Historical Roots of Anthropological and Spiritual Dualisms: Implications for Christian Ecotheology

This paper presents a historical review of dualistic controversies in Christian theology, with particular emphasis on early Church discussions on cosmological and Christological dualisms and Medieval theological debates on soul-body relationships. A more subtle form of dualism, which I termed ‘spiritual’, is also reviewed. These dualistic positions are assessed through their ecotheological implications. The main hypothesis of this manuscript rejects Lynn White’s accusation that Christianity has grounded on dualistic positions the separation between humans and nature, by indicating that mainstream Christian thought cannot be considered dualistic, at least from cosmological and anthropological approaches. However, spiritual dualism, which implies a low religious appreciation of the material dimensions of life, has been more openly accepted within the Church, mostly because of the spiritual reputation of monks, living Christianity apart from the world. Overcoming this dualism is also relevant to strengthening the ecotheological values and commitment of ordinary lay Christians.