Decomposing Holy Ground

Theological Compost for Shifting Worlds

Emma Lietz Bilecky (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

192 Seiten

2025
SCM Press (Verlag)
978-0-334-06170-0 (ISBN)

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For the church, “creation care” is back on the agenda. But is creation care really the full picture or do we need to learn that we are a part of the very creation of which we claim to be stewards. Does our climate crisis demand a more radical theological response? This book argues that as our scientific, cultural and historical awareness of the complexities within the ground beneath our feet increases, it should lead us to full scale reimagining of ourselves, not as individuals but as a part of the land we mourn.

In this startling and radical piece of theological work, drawing on her understanding of earth, soil and compost, Emma Lietz Bilecky challenges us to rethink our understanding of land, church, race and God.

This is a book for anyone tired of shallow optimism and cheap faith in the face of climate breakdown, and who wants to better understand the deeply interconnected web of theology, race, colonialism and the environment.

Emma Lietz Bilecky researches the connection between theology, land use and farming. She lives in Colorado where she farms, teaches, and works to connect people and land.

Contents
Preface ix
Introduction xiii

1 Triangulating 1
Winter solstice 1
Soil work 2
Disorientation (a history) 3
Learning to listen 5
Troubling landscapes 8
Decomposition 12
Prayer 16

2 Making terra nullius 19
Spring equinox 19
Making soil 20
Terraformation 21
Prayer plows 23
Terra nullius and the Doctrine of Discovery 26
Naming land, claiming land 28
Land as property 29
Land as resource 31
Land as verb 35
Prayer 38

3 Compost Cosmologies 43
Summer solstice 43
Everything is compost 43
Land work 48
Being compost 50
Death is not a metaphor 55
Disintegration, decomposition 57

4 The Geography of Sin 60
Midsummer 60
Bad faith 62
Humans in the carbon cycle 64
Climate hedonism 67
Structural violence, collective sin 69
The fire, inferno 73
After the fire 75
Climate apocalypse in the built environment 76
Prayer 78

5 Becoming Place, Fermenting Culture 80
Fall equinox 80
Practice makes process 81
Preserving culture 83
Space and time 89
The weight of the world 91
Prayer 95

6 God is Change: Beyond Creation Care 99
Persephone 99
Feedback loops 100
Climate anxiety 103
Towards experience 106
From creation care, towards caring, creating 109
God is a gardener 112
Prayer 113

Erscheinungsdatum	01.11.2025
Verlagsort	London
Sprache	englisch
Maße	135 x 216 mm
Themenwelt	Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Kirchengeschichte
Themenwelt	Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Moraltheologie / Sozialethik
ISBN-10	0-334-06170-9 / 0334061709
ISBN-13	978-0-334-06170-0 / 9780334061700
Zustand	Neuware