Prof. Rebecca Copeland featured in BU’s The Brink
The following is an excerpt from The Brink article “What Can the Bible Teach Us about Fighting Climate Change?” by Corinne Steinbrenner, featuring Assistant Professor of Theology Rebecca Copeland, published on August 15, 2023.
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In her research and teaching, Copeland focuses on the intersection of ecology and theology: she examines Christian texts and doctrines through an ecological lens, and explores ways Christian teachings can influence environmental activism. Her 2020 book Created Being: Expanding Creedal Christology discusses the relationships among God, human and nonhuman creatures, and nature. In peer-reviewed papers, she’s studied human responses to animal suffering; the ancient cultural, economic, and ecological significance of fig trees (which Jesus curses as part of a lesson in the book of Matthew); and the commodification of water and women.
“When I started my theological studies,” Copeland says, “it bothered me that the rest of the world kind of gets ignored in most theological work—that Christian theology has a tendency to focus on human beings and human salvation and neglect everything else.”
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