Reading The Book of Jonah through the Eco-Spiritual Perspective

Hew Yan Liew, Jin Beng Seach, Santini Pathinathan

Abstract


Whether one chooses to acknowledge or disregard its significance, nature has always been part of us. In an anthropogenic era, the dire state of the environment has made it an increasingly concerning topic of discussion among us. Nature has been extensively examined in numerous scholarly discussions ranging from secular to religious perspectives. This paper examines how nature plays a crucial role in helping us understand the relationship between God and humans, as portrayed in the Bible. The Bible being a religious text exists with very specific purposes. That being said, elements of nature were also used very specifically in the Bible. Most presently available scholarly research focuses on reading the significance of nature elements from religious perspectives. However, this research employs the eco-spirituality theory to examine the book of Jonah from the Bible to determine the relationship between Jonah, God, and nature. Through this secular perspective, the aim is to show that elements of nature have been carefully woven into narratives to signify various meanings. Furthermore, this research aims to identify how God communicates with humans through nature, which eventually helps to establish various forms of relationships between humans and nature. Through these newly formed relationships, we can understand the authority of a Creator and the consequences of obedience and submission. All these highlight the importance of co-existence between humans and nature, and examining the Bible through the lens of eco-spirituality perpetuates the relevance of the Bible to 21st-century readers. 


Keywords


Christianity, communication, ecospirituality, nature, the book of Johan

Full Text:

PDF

References


Alexander, P., & Alexander, D. (2017). The lion handbook to the bible fifth edition (5th ed.). Brooklyn, NY: Lion Books.

Cacanoska, R., Lazarevski, P., Matlievska, M., Dauti, H., Chatleska, V. Z., Gjorgjevski, G., & Zvrleska, D. (2019). Moral teachings in the holy books, the bible and the quran, about the relationship of the human to nature: A Macedonian research project. Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe, 39(2), 1-49. https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol39/iss2/2

Clancy, B. (2015). Investigating intimate discourse: Exploring the spoken interaction of families, couples and friends. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315672113

Cook, S. D. (2019). “Who knows?” Reading the book of Jonah as a satirical challenge to theodicy of the exile (PhD Thesis). The University of Sydney, Australia.

Crespin, S. J., & Simonetti, J. A. (2018). Reconciling farming and wild nature: Integrating human–wildlife coexistence into the land-sharing and land-sparing framework. Ambio, 48(2), 131–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1059-2

Duvall, S. J., Hays, D. J., & Strauss, M. A. V. K. J. L. (2012). Grasping god’s word: A hands-on approach to reading, interpreting, and applying the bible (3rd ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic.

Folke, C., Polasky, S., Rockström, J., Galaz, V., Westley, F., Lamont, M., Scheffer, M., Österblom, H., Carpenter, S. R., Chapin, F. S., Seto, K. C., Weber, E. U., Crona, B. I., Daily, G. C., Dasgupta, P., Gaffney, O., Gordon, L. J., Hoff, H., Levin, S. A., . . . Walker, B. H. (2021). Our future in the anthropocene biosphere. Ambio, 50(4), 834–869. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01544-8

Gaston, K. J., Soga, M., Duffy, J. P., Garrett, J. K., Gaston, S., & Cox, D. T. (2018). Personalised ecology. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 33(12), 916–925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.09.012

Godfrey. (2016). A perspective on spiritual wellness among the elderly (PhD Dissertation). Regent University, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Jamili, L. B., Baradaran, B., & Khoshkam, S. (2017). Interrelation/coexistence between human/nonhuman in nature: William Blake’s songs of innocence and songs of experience. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 8(4), 14. http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.4p.14

Jax, K., Calestani, M., Chan, K. M., Eser, U., Keune, H., Muraca, B., O’Brien, L., Potthast, T., Voget-Kleschin, L., & Wittmer, H. (2018). Caring for nature matters: A relational approach for understanding nature’s contributions to human well-being. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 35, 22–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2018.10.009

Kelsey, M. (2020). The book of Jonah and the theme of exile. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 45(1), 128–140. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309089219864607

Lasine, S. (2016). Jonah’s complexes and our own: Psychology and the interpretation of the book of Jonah. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 41(2), 237–260. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309089215641397

Leese, J. (2019). Ecofaith: Reading scripture in an era of ecological crisis. Religions, 10(3), 154. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10030154

Lincoln, V. (2000). Ecospirituality. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 18(3), 227–244. https://doi.org/10.1177/089801010001800305

Livengood, S. P. (2004). The best-selling bibles: What librarians need to know. Journal of the Association of Christian Libraries, 57(2), 90-95. http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/tcl/vol57/iss2/4

Magill, G., & Potter, J. (2017). Advocacy. In integral ecology: Protecting our common home. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publisher. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.tarcez.tarc.edu.my/lib/tarc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5487790

Meek, R. L. (2016). Truly god is good: Suffering in old testament perspective. Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, 9(2), 151–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/193979091600900202

Mishra, S. K. (2016). Ecocriticism: A study of environmental issues in literature. BRICS Journal of Educational Research, 6(4), 168–170. https://www.academia.edu/33751391/Ecocriticism_A_Study_of_Environmental_Issues_in_Literature

Mujib, I. (2015). Mapping the religious response of the disaster-hit community: Redefinition of relationship between human, god, nature and religion in disaster construction. Al-Albab - Borneo Journal of Religious Studies (BJRS), 4(1), 3-18. https://doi.org/10.24260/alalbab.v4i1.274

New International Version Bible. (2011). Biblica. Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/#booklist

Pirnazarov, N. (2020). Philosophical analysis of the issue of spirituality. International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, 29(5), 1630–1632. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343678533

Rezapouraghdam, H., Alipour, H., & Darvishmotevali, M. (2017). Employee workplace spirituality and pro-environmental behavior in the hotel industry. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 26(5), 740–758. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2017.1409229

Ryu, C. J. (2016). Divine rhetoric and prophetic silence in the book of Jonah. In The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Narrative (pp. 226–235). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Stewart, W. F. (1945). The book of Jonah (Doctoral dissertation). Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Wakeling, H. (2018). Nature in a sense: A look at wordsworth, other authors, and the bible (Honors Theses). Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, USA. https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/honors_theses/656

Walton, J. (1996). Spiritual relationships. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 14(3), 237–250. https://doi.org/10.1177/089801019601400306

Wolfe, K. F. (2011). Creation, crisis, and comedy: An ecocritical reading of the eden story, Joel, and Jonah. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/citedreferences/MSTAR_884796124/32EEE60DC2E74815PQ/1?accountid=38945




DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/ijels.v9i2.7023

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


    

 

IJELS Journal Sinta 4 Certificate (S4 = Level 4)

We would like to inform you that Indonesian Journal of English Language Studies (IJELS) has been nationally accredited Sinta 4 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia based on the decree  No. Surat Keputusan 152/E/KPT/2023. Validity for 5 years: Vol 7 No 2, 2021 till Vol 12 No 1, 2026

 

 

 

IJELS e-ISSN 2715-0895; IJELS p-ISSN 2442-790X

Indonesian Journal of English Language Studies (IJELS) is published twice a year, namely in March and September, by the English Language Studies (ELS) of the Graduate Program of Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.