In and of the world? Christian theological anthropology and environmental ethics

Mainstream currents within Christianity have long insisted that humans, amo ng all creatures, are neither fully identified with their physical bodies n or fully at home on earth. This essay outlines the particular characteristi cs of Christian notions of human nature and the implications of this separa tion for environmental ethics. It then examines recent efforts to correct s ome damaging aspects of traditional Christian understandings of humanity's place in nature, especially the notions of physical embodiment and human em beddedment in earth. The primary goal of the essay is not to offer a compre hensive evaluation of Christian thinking about nature but rather to identif y theological anthropology as a crucial dimension of, and problem for, Chri stian environmental ethics.