The Cosmos as the Primary Sacrament

The magnitude of the current ecological crisis demands a fundamental redefinition of human identity. It is no longer viable to regard human beings as the apex of creation; rather, humans must be recognized as existing within an intricate web of cosmic relations. For Christian sacramental theology, this redefinition requires that the horizon of theological reflection be shifted from a redemption-centered focus to a cosmocentric one. In this book, Dorothy C. McDougall elaborates the construction of an ecological sacramental theology based on the metaphor of the cosmos as the primary sacrament. McDougall draws on the work of Thomas Berry, with its foundation in a new and emergent scientific perspective, as well as the social critique of ecofeminism as two significant resources.