Detailed Information on Publication Record

Consumption cannot simply be defined in terms of the utilitarian functions of rational economic processes, but in parallel by its ethical and symbolic dimensions. Consumption is a social phenomenon with the pervasive influence of values, norms, customs, traditions, beliefs and other forms of cultural, psychological and spiritual ways of life. Against the background of a hyper-consumerist society, predatory capitalism and the reality of ecological threats, the motivation is intensifying for ethical consumption: ecologically friendly ways of life taking the form of deliberate and voluntary frugality and environmentalism. This study aims to demonstrate the presence and function of Christian values in environmental thinking and to re-examine Christian anthropocentrism as a consistent component of environmentalism. At the same time, through the lens of environmental virtue ethics, I present an argument that strips Christian anthropocentrism of its label as an alleged source of ecological threats and instead refer here to the potential of humanity as caretakers and protectors of Nature. This is illustrated using biblical verses on the emblematic figures of the Good Steward and the Good Shepherd, expressing the responsible and environmentally oriented relationship of humanity to nature.