The Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River figure prominently in scripture. The ecosystem of this area has been damaged as a result of technology thoughtlessly applied in the context of anthropocentrism. A contrasting relational approach toward the natural world is offered by ecofeminism, which speaks for those whose voices, both human and nonhuman, have been ignored or negated. This article discusses the environmental history of the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, and the adjacent wetlands and forests. It applies an ecofeminist hermeneutic to Mark 4:35-41, the story of Jesus’s calming the Wind and the Sea, as a religious rationale for the ethical use of science and technology.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alon, A. (1978). The natural history of the land of the Bible. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
2.
Gebara, I. (1996). Ecofeminism. In L. M. Russell & J. S. Clawson(Eds.), The Feminist Bible Dictionary. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox.
3.
Hosh, L., Miller, E., & Isaac, J. (1992, March). The Palestinian environment between the anvil of sociopolitical change and the hammer of occupation. Jerusalem: Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem [On-line]. Available: http//www.arij.org/pub/anvil.htm (April 27, 1997).
4.
Pazdan, M. M. (1992, Summer). Streaming waters. Spirituality Today, 44(2), 161-172.
5.
Sabourin, L. (1975). The miracles of Jesus. Biblical Theology Bulletin, 5(5), 146-200.
6.
Van der Loos, H. (1968). The miracles of Jesus. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill.
7.
White, Lynn, Jr. (1967, March 10). The historic roots of our ecologic crisis. Science, 155(3767), 1203-1207.
