Biography
Tyng-Guang Chu is currently studying the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Duke University. He is interested in questions that have to do with creation and humanity's place in the world.
Paper Abstract
This paper will explore the interconnectedness between economic and ecological justice—to build economic justice is to restore a sustainable world. To do so, I will start with Amos, a prophet in the Hebrew Bible from the south who preaches in the north, far from his original home. Amos sharply criticizes the exploitation of the poor in his days, and as a result, he is considered seditious and is told by the northern prophet Amaziah to go back to Judah (Amos 7). Amos responds by identifying himself as an agrarian man ("a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees"), which, as some scholars have suggested, implies an identification with the poor. Furthermore, because of injustices, Amos prophesies a coming exile for Israel. There is a connection between agrarian activities and economic justice, the violation of which leads to exile, here defined as alienation from the land. This also means that, for Amos, restoration entails agricultural abundance in the land, which is both economic and ecological (Amos 9:11-15). In the second part of this paper, I will connect Amos' message to the "integral ecology" outlined by Pope Francis, who recognizes the importance of prophetic voices in our current environmental crisis (Laudato si 73). As a number of scholars have highlighted, in Pope Francis' "integral ecology" idea, economic and ecological justice are interconnected (LS 124, 137, 156; cf. Christiansen [1996]; Bingemer [2016]). Like Amos, Pope Francis links economic justice with ecological concerns, but unlike Amos, Pope Francis speaks to a globalized world, where economic and environmental exploitation can happen on an unprecedented scale (LS 158). In envisioning justice restored today, the Pope begins with the affirmation of human dignity and the pursuit of common good (LS 156-158), which is consistent with the prophetic message.