ABSTRACT
The apostle Paul's influence on Christian theology, especially Protestant theology, is immense. For Martin Luther, it was Paul's letters, especially Romans and Galatians that provided the crucial insights into God's message of justification by faith, by grace and not works. It is clear why ecotheologians have found Romans 8:19-23 and Colossians 1:15-20 to be important and obvious texts to appeal to in Paul's letters. They are among the few texts in the Pauline corpus where the scope of interest explicitly widens beyond the redemption of humanity. However, their ancient cosmologies and their theological and eschatological focus do not immediately support the environmental agenda, nor do these texts offer any explicit indication that ecologically relevant ethical implications might follow from them. Hence, a more constructive and creative mode of biblical interpretation will be required in order to engage these and other Pauline texts in shaping responses to the contemporary issues of ecology and the environment.
