The Law of the Cross and Climate Change

Abstract

Globally we are entering into uncharted waters as the current cycle of decline lurches towards ecological disaster. Lonergan posits the law of the cross as the divinely enacted redemptive path for overcoming decline and restoring humanity on the path of genuine progress. Faced with the prospect of unprecedented global suffering, what is the moment of redemptive suffering that Christians and others are called to enact in response to the present decline? Drawing on Lonergan’s notion of a scale of values, the article considers responses at the personal, cultural, and social levels of value and the timeframes in which they operate. It will argue that in our current situation, only social change, in terms of economic and political action, can operate in a timeframe adequate to the urgency of the problem.