Called “maddening,” “an ecstatic sermon,” “an erudite theological meditation” and “religion reloaded after a major born-again experience,” Timothy Morton’s latest book “Hell: In Search of a Christian Ecology,” out May 28, argues that climate change has created a real-world hell on Earth.
“I’m an English literature professor, but I’ve gravitated towards talking about ecology a lot,” said Morton, Rice University’s Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English. “I did my dissertation on food in the Romantic period, which is related to ecological issues. Gradually, I’ve come out as an ecological thinker. This is the latest in a series of books in which I’m mostly talking about how we think about ecology and how we deal with it as a cultural issue.”
In “Hell,” Morton proposes a surprising solution: a new environmental movement that combines ecological thinking with a reformed Christianity, one that sheds its harmful aspects like “settler-colonial Christianity” and embraces themes like mercy and forgiveness.
“‘Jesus loves you anyway’ is better than revenge,” Morton said. “That’s the whole point of Christianity. Until people like me start talking about mercy and forgiveness and use dirty words for an academic, which are words like ‘Jesus’ and ‘pray,’ then we’re never going to be able to talk to people who are rightly refusing to be part of the conversation.”
This approach, inspired by African American Christianity, challenges white supremacy and other forms of domination.
“The language of revenge isn’t cutting it, I think,” said Morton, who has written more than 25 books.
While some may find the book’s ambiguity and the author’s personal religious journey challenging, “Hell” offers insights on the relationship between religion, science and our place in the world.
“I feel very much that people like me need to have a serious conversation with religion,” Morton said. “We’ve hoovered up everybody who understands the issue in a certain way and understands the science and all that, but we want to talk to everybody.”
Learn more about “Hell” here.