Interdependencies of Christian eschatology and global environmental change in American Evangelicalism: An analysis of eschatological discourses

这项研究将探索基督教末世论与美国全球环境变化的关系，并询问美国福音派如何将环保主义、全球气候变化政策、环境政治和气候科学融入他们的信仰和实践。我想找出宗教机构提倡或拒绝环保主义的原因，并分析社会、经济、政治和宗教叙事在末世论话语中的相互作用。末世论一词描述了关于“最后的东西，人类和宇宙命运的最大可能延伸”(奥利里，1994)的论述，并被用来概括与圣经末日有关的各种信仰。虽然末世论信仰在所有基督教运动中都有不同程度的存在，但不同的和部分相反的末世论信仰在美国福音主义的不同运动中具有特别的相关性。总的来说，宗教和全球环境变化之间的关系可以被描述为一个双重运动：宗教信仰影响对环境的感知和由此产生的与环境相关的行为，同时，宗教将环境问题嵌入到他们的信仰和实践中。这种双重运动的概念也可以应用于基督教末世论。例如，对即将到来的圣经启示录的信仰可能会导致一种心态，认为环境保护的理由较少，而全球环境变化可能被解释为世界末日的迹象，因此，自然环境成为基督教的一部分。尽管如此，宗教的影响可以是多种多样的，现代末世论的叙述包含了对环境态度的某些影响，这些态度既可以旨在实现环境友好型行为，也可以加强拒绝和否认。此外，宗教精英和机构有能力影响与环境政治有关的政治决策过程。尤其是福音派运动影响了美国政治，因为福音派不仅是一个非常重要的选民群体，而且福音派机构和精英通过政治权力网络影响政治家。我研究的内容是由哲学家皮埃尔·布尔迪厄或人类学家塔拉尔·阿萨德等人发展和提出的理论概念，这些概念解释了宗教不断地对社会发展做出反应，宗教实践是由社会的非宗教领域塑造的。我的研究试图找出末世论叙事中可能影响环境态度的社会、政治和经济因素。因此，我的研究借鉴了不同学科的学术知识，以探讨环境话语对末世论叙事的影响。尽管如此，作为一名地理学家，我特别感兴趣的是美国国内关于美国福音派环境态度与末世信仰之间的空间差异，以及考察各种末世论叙事的空间起源。对过去三十年(线上和线下)发布的末世论材料进行的文本分析使我能够确定占主导地位的意识形态，更深入地了解作家对环境的感知和想象力，并讨论社会变革，对我来说，这将是气候变化背景下宗教和基督教末世论的变革。至关重要的是，现场和虚拟档案工作将在美国的福音派学习地点进行。此外，我将检查在线论坛讨论板和采访来自美国不同地区的福音派神职人员，以进一步调查他们对环境的看法和当代末世论思想的起源。

This research will explore the relationship between Christian eschatology and global environmental change in the United States and asks how American evangelicalism embeds environmentalism, global climate change policies, environmental politics, and climate science into their beliefs and practices. I want to identify reasons for the promotion or rejection of environmentalism by religious institutions and analyse the interplay of social, economic, political and religious narratives in eschatological discourses. The term eschatology describes the discourse about "last things, the furthest imaginable extensions of human and cosmic destiny" (O'Leary 1994) and is used to summarize a variety of beliefs relating to the biblical End-Times. While eschatological beliefs exist to varying extends in all Christian movements, different and partially contrasting eschatological beliefs are of particular relevance in the diverse movement of American evangelicalism.Generally, the relationship between religion and global environmental change can be described as a double-movement: Religious beliefs influence the perception of the environment and the resulting environmentally relevant behaviour while at the same time, religions embed matters of the environment into their belief and practices. This concept of a double-movement can also be applied on Christian eschatology. For instance, a belief in the imminent biblical apocalypse can result in a mind-set which sees less reason for environmental protection while global environmental change might be interpreted as a sign of the End-Times and thereby, the natural environment becomes a part of Christianity. Nonetheless, the influence of religions can be versatile and modern eschatological narratives contain certain implications for environmental attitudes, which can either aim towards an environmentally friendly behaviour or reinforce refusal and denial. Furthermore, religious elites and institutions have the ability to influence the political decision making process concerning environmental politics. Especially the evangelical movement influences American politics since evangelicals are not only a highly important electorate, but moreover, evangelical institutions and elites influence politicians through political networks of power.Substantive for my research are theoretical concepts developed and advanced for instance by philosopher Pierre Bourdieu or anthropologist Talal Asad which explain that religions are constantly responding to societal developments and that religious practices are shaped by non-religious fields of a society. My research seeks to identify societal, political and economic elements in eschatological narratives which potentially influence environmental attitudes. Hence, my research draws from scholarship from a variety of academic disciplines to engage with the influence of environmental discourses on eschatological narratives. Nonetheless, as a geographer, I am particularly interested in spatial variations within the United States concerning American evangelical environmental attitudes in relation to End-Times beliefs as well as in examining the spatial origins of varying eschatological narratives. A textual analysis from eschatological materials released in the last three decades (online and offline) allows me to identify dominant ideologies, attain a deeper knowledge of writer's perceptions and imaginations of the environment and also discuss societal transformations, which in my case will be the transformation of religion and Christian eschatology in the context of climate change. Crucially, on-site and virtual archival work will be conducted at sites of evangelical learning in the United States. Additionally, I will examine online forum discussion boards and interview evangelical clerics out of different regions in the United States to further investigate their perception of the environment and the origins of contemporary eschatological thought.