Contents

Introduction
I. Toward an ecologically sound theology: founding an eco-theology.
A. God’s self-revelation through creation
B. Nature as sacrament?
C. The Trinitarian foundation of the eco-sacramental theology
II. Challenges to the sacramental theology from the eco-theology
A. Conversion from the atomistic isolation
B. Conversion from hierarchical domination
Conclusion
Bibliography

Introduction

It is compatible to the Christian to consider creation as God’s revelation; that is God’s self-manifestation, and self giving. In other words, one would correctly say that the created realm is pregnant of the divine presence. Wonders and greatness of God are manifested through the created universe. This understanding echoes the notion of sacraments. As Kevin W. Irwin would say, “one of the purposes of liturgy and sacraments is to articulate how God is experienced as savior in and through the liturgy and how this same God is discoverable and discovered in the rest of life1. In other words, God is believed to be present with us, in Jesus Christ, through sacraments. This convergence between creation and sacraments is not always sharply articulated as it appears in our understanding. Therefore, this paper aims to the awareness of the sacramentality of creation. It attempts to draw out a few challenges to the understanding and the practice of the sacraments brought about by the growing ecological2 consciousness. Two main parts compose this paper. The first part is an effort to construct a theology which takes into account the growing awareness toward the ecological issues. And the second part will focus on the challenges that are raised by such an eco-theology for the contemporary sacramental theology.
I.Toward an ecologically sound theology: founding an eco-theology.

This section is composed of three main insights. It reflects on God as revealing him/herself through creation (A) before analyzing the nature of the sacrament (B). The