Ancient book, timeless wisdom: lessons on environmental ethics from the Bible book of Leviticus

• Main Author: Shahi, Akash
• Other Authors: Md Saidul Islam
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Earth and Environmental Sciences; Social Sciences; Ecological resilience; Environmental ethics; Christian ecotheology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174801
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The social-ecological nexus has been a useful framework to illustrate various pathways where inequality can lead to environmental issues. Yet, this has not been applied very much in Christian Ecotheology to draw tangible lessons from ancient scripture which can be applied today, a potential roadblock to knowing how to apply Christian Environmental Ethics in inspiring change in environmental issues. Here, we draw on the Christian scripture from the Book of Leviticus 25:1-7, an ancient environmental law which forbids agriculture land abuse and mandates a year long of rest after six years of farming. A qualitative content analysis approach of selected commentaries yielded that purpose of this environmental law carry dimensions of spiritual welfare, letting the land regain fertility, a faith exercise for Jews to trust God with food supply, and ensuring that environmental justice takes place for the poor and wild animals to get food. From these purposes, we examine applicable lessons relating to ideal mindsets, ethical values, and attitudes from the Leviticus context which can positively impact the contemporary environmentalism movement. The lessons we derived are drawing boundaries on what not to touch, exercising self-control to keep these boundaries, and understanding the ethical imperative to act according to our impact. Each of their relevance is discussed using a range contemporary case studies regarding environmental issues.