2018. Kristel Clayville, Responsible Hermeneutics: Creation and Law in the Environmental Ethics of Hans Jonas and Holmes Rolston. Ph.D. Dissertation at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, June 2018.

This thesis examines Holmes Rolston’s theory of participation and detachment in religious experience in both individual and community senses, and his environmental ethics involving storied residence in the perception of value. I consult both Rolston’s more academic works and also his sermons. I note his strengths as a naturalist and his recognition of evolutionary and ecological process. Rolston finds intrinsic, instrumental, and systemic values in nature.

This is followed by an examination of Hans Jonas’ interpretation of texts and nature requiring the centrality of law. Hans Jonas’ environmental ethics requires responsibility and empathy. I reach an account of religious and cultural perspectives that justify human behaviors and hopes. This involves attention to Augustine, Luther, and Calvin.

Continuing, I then forge a responsible hermeneutics under the theme of “the image of God,” as found in the Priestly sources in Genesis and also sources in the Psalms and the book of Leviticus. Humans are distinct in creation and are at the apex of the hierarchy of creation. The gift of land is central in Hebrew life. The concept of “dominion” prioritizes “doing” over “being,” recovered with both humility and patience.