marcus G. “Golden Rule.” In Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 365–367. New York: Macmillan, 1967.

Swearer, Donald. “Buddhist Virtue, Voluntary Poverty, and Extensive Benevolence.” The Journal of Religious Ethics 26, no. 1 (1998): 71–103.

Syropoulos, Stylianos, Hanne M. Watkins, Azim F. Shariff, Sara D. Hodges, and Ezra M. Markowitz. “The Role of Gratitude in Motivating Intergenerational Environmental Stewardship.” Journal of Environmental Psychology 72 (2020): 101517.

Terwiel, Barend Jan. Monks and Magic: Revisiting a Classic Study of Religious Ceremonies in Thailand. 2nd ed. Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2012.

Thera, Nyanaponika. “The Four Sublime States: Contemplations on Love, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity.” Access to Insight, 1994. https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanaponika/wheel006.html.

Tucker, Mary Evelyn. “Confucian Cosmology and Ecological Ethics.” In Living Earth Community: Multiple Ways of Being and Knowing, edited by Sam Mickey, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Grim, 111–126. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2020.

Tucker, Mary Evelyn, and John Grim. “The Movement of Religion and Ecology: Emerging Field and a Dynamic Force.” In Routledge Handbook in Religion and Ecology, edited by Willis Jenkins, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Grim, 3–10. New York: Routledge, 2017.

Yao, Xinzhong. An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

———. “An Eco-Ethical Interpretation of Confucian Tianren Heyi.” Frontiers of Philosophy in China 9 (2014): 571–592.