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I'm continuing my way through Rosemary Ruether's Gaia and God. On page 213, Ruether discusses biblical alternatives to apocalypticism, which she dislikes because it supports the destruction of this present world, a view that isn't exactly friendly to the environment (in her view)!
One alternative to apocalypticism that Ruether likes is the Jubilee of Leviticus 25, which entails the return of land to its previous owners, the forgiveness of debt, the release of Israelite debt-slaves, and the resting of land and animals. Ruether states the following:
"[I]t is a time of periodic righting of unjust relations, undoing the enslavements of human to humans, the losses and confiscations of land, that have created classes of rich and poor in Israel. The norm of a just community is one of free householders with land equitably apportioned among them...Unlike apocalyptic models of redemption, the Jubilee vision does not promise a 'once-for-all' destruction of evil. Humans will drift into unjust relations between each other, they will overwork animals and exploit land. But this drift is not to be allowed to establish itself as a permanent 'order.' Rather, it is to be recognized as a disorder that must be corrected periodically, so that human society regains its right eco-social relationships and starts afresh."
I can sympathize with what Ruether is saying. Imbalances do need to be corrected on a periodic basis, otherwise they will perpetuate themselves. There are some families that have had a long history of poverty, extending back for generations. Racial tension in America is still attributed to situations that existed two centuries ago. According to certain environmentalists, the environment has experienced cumulative wear-and-tear over a long period of time.
And yet, although I don't treat apocalypticism as an excuse for me not to address our current problems, I do have an apocalyptic hope that God will one day intervene and set things right, for I do not trust human beings to set up institutions that will allow for periodic correction. And Ruether talks about the tendency of some biblical writers to project the "periodic righting of relationships" onto a "more absolute messianic future, although still a future within history." We see this in prophets such as Isaiah, who predict a time when God will establish justice, albeit without destroying all of nature in the process (although there are apocalyptic writings in the Book of Isaiah).
