Loving the Dust We Are: Theological Anthropology as Ecospirituality

Traditional approaches to the study of theological anthropology often include a subsection on creation, seen as one among several discrete loci for reflection on the human person within the Christian tradition. Such an anthropocentric approach to the study of creation reinforces certain “human separatist” (Clough) or “human exceptionalist” (Webb) tendencies in Christian theology and spirituality. This article draws on recent work in ethology, philosophy, and theology to argue for a renewed understanding of the human person as first a creature among creatures and explores the implications of a turn to human animality and creaturely kinship for Christian spirituality. Thus, this article proposes an alternative perspective on the field of theological anthropology, arguing that study of the human person can be considered a form of ecospirituality when it is done non-anthropocentrically and with an eye toward our intrinsic creatureliness and animality.