According to one influential narrative, a significant root of our ecological crisis is to be found in the Christian appropriation of teleology, undergirding the anthropocentrism endemic to Western thought. This article challenges this argument in three steps. First, I present the Aristotelian understanding of teleology, which is intrinsic to living organisms, and which has been suggested as a resource for ecological ethics. Second, I argue that the rejection of intrinsic teleology in favour of an extrinsic teleology first occurs with modern (...) philosophy, in tandem with a new pragmatic conception of knowledge. Third, I provide an alternative construal of the early Christian understanding of teleology, through the figure of Maximus the Confessor, arguing that his understanding of the contemplation of nature is a key resource to be recovered for ecological ethics. I end with a sketch of such a recovery, as articulated by Thomas Merton. (shrink)

This article discusses two related concerns at the heart of Maurice Merleau‐Ponty's philosophical project, namely the belongingness of human beings within the world and their creative participation in the unfolding of meaning. Merleau‐Ponty's original development of these themes is proposed as a key resource for a theology desiring to affirm the wonder and value of immanence. It is then shown, however, that because Merleau‐Ponty understands theology to operate with a contrastive understanding of the relation between God and the world, he (...) is led consistently to reject divine transcendence. In contrast, this article argues that the doctrine of creation ex nihilo does not in fact allow for a contrastive relation between divine transcendence and the immanence of the world, but rather ushers in an entirely different and unique distinction between them. Thus, rather than denying the wonder of immanence, as understood by Merleau‐Ponty, the doctrine of creation is seen to underwrite it. (shrink)