Creatures of Their Own Making: Niche Co-Construction in the Divine Sustaining
From biology to anthropology, Niche Construction Theory (NCT) offers a corrective to accounts that neglect or diminish the agency of organisms in evolutionary process. This article engages with key features of NCT to reenvision theological accounts of human work: that ecosystems are superconstructio...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Zygon
Year: 2025, Volume: 60, Issue: 3, Pages: 720–35 |
| Further subjects: | B
Ethics
B Biomimicry B Agency B Providence B theology of work B Creation B Anthropology B Evolutionary Biology B niche construction |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | From biology to anthropology, Niche Construction Theory (NCT) offers a corrective to accounts that neglect or diminish the agency of organisms in evolutionary process. This article engages with key features of NCT to reenvision theological accounts of human work: that ecosystems are superconstructions of several organisms, that niche construction also involves destruction, and that ecological inheritance ought to be considered alongside genetic transmission. I also address concerns over the tendency of NCT to highlight the constructive ultimacy of humans during an ecological crisis. Drawing on modern Protestant theology, I situate creatures’ agency within a fuller account of God’s providence, re-embedding claims about divine-human concurrence within the divine sustaining. I therefore argue for a shift away from seeing humans as co-creators with God in order to better understand ourselves as niche co-constructors, alongside our neighboring species, in a manner that ensures life can go on. |
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| ISSN: | 1467-9744 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Zygon
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.16995/zygon.17627 |
