Mencintai Alam dalam Naungan Yang Ilahi: Reinterpretasi Konsep Uti-Frui Agustinus dengan Konsep Seva dan Svarupa

Ricky Atmoko

doi:10.46567/ijt.v11i2.372

Authors

Ricky Atmoko STT Seminari Alkitab Asia Tenggara

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46567/ijt.v11i2.372

Keywords:

uti-frui, Augustine, seva, svarupa, comparative theology

Abstract

Evangelical Christianity’s concern for nature generally follows a dualistic, utilitarian influence that can be traced back to the thought of Augustine. To escape the trap of dualism, I reinterpret the Augustinian dyad of uti (means or use) and frui (enjoyment or delight) using the Hindu notions of seva (selflessness) and svarupa (true form). In doing so, I construct the posture of loving nature from within the divine auspices—namely, to love creation in the shade of God. I employ the reinterpretative comparative theology methodology of Catherine Cornille, which makes one concept from a given religion more understandable by means of the context of another. First, the Hindu notion of svarupa can transpose the dualistic tendency of frui from being directed “to” the divine auspices of God’s being towards the non-dualistic sense of being “within” the divine shade. As such, svarupa is vital for my reinterpretation of frui. Second, the Hindu notion of seva retrieves the meaning of uti from falling into a utilitarian (or, worse still, consequentialist) mode of relating to nature without love. Likewise, I find seva helpful to inform my reinterpretation of uti. By understanding the Augustinian uti-frui binary through seva and svarupa, I propose to develop a non-dichotomous, non-utilitarian comparative environmental paradigm. Moving beyond a God-nature dualism helps Christians to see God’s love in the material world, just as taking a non-utilitarian view helps us to be concerned with the long-term impact of human actions on nature.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Ricky Atmoko, STT Seminari Alkitab Asia Tenggara

Ricky Atmoko is an undergraduate student at STT Seminari Alkitab Asia Tenggara. His research interests are ecotheology, youth ministry, and spirituality.

References

Augustine. De Doctrina Christiana. Trans., R. P. H. Green. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.

_______. On Genesis. Ed., John E. Rotelle. Trans., Edmund Hill. Brooklyn, NY: New City, 2002.

_______. On the Trinity. Ed., Gareth B. Matthews. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Beckerlegge, Gwilym. “Sevā: The Focus of a Fragmented but Gradually Coalescing Field of Study.” Religions of South Asia, Vol. 9, No. 2 (2016): 208-239. https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v9i2.31070.

Bjork-James, Sophie. “Lifeboat Theology: White Evangelicalism, Apocalyptic Chronotopes, and Environmental Politics.” Ethnos, Vol. 88, No. 2 (2020): 1-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2020.1839527.

Christiani, Marta. “Augustine of Hippo and the New Christian Culture.” In Ancient Philosophy: Textual Paths and Historical Explorations. Eds., Lorenzo Perilli and Daniela P. Taormina, 677-737. London: Routledge, 2018.

Conradie, Ernst M. “Christianity: An Ecological Critique of Christianity and a Christian Critique of Ecological Destruction.” In Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology. Eds., Willis Jenkins, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Grim, 70-78. London: Routledge, 2017.

Cornille, Catherine. Meaning and Method in Comparative Theology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2020.

Dunham, Scott A. Trinity and Creation in Augustine: An Ecological Analysis. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2008.

Edwina, Pio, and Jawad Syed. “Sacred Activism through Seva and Khidmat: Contextualising Management and Organisations in South Asia.” Journal of Management & Organization, Vol. 20, No. 5 (2014): 1-15.

Grandjean, Alexandre. “On Bron Taylor’s Dark Green Religion: Contribution and Critiques from Social Theory.” AЯGOS, No. 1 (2022): 65-75. https://doi.org/10.26034/fr.argos.2022.3561.

Haberman, David L. “Affectual Insight: Love as a Way of Being and Knowing.” In Living Earth Community: Multiple Ways of Being and Knowing. Eds., Sam Mickey, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Grim. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2020. https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0186.

_______. “Drawing Out the Iconic in the Aniconic: Worship of Neem Trees and Govardhan Stones in Northern India.” Religion, Vol. 47, No. 3 (2017): 483-502. https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2017.1290663.

_______. “Hinduism: Devotional Love of the World.” In Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology. Eds., Willis Jenkins, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Grim, 35-42. Routledge International Handbooks. London: Routledge, 2017.

_______. Loving Stones: Making the Impossible Possible in the Worship of Mount Govardhan. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.

_______. People Trees: Worship of Trees in Northern India. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Harrison, Carol. “Doxology and Loving Knowledge in Augustine’s De Doctrina Christiana Book 1.” Supplement Series for the Journal of Religion & Society, Vol. 15 (2018): 138-156.

Kearns, Laurel. “The Context of Eco-Theology.” In The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology. Eds., Willis Jenkins, Mary E. Tucker, and John Grim, 466-484. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2004.

Kenney, John P. “Augustine and the Platonist.” In Augustine and Tradition: Influences, Contexts, Legacy: Essays in Honor of J. Patout Burns. Eds., David G. Hunter and Jonathan Yates. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2021.

Kristiawan, Danang. “Merengkuh yang Lain: Dialog Interreligius dan Transformasi Diri terhadap yang Lain.” Mitra Sriwijaya: Jurnal Teologi Dan Pendidikan Kristen, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2020). https://doi.org/10.46974/ms.v1i1.4.

Küpper, Joachim. “‘Uti’ and ‘Frui’ in Augustine and the Problem of Aesthetic Pleasure in the Western Tradition (Cervantes, Kant, Marx, Freud).” MLN, Vol. 127, No. 5 (2012): 126-155.

Kurniawan, Kevin N. “Menelusuri Makna Kemanusiaan Melalui Konsep Uti Dan Frui Menurut Pemikiran Agustinus.” Societas Dei: Jurnal Agama Dan Masyarakat, Vol. 10, No. 1 (2023): 5-22. https://doi.org/10.33550/sd.v10i1.360.

Malov, Alexander, and Alexander Negrov. “Eco-Theology and Environmental Leadership in Orthodox and Evangelical Perspectives in Russia and Ukraine.” In Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism: Contemporary Issues in Global Perspective. Eds., Bradley Nassif and Tim Grass, 69-90. Basel: MDPI, 2021.

McGowan, Andrew Brian. “To Use and to Enjoy: Augustine and Ecology.” St Mark’s Review, Vol. 212 (2010): 89-99. https://doi.org/10.1080/1756073X.2022.2063781.

Objantoro, Enggar. “Augustine’s Theological Method and Contribution to the Christian Theology.” International Journal of Indonesian Philosophy & Theology, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2020). https://doi.org/10.47043/ijipth.v1i1.2.

Patel, Ved R. “Engaging in the World: Seva in Hindu Bhakti Traditions.” MA Thesis. University of Florida, 2012.

Renacia, Mark R. F. “An Ecological Approach to Augustine’s Teachings on Creation in the Light of Laudato Si’.” PhD diss. Universidad Pontificia Comillas, 2021.

_______. “Contemporary Ecology and Augustine on Creation.” Estudios Eclesiásticos, Vol. 94, No. 369 (2019): 363-402. https://doi.org/10.14422/ee.v94.i369.y2019.006.

Rjee, Malini B. “Sevā, Hindutva, and the Politics of Post-Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction in Rural Kutch.” Asian Ethnology, Vol. 75, No. 1 (2016): 75-104.

Routhe, Aaron S. “Religion’s Influence on Environmental Concern: U.S. Evangelicals’ Construction of Climate Change Perceptions.” PhD diss. University of Tennessee, 2013.

Sandlin, Mac S. “Love and Do What You Want: Augustine’s Pneumatological Love Ethics.” Religions, Vol. 12, No. 8 (2021): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12080585.

Syahputra, Satria T. “Ayat-Ayat Anti Kekerasan dalam Sepuluh Perintah Tuhan Ditinjau dari Perspektif Agama Yahudi, Kristen, dan Islam.” El-Umdah: Jurnal Ilmu Al-Qur’an Dan Tafsir, Vol. 4, No. 2 (2021): 107-118.

de Vries, Willem C. “Augustine and the Therapy of Self-Love.” PhD diss. Duke University, 2023.

Weber, Dorothea. “Augustine and Drama.” In Augustine Beyond the Book: Intermediality, Transmediality, and Reception. Eds., Karla Pollman and Meredith J. Gill, 97-109. Leiden: Brill, 2012.

Wirzba, Norman. From Nature to Creation: A Christian Vision for Understanding and Loving Our World. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015.

Zombobah, Felix G. “Saint Augustine and the Ecosystem: Summa Creatio.” In African Eco-Theology: Meaning, Forms, and Expressions. Ed., Ikechukwu Anthony, 367-402. Trebleclef Lane, MD: APAS, 2021.