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Koers (Online) vol.78 n.1 Pretoria Jan. 2013
Christ-centred ethical behaviour and ecological crisis: What resources do the concepts of order in creation and eschatological hope offer?
Christosentriese etiese gedrag en ekologiese krisis: Watter hulpbronne bied die konsepte van orde in die skepping en eskatologiese hoop?
Martinus P. de WitI, II
ISchool of Public Leadership, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
IIDe Wit Sustainable Options, Brackenfell, South Africa
The ecological crisis, as well as a limited ethical response, forces a reflection on the transformative potential of Christian ethics on an idolatrous society largely shaped by a dominant economic culture. The aim of the article was to explore how the concepts of creation order and eschatological hope may be helpful in the understanding and formulation of a Christ-centred ethical response to the ecological crisis. A review of the relevant literature was presented, limited to insights from Reformational philosophy and eco-theology into the concepts of creation order and eschatology. The main internal tensions of using the concepts of creation order and eschatological hope as resources in Christ-centred eco-ethics were highlighted and discussed. Some implications for the further explanation and development of Christ-centred eco-ethics are outlined.
Die ekologiese krisis, asook 'n beperkte etiese antwoord hierop, dwing 'n besinning oor die vernuwende potensiaal van Christelike etiek vir 'n afgodiese samelewing wat grootliks gevorm is deur 'n dominante ekonomiese kultuur. Die doel van hierdie artikel was om te ondersoek hoe die konsepte van orde in die skepping en eskatologiese hoop nuttig kan wees in die verstaan en die formulering van 'n Christus-gesentreerde etiese antwoord op die ekologiese krisis. 'n Oorsig van die relevante literatuur, beperk tot insigte uit die Reformatoriese filosofie en ekoteologie oor die konsepte van orde in die skepping en eskatologie, is aangebied. Die belangrikste interne spanningsvelde in die gebruik van die konsepte skeppingsorde en eskatologiese hoop in 'n Christus-gesentreerde eko-etiek is uitgelig en bespreek. Sekere implikasies vir die verdere verduideliking en die ontwikkeling van 'n Christus-gesentreerde eko-etiek is beskryf.
The world is confronted with an ecological crisis, spawning a broad and renewed interest in the topic of morality and ethical response in many fields, including Christian circles. Goudzwaard, Vander Vennen and Van Heemst (2007) made an important contribution in this field, starting to document a Christocentric critique on a broad belief in progress itself and the exploitative nature of contemporary society. The authors referred to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's observation of the imminent collapse of a number of ecosystems as a building block in their argument that a misplaced faith in the forces of progress, including markets, technology, science, state and power, are reaching untenable outcomes and should be interpreted as nothing other than modern-day forms of idolatry. This is not to deny the blessings that markets, technology and science bring to the world, but a heightened sensitivity is needed to what Goudzwaard et al. (2007) call the shadows of progress, which to them reside in the stubbornness of the human heart. The thesis that societal crisis, at its deepest, stems from idolatrous hearts calls for repentance and deserves more reflection. In this article the focus is on a closely related topic, namely on what basis faithful Christians behave and inform choices amidst the ecological crisis.
The question as to what basis Christian ethical positions on ecology are or should be taken on is not new. A lot of work has been done in the fields of eco-theology and Christian eco-ethics over the last few decades (see for example Bouma-Prediger 2001; Santmire 2000; Scharper 1997; Oelschlaeger 1994; Schaeffer & Middelmann 1993), mainly in response to Lynn White Jr's critical article accusing Christianity of the ecological crisis (White 1967). White argued that the biblical view of humans made in the image of God and given dominion over the earth introduced a dualism between humans and nature and a licence for exploitation. A further critique against Christianity is focused on 'perceived inadequacies of Christian eschatology' (Bouma-Prediger 2001:71), accusing Christianity of otherworldliness and little rationale for creation care. As observed by Horrell (2010c), in certain circles it seems as if:
Christian hope is construed in terms of an imminent return of Jesus, other-worldly salvation for the elect, and fiery destruction for the earth; attempts to preserve the earth are thus futile and contrary to God's purposes. (p. 8)
The contributions in response to the 'ecological complaint', as Bouma-Prediger (2001:69) refers to it, have drawn at least two serious critiques of their own. Firstly, the critique that Christian eco-ethics and eco-theological resources often start with a doctrine of creation and tend to derive morality from a religious interpretation of cosmology (Jenkins 2008). The field of eco-theology has contributed mainly on what has been referred to as the 'cosmological axes' (Jenkins 2008:14) with little attention to soteriological insights into Christian eco-ethics. The second critique is one of hermeneutics. The response of a positive ecological narrative of creation care, a strategy of 'recovery' (as found for example in the Green Bible project, Horrell 2010b) based on a different reading of the Bible, has been criticised in several publications, pointing towards the crucial role of hermeneutics (the approach to interpretation) in the consideration of the ecological implications of biblical texts (Horrell 2010a; Horrell, Hunt, Southgate & Stavrakopoulou 2010; Conradie 2010a).
The answer to the question on what basis Christians behave ethically in the midst of ecological crises is thus not as straightforward as one might have hoped for, notwithstanding a long tradition affirming the role of Christians in creation care and emphasising an eschatology of renewal rather than destruction (see Horrell 2010a; Horrell et al. 2010). Therefore, before attempting to address the question how Christ-centred ethical behaviour needs to look in a time of ecological crisis, more critical reflection is needed on the validity of the resources we use in constructing such an argument.
In the discussion on sources of Christ-centred ethical behaviour we start with a discussion on the idea of creation order, and as a consequence cosmology, as well as views on eschatology and hope. The reason to focus on these two concepts is that it is in these areas that Christianity's contribution to the ecological crisis was most severely critiqued, and it is in these areas where the most work has been done so far in formulating a Christian response. We limit our evaluation to perspectives given in Reformational philosophy and in eco-theology. These positions are critically discussed and tensions identified that may serve as an input to further reflection and research on Christ-centred environmental or eco-ethics.
Following the introduction of the article, Christ-centred ethics is introduced in general terms. Thirdly, fourthly and fithly, creation order, the cosmos and views on the eschaton are respectively discussed as sources of Christ-centred ethics from Reformational philosophical and eco-theological points of view. Sixthly, critical tensions in Christ-centred eco-ethics are highlighted, followed by the conclusion.
What is Christ-centered ethics?
The important insight from Christ-centred ethics is that the person and work of Jesus Christ makes Christian ethics possible (Gustafson 1995). This observation sets it apart from any other moral philosophy or ethical theory. The word ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, or, in short, morality. Aristotle used it to refer to a good desire, guided by human nature. In most ethical frameworks, humans are seen as the agents of moral change. In such a sense ethics is primarily humanistic and individual. Environmental ethicists go one step further to include non-human entities in their ethical reflection (Schrader-Frechette 2005).
Placing the work and person of Jesus Christ central in ethical reflection is common to many Christian thinkers on the topic. O'Donovan (2001:11), for example, states that the foundations of Christian ethics lie in what 'God has done in Christ'. Similarly, Bonnhoefer (2009) takes as a departing point that the:
source of a Christian ethic is not the reality of one's own self, not the reality of the world, nor is it the reality of norms and values. It is the reality of God that is revealed in Jesus Christ. (p. 49)
Kuiper, Van Putten and Vogelaar (2012:75), in an introductory text on faith, science and culture from a Christian philosophical point of view, agree that 'Jesus Christus is het hart van een christelijke levensorientatie' [Jesus Christ is the heart of a Christian life orientation]. The point is that all seek to find ethical guidance from God's revelation to us in Jesus Christ.
Christian ethics, however, is not one final, accepted idea. After an extensive review of various forms of Christian ethics, Gustafson (1995) concludes that:
There will continue to be various patterns of Christian ethics ... [t]he surplus of meaning in the Bible, the continuing effect of different historic traditions, and the emergence of new and different contexts for writing have this effect. (p. 713)
Much lies in the enormous diversity of what is contained in Christ. Earlier attempts to include a whole range of Christological events, such as creation, advent, cross, resurrection and ascension, into one scheme have been undertaken by theologian Karl Barth, amongst others, with his creation-reconciliation-redemption triad. However, O'Donovan (2001:xvii) calls this an arbitrary choice, one that can only be treated as convention and one that leaves a limited 'truncated' view of the gospel, not 'a self-evident principle for arranging specific subject areas that ethics interests itself in.' O'Donovan (2001) goes on to focus on the event of resurrection in order to speak about liberated human action specifically (p. xviii). Hauerwas and Wells (2004) also start with Christ-centred ethics, but specifically plead for a reintegration of ethics with theology, ecclesiology and sacrament, pointing towards a reflection on the practices of the church and how that shapes the character of Christians. What this short discussion illustrates is that there are various Christ-centred ethical approaches that may guide behaviour amidst the ecological crisis. The approach taken in this article is to take one step back and critically discuss two central concepts in ethical discourse, namely creation order and eschatological hope, and in the process reveal the main possibilities and tensions for further reflection on an integrated Christ-centred approach to environmental or eco-ethics.
Creation order as a source of Christian ethics
Creation order in Reformational philosophy
The idea of creation order, or the nomos or law order of creation, is rooted in the Dooyeweerdian or Reformational philosophy that reality is God's creation that takes its meaning from God. In Reformational philosophy the topic of order has often been associated with laws, universal principles and creational structures.
Building on the insights of John Calvin, Van Woudenberg (2004), in his introduction to Christian philosophy, a publication of the earlier Association of Reformational Philosophy, argues that God calls on people and gives each the specific duty to work against disorder in the world. In this view, order is created through God's laws for people and nature. God's sovereignty is seen as his action with regard to the world, which carries the character of a law that provides order and structure to the world. There are natural laws and cultural laws and both are manifestations of God's ordinances to the world.
According to Reformational philosophy everyone on earth conforms to universal creational norms, but to really come closer to God we need the direction and teachings of Scripture (Van Woudenberg 2004:33). Universal revelation is directed to God, explaining the universal pistic [a deep-seated kind of faith] modality in Reformational philosophy. Douma (1976) pointed out that in such a view, the function of faith is seen as a created function of all people. Van Woudenberg argues that the revelation of God in creation can teach us something about God, but does not tell us anything about sin and grace, an area reserved for particular revelation in Scripture. The important implication of such an interpretation of the Reformational viewpoint is that to understand God's ordinances one cannot rely on Scripture alone, but one has to include empirical observation and practical experience to obtain insights into particular norms where Scripture does not provide explicit guidance (Van Woudenberg 2004:34). Such a position cannot go unnoticed as it does open up a debate on Scriptural hermeneutics that may have important implications for any Christian environmental ethics.
How the idea of creation order plays an explicit role in ethical conduct is the next question. In the tradition of Reformational philosophy, ethical responsibilities require an acceptance of what Stoker (2006:132) refers to as a 'transcendental revealed principle of creation', but acknowledging that such an endeavour cannot be independent from the Word of God. According to Stoker (2006), the source of theoretical ethics is empirical study on different appearances of good desire whilst the 'source of practical Christian ethics is ... the Holy Scripture and in particular God's commandments' (p. 134). In his reflection on the ethics of technology Schuurman (2006), like Stoker, points to a cosmology of the reality as God's creation (as opposed to objects of manipulation) and the commandments of love (as opposed to power) as sources to redirect the ethics of technology. Schuurman (2006) further argues that the responsibility of humans is to be keepers and minders of earth as a garden, not as lords and masters, recognising an intrinsic value of God's creation:
In the Christian religion, the command of love for God and the neighbour contains the essence of all motives, commands, values and norms. Also, in technological development, this dual love must unify. This means that from the start everything must be appreciated according to its nature. [italics added] (p. 164)
The insight is that love is seen to appreciate all things as they are by nature in God's creation, a task, Schuurman argues, of humans that is aided by science and responsible deployment of technology. Cultural activities are directed away from humans themselves in love of God and the neighbour. According to Schuurman, the prime objective for science is the growth in wisdom in the 'full experiential reality' (2006:167) and for technology a focus on 'building and conserving' (2006:166). Normative principles are to be derived from the cosmology of Reformational philosophy, forming a guide for responsible technological development. Such an ethic of responsibility is rooted in the good nature of God's creation, a nature that is meant to be better understood by science and applied by technology. Love is to seek what is natural. Both Stoker and Schuurman argue that ethical conduct in Reformational philosophical thinking is based on what is perceived to be natural in created order, culminating in ethics of law, love and responsibility.
Critical discussion on creation order as a source of Christian ethics
How the order of creation is interpreted remains of utmost importance in Reformational philosophy as it sums up an understanding of something no less than God's revelation itself. But does God indeed rule by creational norms and laws? This is not an irrelevant question and one that is worth revisiting, especially when it is perceived that God reveals himself to humans through creation. To accept that God does reveal himself in creation requires an acceptance of God's universal revelation in creation, a Reformational philosophical position that has already received its fair share of discussion and critique (see e.g. Douma 1976; Berkhouwer 1951). The idea of universal revelation instilling a creational pistic function in all people remains contentious. The main counter-argument is that faith is worked in us by listening to God through the Word of God, not by understanding creation (Douma 1976:26-29). Not listening to the Word of God is not some form of faith; in contrast, it is idolatry and provokes God's wrath. The role of creation is that it asks that the Creator, and nothing or nobody else, is glorified and when this is not accepted by stubborn human hearts, God has much cause for anger (Van Bruggen 2006:43). The universal revelation of God exists only insofar as nobody has an excuse not to know and glorify him, as the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly to be seen. The focus is not on some remnants of goodness in humanity, thereby relativising our fallen state, but on the gracious gifts of God to the world (Calvin 2008:54-58). In a similar vein, Berkhouwer (1951:272-274), in an extensive theological review on the topic of universal revelation, points towards two clear dangers: firstly, an annoyance with a fallen humanity and with the cross of Christ, pointing towards particular revelation as serving only an additional function. Secondly, and based on historical observation, that mankind allows general revelation to participate in the darkness of the human reaction to let (in a classical nature-grace scheme) 'natural knowledge' compete with and judge the 'supernatural'. Instead, hearing God's Word leads to a better understanding of his actions throughout history in Christ and is the real origin of God's revelation (Berkouwer 1951:274).
In a Christ-centred view, creation order is not the ultimate source of ethics. The living and personal God is not hidden either behind a facade of natural laws, principles, structures and order, nor behind history, process and change. The question of how to view creation order as a source of Christian ethics can thus only be entertained when contextualised in knowledge of God as revealed in the work of and person of Jesus Christ.
Creation order and cosmology have been intrinsically linked in the Protestant Reformational and Catholic traditions. One example will suffice for the purposes of this article. Arpels-Josiah (2004), in a discussion on the resources John Calvin's theology provides for environmental ethics, points out that:
[t]he danger of disorder, chaos, and collapse, so vivid in Calvin's view of cosmology and history, shaped his view of providence into one in which God powerfully restrains and stabilizes the created order. (p. 149)
A discussion on creation order as a source of ethics needs to be complemented with a further discussion on how Christian versions of cosmology have developed, which is the field of eco-theology, the focus of the next section.
Cosmos as a source of ethics
Eco-theology on cosmos
Eco-theology has been described as a theology that focuses on the inter-relationships of religion and nature, particularly in light of environmental concerns. One example, a study performed over the time period 1987-1992 on Christian environmentalism in the United States of America, Kearns (1996) identified three main responses to what White (1967:1206) concluded as the need to 'find a new religion, or re-think our old one'. The first can broadly be described as the 'Christian stewardship ethic', the second one as an 'eco-justice ethic' and the third as a 'creation-spirituality ethic'. 'Christian stewardship' is focused on rethinking Western Christianity within its own tradition, focused on 'an evangelical interpretation of the biblical mandate for humans to take care of the earth' (Kearns 1996:57). The 'eco-justice ethic' is associated with the idea of liberation linking 'environmental concerns with church perspectives on justice issues such as the just sharing of limited resources and the real cost of environmental problems' (Kearns 1996:57). A 'creation-spirituality ethic' is more orientated 'to a possible new religion and focuses on reorienting humans to see their place as one part of a larger, panentheistic creation' (Kearns 1996:57). These are all very different ethical strategies, but they do share a common concern with how to develop a practical environmental theology or eco-theology to account for emerging ecological realities - 'each wants to somehow connect environmental issues with Christian identity' (Jenkins 2008:15).
Eco-theology's soteriological blind spot?
Jenkins (2008:14-15) further makes the important point that the main responses in environmental theology to White's (1967) critique are all organised along 'cosmological axes.' Jenkins argues for the use of soteriological narratives in the pursuit of Christian eco-ethics, or what Conradie (2010b) refers to as the 'deepest rationale for Christian earth-keeping.' In a review of Pauline theology, Horrell (2010c) argues that the apostle Paul's:
soteriological vision is literally all-encompassing, whether this is put in the theocentric terms of Rom. 11 and 1 Cor. 15 or the more Christological terms of Col. 1. Just as God, through Christ, is creator of all things so, in Christ, God is the redeemer of all things. (p. 20)
Conradie (2010c:111) points out that the question of how the 'Christian notion of "salvation" is to be understood in the context of environmental threats' needs further reflection, pointing towards the Dutch reformed theology of God's cosmic history of creation, fall and redemption as a possible unifying theme on the Christian doctrines of creation and salvation. (It cannot escape attention that such a unifying theme was worked out by Reformational philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd in a philosophy with a strong cosmological focus, but also by theologian Karl Barth in a strong Christological focus.) Attempts to unify the all-inclusive Christian narratives have at best led to a 'pluralism of Christian environmental ethics', providing 'heuristic models that can inform social ethics' (Jenkins 2008:228). In an overview on the ecological significance of the synoptic gospels, Bauckham (2010:81), for example, concluded that a 'Christian theological understanding, rooted in the whole canon of Scripture, of what it means for God's human creatures to be part of God's whole creation ... has barely begun'.
To inform practical Christ-centred environmental ethics, the 'soteriological blind spot,' or what Jenkins (2008) refers to as the need to 'renovate grace', in most of eco-theological thinking needs a correction. Jenkins pleads for the rediscovery of Christianity's own 'ecologies of grace'; the healing it entails 'might teach citizens what to make of the wounds of memory and the healing efforts of ecological restoration.' Such an approach taps into the vast Christian pool of resources on why 'we need not live alone or silently with those wounds' (Jenkins 2008:232) in a world with massive ecological suffering and loss. When Christians allow environmental distress to 'pierce hearts and darken souls', a transforming practical hope becomes possible (Jenkins 2008:233). The idea of suffering brings insights with possibly valuable ethical implications: 'God uses suffering in pursuance of his purpose to make us holy' and 'God intends suffering to be a "means of grace"' (Stott 2006:365-366).
Eschatological hope as a source of Christian ethics
Eschaton in Reformational philosophy
Reformational philosophy, with its cosmological focus, has not concentrated a lot of effort on a theory of the last things. Ambiguity did surround Herman Dooyeweerd's initial ideas on the topic. Blosser (1993), in a discussion on Dooyeweerd's theory of a human being, observes that:
as a consequence of this, there is a tendency to verticalize the eschaton; to lose sight of the abiding significance and eternal validity of the creation ordinances on the new earth beyond the judgment; to block off the future, linear character of cosmic time so that 'structure comes to an end'. (p. 203)
This 'verticalised eschatology' is not shared by all Reformational philosophers though. It seems as if later scholars in this tradition had a more 'horizontal eschatology' in which their idea of creation order continued into a new creation. Wolters (1987) reviewed translations on 2 Peter 3:10 and suggests that a process of smelting and refining characterises the final days. Creation is expected to be radically purged by fire. According to Wolters, this does not mean a cosmic annihilation, a complete destruction or abolition of the created order. Future cataclysm is not a 'burn up' but rather a 'meltdown'. Wolters concludes that there is a permanence in the created earth and, despite the coming judgement, maintains a belief in the continuity of creation order.
The debate of Reformational philosophy on eschatology tends to focus on the continuity or discontinuity of created orders, not very different from the more cosmologically focused eco-theology, the topic of the next section.
Eschaton in eco-theology
Views on the future of the world differ markedly in Christian circles. Horrell (2010a:112-114) identified three prevailing strategies:
- to see the world as being destroyed in future, leaving little motivation to care for or preserve (see e.g. Van Beek 2006)
- to see the world as being renewed, already now providing a basis for environmental ethics (see Valerio 2008)
- to acknowledge that there are very different eschatological perspectives in the Bible itself (see Adams 2010).
The first position - the final destruction of the world, a radical transformation, with no motivation for an environmental ethic - is a position not taken in eco-theology and is not seriously further discussed here.
A strong eco-theological focus is on the second position -the renewal of creation. Valerio (2008:209), as an example, influenced by Jurgen Moltmann's (1997) 'theology of hope', argues that we are challenged to 'live our lives in such a way that we enable the rest of creation to fulfil its eschatological goal'. Moltmann (1997:122) argues that God's Kingdom is realised in this current reality, through a new creation with cosmic dimensions following the resurrection of Christ. According to Valerio, salvation in Christ extends beyond people, including the whole of creation (citing Col 1:15-20) and therefore broader action is required, a life of 'realised anticipation'. In this view, new creation is already here within the old, urging for radical involvement in the world through gospel proclamation, social concern and care for the environment. Creation is viewed as continuing, a dynamic process, and the last days are interpreted as a refining process: the earth and everything in it 'will be found' rather than 'burnt up'. There is an expectation that creation is and will be 'our home, now and always' (Valerio 2008:207).
In the third position, mostly with reference to Romans 8, it is argued that 'this passage seems to indicate a non-destructive (yet radical) transformation of existing creation' (Adams 2007, as quoted in Horrell 2010a:113). Adams (2010:168), with reference to 2 Peter 3:5-13, Revelation 21:1-22:5 and Isaiah 65:17-25, argues that '[w]aiting for the new heaven/s and earth does not mean abdicating moral responsibility and is not incompaible [sic] with pro-environmental action'1. Based on 2 Peter 3:5-13 and Revelation 21:1-22:5, a new heaven and new earth only 'follow the dissolution of the present created order' (Adams 2010:173), rather thinking about an 'image of the creator "recycling" the old into the new, preserving and re-using matter in the process' (Adams 2010:174). Adams finds a primary biblical motivation for environmental consciousness in the 'inherent goodness of creation' (Gn 1:4, 10, 12) and the 'creation mandate' (Gn 1:26-28), bringing a responsibility to act as stewards of God's earth, which, for him, trumps visions of a transformative or dissolutive future.
Some commentators in eco-theology such as Valerio (2008) point towards a continuity of creation already in the here and now. Those who emphasise the importance of a cautious hermeneutic, like Adams (2010), point towards a radical transformation of existing creation in the last days with some form of continuity for the righteous. Hendricks (2005) moves in the same direction, but cautions against speculation on what such a continuity will look like, rather pointing towards God's loyalty and promise of a new heaven and new earth.
Eschaton and Christ-centred ethics: A discussion
The critical question does remain what Christian hope means for ethical behaviour here and now. A difference in hope makes for a difference in living. Christian hope is a narrative with an ending in the return of Christ, in contrast to the endless eschatologies offered by secular projects of hope (Bauckman & Hart 1999).
Wright (2007) provides essential inputs in dissecting the idea to be hopeful Christians from an interpretation of the eschaton being discontinuous and continuous at the same time. In contrast to a piety that sees death as a moment of 'going home at last' or the time we are 'called to God's eternal place', Wright (2007:38) emphasises the transformative power of a belief in resurrection: '[r]esurrection ... has always gone with a strong view of God's justice, and of God as the good creator'. For Wright, the resurrection of Jesus is a matter of rediscovering hope (Wright 2007:87). Wright maintains that the ultimate future hope remains a surprise, but there is a powerful intermediate hope: 'the things which happen in the present time which implement Easter and anticipate the final day' (2007:41).
In a discussion on Wright's argument, Burger (2010) contrasts the theologians Wright (2007) and Van Beek (2006) on their vision of Christian hope. Burger (2010:76-78) observes that Wright emphasises that hope makes one build in his kingdom, a 'participatory eschatology'. In Wright's view the space-time universum as we know it will not be destroyed. Efforts of people towards saving the earth therefore do have meaning. Burger observes that Wright writes mainly against those who are either overly spiritualised or materialised. In contrast, Van Beek (2006) emphasises that this world is so full of sin that we have to give up any ideal of betterment in the world. The universe will come to an end and it makes no sense to put effort into environment, justice or to change structures. Love for and solidarity with the weak already asks enough of us. Burger observes that Van Beek writes mainly against the cultural optimism that humans, with God, are on our way in an evolutionary process towards reaching a beautiful future on this earth. Burger also argues on the basis of 1 Corinthians 15 that our works in the Lord will not be in vain. He further argues that the Holy Spirit is already blessing efforts for justice and peace on earth. In general, there is continuity and discontinuity, but we do know that 'when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is' (1 Jn 3:2). This theme of continuity and discontinuity is also the conclusion reached by Hendriks (2005), who cautions against the urge to explain what the end will look like and rather points toward God's faithfulness and his promises of salvation as God will not abandon the works of his hands. Hendriks points out that there is a mystery and a surprise in the last days, one that we may not understand, an outcome that we may leave in complete faith to God who has everything in his hands.
A Christian environmental ethic remains possible in the expectation of a renewal and recreation of the entire cosmos, and in accepting that the continuity of the cosmos is not in contrast to visions of judgement and discontinuity. The radical and practical implication of a new creation that has already started in Christ, creating the space for real Christian hope, is a topic that needs far more attention in Christ-centred eco-ethics.
In conclusion, it is only through God's faithfulness and his promises that the perceived tensions between a renewed creation and a world full of crises and eminent final judgement hold together in a sense of mystery and surprise. Following O'Donovan (2001), transformation means that:
God ... is doing something new, keeping with creation but in no way dictated by it. This is what is meant by describing the Christian view of history as 'eschatological' and not merely as 'teleological' (p. 64)
The Christian faith leaves the end of things wide open, a future far greater than we can remotely comprehend, and far greater than any naturally deterministic or teleological worldview would suppose.
Critical tensions in Christ-centred eco-ethics
The review on sources of a Christ-centred environmental ethic as presented so far revealed some critical tensions that need further reflection and research. Some of the key arguments from Reformational philosophy and eco-theology on creation order, cosmology and eschatology as sources of ethics were discussed and led in argument with a broadly defined Christ-centred ethic, invoking some critical tensions that will have to be resolved in the further reflection on Christian ethical behaviour amidst an unfolding ecological crisis. This section attempts to highlight these critical tensions that, in turn, may serve as a basis for further reflection on a Christ-centred environmental ethic in response to the ecological crisis.
Firstly, within Christian ethics there is a different focus on the ultimate source of ethics. In this article we particularly highlighted the limitations of accepting creation order, cosmology and/or eschatology as fragmented or absolutised sources of environmental ethics without a clear attempt to root these in the person and all-encompassing work of Jesus Christ. This does not imply a particular view of Christ limited to salvation, but one that sees Christ as being in, through and towards all of history, all of the future and all of created reality.
Secondly, the idea of accepting the idea of creation order as a source of ethics invokes tension between the universal and particular revelation of God, between the cosmos and the Word of God as resources of revelation and between the perceived importance of reason and science in relation to faith and the workings of the Holy Spirit. Here lies a tension on perceptions of how the person and work of Christ relate to creation, one that has occupied theologians - such as Barth, Berkouwer, Kuyper and Bavinck to name a few - and continues to be a fertile theological debate (see e.g. Neal 2010; Schaeffer 2006). Following Calvin (2008), Berkouwer (1951), Douma (1976) and Van Bruggen (2006), the position is taken that hearing God's Word leads to a better understanding of his actions throughout history in Christ - the real origin of God's revelation.
Thirdly, there is a tension between the cosmological focus of eco-theology and soteriology as ultimate sources of Christian ethics. Such polarisation is unhelpful in guiding Christian behaviour and is not Scriptural. Serious attempts to unify approaches to cosmos and salvation need further critical reflection, opening up vital Christian resources, such as suffering, as a means of grace.
Fourthly, the tension between an expected continuity and discontinuity of creation in the last days remains. Those positions that focus on creation order and cosmology as a source of ethics tend to accept a position of continuity of creation whilst positions that accept an absolutised soteriology, at the expense of the all-encompassing work of Jesus Christ, tend to accept positions of discontinuity. Such polarisation is also not very helpful in guiding Christian behaviour. The implications of rather emphasising God's faithfulness, whilst being open to mystery and surprise of how God will make all things new for Christian eco-ethics, need to be further explored. Tanner (2010) started to provide important insights by emphasising that Christian hope is unchanged, whether outcomes turn out well or not, paving the way to include less optimistic worldviews within Christian eschatology.
With such deep tensions invoked by polarised ideas on the nature of the work of Christ, the sources of God's revelation to us and the nature of eschatological hope, the development of Christian eco-ethics faces severe challenges. One option is to work in fragmentary ways with a focus on only parts of knowing God through Christ's works, such as his presence at creation, the fall and redemption, resurrection and consummation. Another option, implied in an encompassing Christ-centred approach, is to depart from classical reflection on ethics as based on a translation of revealed order only into a framework of ethical doing, or one of good living in a Biblical sense. The choice between right and wrong is still relevant, but now within the context of the all-encompassing work of Christ. De Bruijne (2006), inspired amongst others by Hauerwas (see Hauerwas & Wells 2004), in a discussion of ethics and spirituality in Reformed theology, offered some suggestions in this regard. Christian living is about knowing God, to reflect his glory (De Bruijne 2006:97). Human beings are asked to be nothing less than holy as Christ is holy, a clear ideal situation, in contrast to a reality that continues to demand ethical choices that are complex and often in conflict with different ideal ethical and moral objectives. De Bruijne (2006:99) argues that a good life is much more than a choice between right and wrong, moving beyond a classical conception of ethics and finding meaning in the destination and vocation that God gave to life. The meaning of such an approach to Christ-centred eco-ethics is worth investigating, but will (as De Bruijne himself points out) also have to account for several questions, such as the acceptance of process-based growth towards spiritual individuals or 'morally self-justified church communities' (O'Donovan 2001:xix in reaction to Hauerwas 1977) and the normative status of Scriptural revelation.
The article sets out to answer the question of how concepts of creation order and eschatological hope can provide resources for a Christ-centred ethical behavioural response to the ecological crisis. It was pointed out that Christ-centred ethics is not one final idea, but one that sets it apart from other classical ethical frameworks by placing the person and work of Jesus Christ central. Such a position provokes tension with those positions in Reformational philosophy that sees creation order as evidence of God's universal revelation and, in effect, relegates the work of Christ to a particularity of salvation. In response, the article follows those that argue for a careful interpretation of the all-encompassing work of Christ when making ethical claims on the basis of any concept of created order. Tensions about how the work of Christ relates to creation remain very relevant and cannot be ignored when deriving a Christian environmental ethic, an observation just as relevant for much of eco-theology with its cosmological focus. Without connecting the insights of eco-theology to soteriology, and thereby including Christian resources on the meaning and value of suffering and pain in a broken world, ethical positions derived from such a theology will continue to be challenged by Christ-centred Scriptural interpretations. Ethical insights from alternative views on eschaton, the 'last things', are also crucially divided between those positions that emphasise the continuity of creation with an associated call for Christian action, and those positions that emphasise the discontinuity of creation in final judgement. The article follows those who have argued for a position of faith in God's promises, leaving the end open to mystery and surprise. However, such an unwavering hope is characterised by including outcomes that turn out well or not so well in human perception, as God not only works through an affirmation of goodness, but also uses suffering and pain as a means of grace. The option to depart from the limited classical interpretation of ethics only to inform the choice between right and wrong towards a process of growth in Biblical living (also in response to the ecological crisis) has been muted as a possibility. How the outlines of such a life in Christ might look like in practice, or the praxis of a Christ-centred eco-ethic, is another important question highlighted for further research and reflection.
This research was partially supported by the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), which is hereby gratefully acknowledged. Comments and suggestions from participants at the International Conference of the Association for Reformational Philosophy, 'The Future of Creation Order', held in Amsterdam on 16-19 August 2011, as well as from Professors Ernst Conradie, Bob Goudzwaard, Egbert Schuurman, Bennie van der Walt, Revd Eugene Viljoen and three anonymous referees improved the manuscript considerably and are also gratefully acknowledged. The arguments presented in this article remain the author's own.
Competing interest
Any opinion, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and therefore the NRF do not accept any liability in regard thereto.
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Adams, E., 2010, 'Does Awaiting "New Heavens and a New Earth" (2 Pet. 3.13) Mean Abandoning the Environment?', The Expository Times 121, 168-175. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0014524609354742 [ Links ]
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Martin de Wit
PO Box 546
Brackenfell 7561, South Africa
Received: 28 June 2012
Accepted: 22 Jan. 2013
Published: 08 May 2013
1. This despite the argument Adams (2010:171) makes that 'all the works of human beings done upon the earth will be exposed to divine scrutiny and judgement. It does not point to the survival of the earth'. He concludes that the 'destruction and re-creation of the whole world' is envisaged in 2 Peter 3.


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MFA Houston Announces First Carlos Cruz-Diez Retrospective
Carlos Cruz-Diez, Chromosaturation, 1965/2004. Three chromo-cubicles (fluorescent light with blue, red, and green filters) The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of the Cruz-Diez Foundation at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2009.464 © 2010 Carlos Cruz-Diez / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
Carlos Cruz-Diez: Color in Space and Time features more than 150 works from the artist´s wide-ranging career, culled from the Cruz-Diez Foundation collection at the MFAH, and major private and public collections around the world.
For more than five decades Carlos Cruz-Diez (b. 1923) has intensively experimented with the origins and optics of color. His wide-ranging body of work includes unconventional color structures, light environments, street interventions, architectural integration projects and experimental works that engage the response of the human eye while insisting on the participatory nature of color.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
, and the Cruz-Diez Foundation, Houston are organizing the first large-scale retrospective of this pioneering Franco-Venezuelan artist. Carlos Cruz-Diez: Color in Space and Time will feature more than 150 works created from the 1940s to today, including paintings, silk-screen prints and innovative chromatic structures; room-size chromatic environments, architectural models and videos; and a virtual re-creation of the artist´s studio. The exhibition will introduce international audiences to Cruz-Diez´s extensive production and will place his theoretical and artistic contributions to 20th-century Modernism in a broader context than they have traditionally been seen. The exhibition will make its international debut in Houston and is slated to travel.
The starting point for Cruz-Diez´s chromatic investigations is the unstable nature of color. In his view, color is not a pigment on a solid surface but a "situation" that results from the projection of light on objects and the way this light is processed by the human eye. Insofar as color depends on the movement of the viewer in front of the work, it entails a participatory and interactive experience in space and time. The artist´s task is to induce "situations" and to stimulate the dialogue between the stable and the unstable nature of color on a variety of supports by means of multiple strategies and unconventional materials that included cardboard, aluminum, polished stainless steel and acrylic paint.
Accompanied by a major catalogue, Carlos Cruz-Diez: Color in Space and Time is curated by Mari Carmen Ramírez, Wortham Curator of Latin American Art and Director, International Center for the Arts of the Americas at the MFAH. Carlos Cruz-Diez: Color in Space and Time will be on view at the MFAH´s Caroline Wiess Law Building from February 6 to July 4, 2011.
"Carlos Cruz-Diez: Color in Space and Time celebrates Cruz-Diez´s groundbreaking achievements with color, presenting him as one of the most remarkable, pioneering artists of the late 20th century," said Peter C. Marzio, MFAH director.
"Generally considered in the context of Kinetic Art, the significance of the large body of work produced by Cruz-Diez since the 1950s extends beyond issues of movement, vibration and sheer retinality. From the beginning, Cruz-Diez focused his research and experiments on one critical issue: the investigation of color as a living organism that is in a constant state of transformation. This exhibition aims to show his radical and unprecedented achievements in this area," said Ramírez.
Cruz-Diez´s work combines color theory, science, kinetics, mechanical engineering and the painter´s craft and defies easy categorization. In order to realize his artistic vision, particularly with regard to the innovative Physichromies series, the artist adapted or invented his own tools and machines. And he has involved his family and a large corps of assistants in the enterprise, with guild-style studios in Paris, Panama, and Caracas. The works on view in Carlos Cruz-Diez: Color in Space and Time will be culled from the Cruz-Diez Foundation Collection at the MFAH and the Atelier Cruz-Diez in Paris and Panama; as well as public and private collections in the United States, Venezuela, France, England, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
The exhibition traces the artist´s development from rarely seen figurative oil paintings, created when the artist was still a student, to full-fledged explorations of color in motion. Cruz-Diez´s Physichromiesor "physical color" seriesconsist of vertically aligned sequences of colored lines and reflective filters that are modified according to the angle of the ambient light and of the viewer´s position, thereby, casting color into space and creating a continually evolving situation dependent on the viewer´s movement. Over 55 Physichromies will be shown together for the first time, showcasing the eight stages that mark the conceptual and technological evolution of this series: from hand-cut and hand-painted wood and cardboard pieces to the use of machine-cut aluminum strips and digital printing technology. Key examples of Cruz-Diez´s Couleur Additive (Additive Color) and Induction Chromatique (Chromatic Induction) works will also be on view. These are two interrelated series based on the principle of retinal persistence or "after-image," whereby the viewer´s retinawhen confronted with the combination of two complementary colors on a planeproduces a third virtual color. The artist has been refining these series since their inception in 1959 and 1963, respectively.
The centerpieces of Color in Space and Time will be three interactive environments. In a Chromointerférence designed specifically for the Houston exhibition, museum guests will be able to walk into a large white room in which two planes of color continually undulate in bands projected onto the walls and floor, dissolving the surrounding volumesincluding the viewers´ bodiesinto color. The second environment, Transchromie, is a maze-like work consisting of large-scale, flexible, transparent color strips that museum guests can navigate through. The lastand perhaps the most radicalof his environmental proposals, Chromosaturation, consists of a sequence of three self-contained spaces where Cruz-Diez isolates "raw" color and creates a display of pure chromatic situations for viewers to experience with their entire bodies and all of their senses.
Complementing the works on view will be a simulation of the Atelier Cruz-Diez at 23 rue Pierre Sémard in Paris will be on display, made up of wall-size photographs of the interior. Visitors will be required to wear 3D glasses to experience the atelier environment, and two videos will further document the artist´s process as well as the ad hoc machines and tools he devised to produce his unique work. Another section of the exhibition will be devoted to Cruz-Diez´s architectural projects and interventions in urban settings, from walkways and hydroelectric plants to wheat silos. Scale models and a documentary video produced by the Cruz-Diez Foundation specifically for this exhibition will detail his large-scale site-specific initiatives in Europe, the United States and Latin America. MFAH visitors can also view Houston´s own public installation designed by Cruz-Diez: crosswalks on the museum campus that have been transformed into grids of color, producing a range of chromatic effects that unfold as the observer moves.
Born in 1923 in Caracas, Cruz-Diez has lived and worked in Paris since 1960 and manages additional studios in Panama and Caracas. He first emerged as an artist in the mid-1950s at the heyday of the Kinetic Art movement in Paris. Yet while he was friends with many of the artists in the group, he was never officially incorporated into it. His life´s work has been dedicated to showing how color can be transformed into an autonomous event capable of invading space.
In 1945, Cruz-Diez earned a degree in applied and manual arts from the Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Aplicadas de Caracas and joined the international advertising agency McCann-Erickson. By the age of 25, Cruz-Diez had risen to the position of art director at the agency, but he went on to work as a full-time artist and to teach History of Applied Art at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Aplicadas from 1953-55; at El Estudio de Artes Visuales, a graphic arts and industrial design workshop in Caracas that he opened in 1957 (where he first began the Physichromies series); again at the Escuela from 1958-60, where he served as professor and assistant director; at the Université d´Enseignement de Recherches from 1972-73, where he taught Kinetic Techniques; and as professor and Director of the Art Unit of the Institute of Advanced Studies, IDEA, Caracas from 1986 to 1993.
Cruz-Diez´s works are in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Tate Modern, London; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Musée d´Art Contemporain de Montreal; Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne; and the Musée d´Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
The Museum of Fine Arts
Carlos Cruz-Diez
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This is the best preparation you can get to improve your English level and score better on the English tests that universities use as part of their admission requirements. Check your knowledge of English grammar and your level of understanding complex texts in English, improve your language skills and save money. Don't spend $200 on an English test until you have trained and improved your English skills here.
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Winner, Billie Tsien
Alumni Billie Tsien (M.Arch. I, 1977) has won the 2013 AIA Architecture Firm Award with her husband partner Tod Williams.
For immediate release: Washington, D.C. – December 6, 2012 – The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Board of Directors voted today for Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects to receive the 2013 AIA Architecture Firm Award. The firm will be honored at the 2013 AIA National Convention in Denver. Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects is noted for exquisite care for detail with subtle, reverent architecture that's both timeless in its abstracted, meditative forms and materially specific to context and place.
The AIA Architecture Firm Award, given annually, is the highest honor the AIA bestows on an architecture firm and recognizes a practice that consistently has produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years.
The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA completed May 2012. Photography by Michael Moran / Otto Archive
The married team of architects, Tod Williams, FAIA, and Billie Tsien, AIA, have been working together since 1977 and first formed their New York City-based practice in 1986. They have used the intervening decades to design a celebrated portfolio of overwhelmingly public cultural and institutional buildings: university facilities, libraries, museums, etc. As such, their design language embodies the idealized traits of the body politic; contemplative, enlightened, humble, eloquent, granular and diverse in its individual details, but unified in purpose and intent. Despite the growing prestige of their commissions and their recent expansion into international projects, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects keep their studio relatively small and nimble, at less than 30 people.
The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA completed May 2012. Photography by Michael Moran / Otto Archive
"Their work carries with it a spiritual value which transcends pragmatic solutions," wrote Toshiko Mori, FAIA, in a recommendation letter. "Their projects respond to multiple and complex needs of clients, yet their solutions are simple and elegant. Their firm's work brings forth the ideals of Modernism, yet is moderated with a contemporary sensibility and intelligence which makes their work rich, tactile, and useful."
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects are renowned for their material integrity and sense of innovation. They treat materials honestly; concrete forms sculptural free standing stairs, and wood frames unpretentiously warm floor-to-ceiling glass walls. When they can't find the proper material for a specific use, they invent their own. For example, the University of Pennsylvania's bioengineering building, Skirkanich Hall, uses a hand-glazed ceramic brick on its front façade that creates an iridescent greenish sheen specially developed for the project, a reference to the ivy-covered brick seen across the 18th century campus.
The Center for Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College, Bennington, VT Completed September 2011. Photography by Michael Moran / Otto Archive
The Center for Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College, Bennington, VT Completed September 2011. Photography by Michael Moran / Otto Archive
Noted projects include: Long Island House in Wainscott, N.Y., a Long Island Modernist triptych pavilion clad in warm cedar siding, balanced with cool New York bluestone. Mahogany floor-to-ceiling window frames and custom-designed cherrywood furniture make the house an inviting and convivial entry into the pantheon of Modernist glass-walled houses.
The C.V. Starr East Asian Library at the University of California-Berkeley, a rare books repository that signals its cultural affiliation with carefully crafted, abstract screen systems.
The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center in New York City, which cobbles together 7,000 square feet of new public space for performances and Lincoln Center visitors out of the interstitial spaces between buildings. Newcomers and Lincoln Center regulars are treated to a 20-foot tall green wall and 16 skylight oculi, playfully scattered across the ceiling.
The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, the museum that controversially transplanted Albert Barnes' singular collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Early Modern art from his suburban quasi-private exhibition space to Center City Philadelphia. Williams and Tsien's new museum replicates the scale, proportion, and configuration of the original Paul Cret-designed museum, while adding new spaces for education, painting conservation, and research.
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects is the 50th AIA Architecture Firm Award recipient. Previous recipients of the AIA Firm Award include, VJAA (2012), BNIM (2011), Pugh + Scarpa (2010), Kieran Timberlake (2008), Muphy/Jahn (2005), Polshek Partnership (1992), Venturi, Raunch, and Scott Brown (1985), I.M. Pei and Partners (1968), and SOM (1962).
University of Chicago Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts completed April 2012. Photography by Tom Rossiter
University of Chicago Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts completed April 2012. Photography by Tom Rossiter
About The American Institute of Architects For over 150 years, members of the American Institute of Architects have worked with each other and their communities to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings and cityscapes. Members adhere to a code of ethics and professional conduct to ensure the highest standards in professional practice. Embracing their responsibility to serve society, AIA members engage civic and government leaders and the public in helping find needed solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation and world. Visitwww.aia.org.


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RealClimate on Yamal
Gavin Schmidt has issued the official response to the recent excitement over Yamal. I have to say, even on a brief glance through it is a wild piece of writing.
Briffa, as we know, reprocessed data from Hantemirov and Shiyatov in his 2000 paper on Yamal. He used the same data again in his 2008 paper on regional chronologies. Schmidt says:
McIntyre is accusing Briffa of 'deception' in stating that he did not 'consider' doing a larger more regional reconstruction at that time. However, it is clear from the 2000 paper that the point was to show hemispheric coherence across multiple tree ring records, not to create regional chronologies. Nothing was being 'deceptively' hidden and the Yamal curve is only a small part of the paper in any case.
As McIntyre's article is quite clear that the Yamal regional chronology dates back only to 2006 it can of course not be relevant to the 2000 paper. This is something that he makes quite clear in his article.
One of the purposes of Briffa (2000) was clearly to demonstrate the effect of RCS methodology on the Hantemirov and Shiyatov 2002 dataset. I have no objection to CRU claiming this "purpose" for Briffa (2000).
But, by 2008, this was no longer their "purpose". Indeed, one doubts whether the editors of Phil Trans B would have accepted a 2008 paper with such a mundane purpose. The actual "purpose" of Briffa et al 2008 is stated quite clearly and was entirely different: it introduced and discussed "regional" chronologies.
Schmidt is therefore engaging in some serious disinformation. Unfortunately, this is not the only occasion. For example, he points out that McIntyre had long ago received "the data" from the Russians who originally collated it.
...at the time McIntyre was haranguing Briffa and Osborn, McIntyre had actually had the raw Yamal data for over 2 years (again, unmentioned on Climate Audit), and he had had them for over 5 years when he declared that he had finally got them in 2009 (immediately prior to his accusations (again false) against Briffa of inappropriate selection of trees in his Yamal chronology).
Schmidt suggests that McIntyre should have assumed that the data as used by Briffa were the same as those used by the Russians. This is an interesting line of argument because of course his colleague Michael Mann has argued vociferously in the past that the only correct place to get the data is from the actual author of the paper (see the Hockey Stick Illusion Chapter 4). However, since we know that the Russians' data was not the same as Briffa's (see the core count profiles for the two versions in this article) Schmidt's argument again looks more like disinformation than an attempt to explain the truth.
In a later section of his posting, Schmidt discusses the November 2009 article that Ross McKitrick wrote about Yamal, the last time there was a blog storm over the series. Readers need to remember that at the time the article was written, nobody knew about the Yamal regional chronology. Schmidt quotes Briffa's response to the McKitrick piece, which formed part of his evidence to the Russell inquiry, and notes his claim that the other sites in the area were "never considered at the time". Schmidt then notes Briffa's earlier statement:
...we had intended to explore an integrated Polar Urals/Yamal larch series but it was felt that this work could not be completed in time
The contradiction between this sentence, discussing the preparation of a regional chronology and the earlier one stating that the extra sites were not considered is clear. Schmidt's implication is that Briffa had misspoken and that he had been clear all along that the regional chronology had been prepared. He'd just run out of time, you see.
There are a number of problems with this story though. Firstly, the quote above doesn't actually say that the work on the regional chronology had been performed, so it represents a very thin defence that Briffa had been open with the inquiry. Moreover, Briffa actually mentioned not considering the other data twice. This is the other occasion, from Briffa's response to McIntyre in October 2009:
However, we simply did not consider these data at the time, focussing only on the data used in the companion study by Hantemirov and Shiyatov and supplied to us by them
And moreover, we know that the regional chronology was in place by 2006. Why was Briffa publishing a paper saying there was no evidence of the divergence problem in his boreal forest regional chronologies when he had a Yamal regional chronology in his hand that said that there was such a problem? Why would he choose to go ahead and use the Yamal-only series, with an absurdly small amount of data too back up any statement about the divergence problem, instead?
(Added note on source of other Briffa quote)


text:
Wrecky Conga Lines
My dear bakers, I'm going to teach you how to spell "Congratulations" if it's the last thing I do. I mean it. We're going to sit down RIGHT NOW and hash this thing out, and I'm not giving up until each and every one of you can spell this word backwards, forwards, and without using a single letter "d." You hear me? I am NOT GIVING UP.
Does it?!
Ok, I have an idea.
[whispering in ear]


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I've been combining Lezyne Super Drive with other high-powered and helmet lighting for regular nocturnal blasting. It's another of the super-commuter plus lamps with plenty of presence and reasonable round town economy but don't just save it for suburbia-liberate those 450 lumens for some serious open road training.
On paper, the Super Drive is good enough for scorching along the singletrack at close to thirty mph but in practice, this calls for backup from a helmet mounted flood beam. Run times are pretty good relative to its power and the 3.7V Li-on cell coupled with the intelligent system automatically drops to the lowest, flashing mode to conserve energy when the battery reaches a certain point as it runs down. Back in civilisation, you can pop it on charge with either a USB or wall adaptor and be ready to go again in four hours, although a fully charged spare battery slips effortlessly into a jersey pocket for extended playtimes.
CNC machined aluminium casings offer better durability and heat dispersion than their resin counterparts while the Super Drive incorporates a shroud to shield the riders' eyes from the retina burning glare. A super bright CRE Led and sophisticated parabolic reflector are the driving forces behind this. Parabolic reflectors have been used in car headlamps for some time since they eliminate the risk of aberrations-imperfections that distort the beam's quality, thus giving a distorted view of conditions. 450, 300 and 150 lumens (High, medium and low respectively) are particularly impressive from a system measuring 11cm long with its power source stowed inside the body. The composite brackets offered in standard and oversized are a little dull by comparison, albeit perfectly serviceable and allow the beam to be swivelled on the fly.
Irrespective of setting, the Super Drive certainly lives up to its name, burning through the darkness, allowing those deliciously deserted rural roads to be navigated as fast as you want to go. Depending on the positioning it will give a clear account of every road imperfection, so you can avoid potholes, glass, road kill and similar hazards. Speaking of which, a young rabbit and I weaved an interesting tango on a sweeping descent but mercifully he found a bolthole and I remained upright. Even the most myopic of main-beam motorists dipped their lights at three to four hundred yards.
I also tried Cobbling together a makeshift helmet mount but that proved too powerful, dazzling oncoming traffic, that said Lezyne will be introducing a helmet mount to fit all three of their lights in December with a SRP of £16.99 and it would certainly be a useful addition to your lighting options particularly if you want to go off road. I found the 150 lumens just right for built up areas, capturing people's attention without inducing a trance like state, being lost in the hustle and bustle or denting economy. Medium seems optimum for steady training runs and speeds to around 24 mph remain very realistic thanks to pin-sharp projection and user-friendly switch.
Anything to count against it as a commuter light? Well, peripheral illumination in the sense of side windows doesn't really exist and although the shroud's design allows some to bleed out I'd be inclined to back it up with a blinky just to be sure and to be technically street legal. It is a puzzle why so few manufacturers of this sort of high powered light don't include side illumination fair enough it might not be a legal requirement in other countries but surely cyclists in other parts of the word are still at risk from being hit from the side. That said this is a fantastic commuter light that will serve as very much more than that too.
Blistering output relative to its size and the perfect companion for short to medium haul road duties...I'm almost tempted to buy two and enjoy the lanes at 900 lumens!
If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website
road.cc test report
Make and model: Lezyne Super Drive LED Front Light
Size tested: Silver
Tell us what the light is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
"Super-bright 450 Lumen cycling light, designed for on and off-road use".
Blistering output but best supported by a helmet mount for more spirited singletrack riding.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the light?
Uniform Power Beam reflector and lens assembly produces a dual purpose beam pattern that illuminates both near and far terrain without sacrificing visibility in either field of vision. 100% CNC-machined aluminum body and battery cap. Lens hood directs light away from the rider's eyes. High-capacity Li-ion battery is USB rechargeable and replaceable. Programmed with three steady modes and one high-visibility blinking mode. Comes with two durable Composite Matrix handlebar mounts (31.8mm, 25.4mm) with thumb screw for easy installation and secure attachment. USB cable included
Middling depending upon the setting but arguably best in medium or low for generc riding. However, I'd be inclined to buy a spare cell and tuck it away in the jersey for extending playtimes. Run times are broadly accurate 1hr 15, 2hr 23 and 3hrs 47 (as distinct fom from a claimed 1hr 30, 2hr 30 and 3hrs- high, med, low respectively)
Sturdy, highly weather resistant construction.
149g inc bracket.
Can get quite warm given an hour or so.
Tell us how the light performed overall when used for its designed purpose
The Super drive is a genuinely remarkable light that shows how far technology has advanced since the days of cumbersome lead acid designs. Should satisfy most moderate to short-haul winter commuting/training duties but singletrack calls for secondary support.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the light
Phenomenal output relative to size and weight.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the light
Nothing, although the composite bracket were worthy rather than womderful.
Did you enjoy using the light? Yes
Would you consider buying the light? Yes, two!
Would you recommend the light to a friend? Yes
About the tester
Age: 38 Height: 1m 81 Weight: 70 kilos
I usually ride: Rough Stuff Tourer Based around 4130 Univega mtb Frameset My best bike is: 1955 Holdsworth Road Path and several others including cross & traditional road
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, commuting, touring, fixed/singlespeed, mtb,
Shaun Audane is a freelance writer/product tester with over twenty-eight years riding experience, the last twelve (120,000 miles) spent putting bikes and kit through their paces for a variety of publications. Previous generations of his family worked at manufacturing's sharp end, thus Shaun can weld, has a sound understanding of frame building practice and a preference for steel or titanium framesets.
Citing Richard Ballantine and an Au pair as his earliest cycling influences, he is presently writing a cycling book with particular focus upon women, families and disabled audiences (Having been a registered care manager and coached children at Herne Hill Velodrome in earlier careers)


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Don't let Chris Copeland's garbage time buckets fool you, the final score doesn't indicate how poorly the Knicks played tonight. Houston's offense dominated the Knicks all night, namely the starting Houston backcourt. Shooting guard James Harden and this guy named Jeremy Lin killed the Knicks all night. JR Smith carried the Knicks offense in the first quarter, but was forced to the bench due to early foul trouble. New York led 31-29 after one quarter, but the Rockets dominated the rest of the game. Houston scored 27 points in each the second and third periods, while the Knicks score 29 points in the two frames combined. The fourth quarter was basically garbage time where Chris Copeland excelled. Because of him, the Knicks lost by 13. Without him, the Knicks lose by 40 probably. This was not a good game for the Knicks. Losing to Jeremy Lin sucks, the Knicks are 0-2 against him now, but we have to remember it is one game. However, the Knicks defensive struggles are real. Coming into the game, New York rated out 16th in defensive efficiency and they gave up a 111.2 offensive efficiency to Houston tonight.
Here are my notes from the game:
- So… defense…. Good god, the Knicks defense was horrible tonight. They couldn't keep Houston's guards in front of them at all. Lin and Harden were 13/15 shooting at the rim tonight. Tyson Chandler looked a bit slow tonight and didn't effect the game much defensively, except for when he picked up a flagrant for elbowing Lin in the face. I need to watch more film to definitively pinpoint New York's defensive problems, but I think there may be a plethora of problems. We all know about the switching problems and how the Knicks switch too easily which causes matchup nightmares for themselves. I wonder if the Knicks problem on defense might be that they're just not good defenders. When Chandler is off like he was tonight, slow and ineffective protecting the rim, the defense has no chance. The Knicks aren't good at stopping dribble penetration which puts added stress on the big men to help at the rim. Without Camby and Sheed, the Knicks really have nobody to defend the rim when Chandler goes out of the game. It is all just a big mess on defense right now.
- New York's offense is not so hot without Carmelo Anthony on the floor, as Jared Dubin pointed out on the twitterz. I went to the NBA stats database and the on/off floor stats are not encouraging. With Anthony on the floor, the Knicks obviously are a very good offensive team at a 115.1 offensive rating. However, without the Meloman on the floor, the Knicks offensive rating drops to 102.6. Defensively they're about the same. I think this is really where Amar'e Stoudemire is going to help. The Knicks badly need a bonafide second scorer. Raymond Felton isn't it. JR Smith isn't it. As we saw tonight and in the Chicago game, the Knicks don't have a guy they can go to to create shots. They don't have a force on offense that can take over a game. Felton and Smith can get hot from the perimeter, but they're not great scorers. Amar'e Stoudemire has proven in the past to be that force and I still think he can be a force in this second unit.
- Jason Kidd was a -20 on the night. This was his second straight bad shooting game. After going 3/14 against Cleveland, he shot just 2/9 tonight. I hope this is not the beginning of the Kidd regression. To be fair, he hasn't been getting the same open looks he does when Melo is on the court. I'm not worried yet, but if he plays two or three more games like this, I will be.
- I thought a big key to the game was how Houston controlled the pace. There were 98 possessions in the game, a pretty fast pace, and that doesn't bode well for our 'Bockers. For one, the Knicks are terrible in transition defense. For two, the Knicks don't have the personnel to run an up-tempo offense. For three, the Knicks get sloppy when the pace quickens, shown by New York's 17 turnovers tonight.
- Did I mention we miss Melo?
- JR Smith was great in the first quarter, but he picked up a really silly second foul and had to sit at the end of the first quarter. His absence really hampered the Knicks offense in that second quarter in which they scored 11 points. Smith was efficient offensively and played a pretty solid game, but his early foul trouble really hurt the Knicks.
- Novak was 1/5 from downtown. It was that kind of night.
- Kurt Thomas was a -9 in 5 minutes. Yes, he is useless.
- Um, so I guess I should say something about that Lin guy. I thought he was great tonight, except for the 1/6 shooting from downtown. He was 8/8 at the rim and he killed the Knicks in transition. That's about all I have to say about that.
Follow Taylor on Twitter @tarmosino


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Editor's Summary
The ASIS&T Bulletin special section on altmetrics presents alternative metrics as a new and critically needed approach to measuring the impact of scholarly research. With long-established citation-based metrics unable to capture the increasing variety of online references to a scholar's work, alternative indicators offer a different view of the influence of that work. Contributed papers demonstrate how altmetrics can work on a personal level to enhance a scholar's CV and on a broad, even global level, to transform scholarly communication through its interaction with open access, digital repositories and research in emerging countries. One article suggests altmetrics should soon be included among mainstream metrics, and other contributions describe specific indicators and altmetric software considerations. The need for innovative measurement and the advantages of altmetrics in particular bode well for their wide acceptance and continuing development.
impact of scholarly output
citation impact
scholarly publishing
Bulletin, April/May 2013
Altmetrics: What, Why and Where?
by Heather Piwowar, Guest Editor
Altmetrics is a hot buzzword. What does it mean? What's behind the buzz? What are the risks and benefits of using alternative metrics of research impact – altmetrics – in our discovery and evaluation systems? How are altmetrics being used now, and where is the field going?
This special section of the Bulletin of the Association for Information Science and Technology focuses on these questions. Essays from seven perspectives highlight the role of altmetrics in a wide variety of settings.
The collection begins with its most general article, one I authored with my ImpactStory co-founder Jason Priem, motivating the role of altmetrics for individual scholars through "The Power of Altmetrics on a CV."
The next few papers highlight ways that altmetrics may transform scholarly communication itself. Ross Mounce, a doctoral student and Panton Fellow of the Open Knowledge Foundation, explores the relationship between open access and altmetrics in "OA and Altmetrics: Distinct but Complementary." Juan Pablo Alperin, doctoral student and developer with the Public Knowledge Project, encourages us to "Ask Not What Altmetrics Can Do for You, but What Altmetrics Can Do for Developing Countries." Stacy Konkiel and Dave Scherer, librarians at Indiana University and Purdue, respectively, discuss how almetrics can empower institutional repositories in "New Opportunities for Repositories in the Age of Altmetrics."
Completing the collection are three more perspectives from the builders of hot altmetrics tools. Jennifer Lin and Martin Fenner, both of PLOS, explore patterns in altmetrics data in "The Many Faces of Article-level Metrics." Jean Liu, blogger, and Euan Adie, founder of Altmetric.com, consider "Five Challenges in Altmetrics: A Toolmaker's Perspective." Finally, Mike Buschman and Andrea Michalek, founders of Plum Analytics, wrap up the collection asking, "Are Alternative Metrics Still Alternative?"
Before you dive in, if you are new to altmetrics, let me give you a quick informal introduction. For decades, the most common metric for evaluating research impact has been the number of times a research article is cited by other articles. This metric is sometimes represented by the raw count of citations received by the specific article in question or sometimes through an impact-by-association proxy – the number of citations received by the journal that published the article, summarized using a formula called the journal impact factor.
Citations are not the only way to represent the impact of a research article. A few alternative indicators have been the subjects of webometrics and bibliometrics research for years, including download counts and mentions in patents. However, as scholarly communication moves increasingly online, more indicators have become available: how many times an article has been bookmarked, blogged about, cited in Wikipedia and so on. These metrics can be considered altmetrics – alternative metrics of impact. (Appropriately enough, the term altmetrics was first proposed in a tweet [https:/twitter.com/asnpriem/status/25844968813].)
We might even consider nontraditional applications of citation metrics to be altmetrics – citations to datasets as first-class research objects, for example. Other examples include citation counts filtered by type of citation, like citations by editorials or citations only from review articles or citations made only in the context of experimental replication. All of these are alternative indicators of impact.
Altmetrics offer four potential advantages:
- A more nuanced understanding of impact, showing us which scholarly products are read, discussed, saved and recommended as well as cited.
- Often more timely data, showing evidence of impact in days instead of years.
- A window on the impact of web-native scholarly products like datasets, software, blog posts, videos and more.
- Indications of impacts on diverse audiences including scholars but also practitioners, clinicians, educators and the general public.
Of course, these indicators may not be "alternative" for long. At that point, hopefully we'll all just call them metrics.
Dive in, read all about it and let us know what you think. Continued conversation, background information and crowdsourced lists of new research and resources can be found on twitter using the hashtag #altmetrics (https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23altmetrics), in the altmetrics Mendeley group (www.mendeley.com/groups/586171/altmetrics/papers/) and probably at a conference near you.
Thanks very much to all authors in this collection for voluntarily making their articles openly available for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Happy reading!
Heather Piwowar is a postdoc at Duke University, studying the adoption and use of open research data. She is also a co-founder of ImpactStory (http://impactstory.org/), an open-source web tool that helps scholars track and report the broader impacts of their research. @researchremix.
Articles in this Issue
Introduction to Altmetrics
The Power of Altmetrics on a CV
Open Access and Altmetrics: Distinct but Complementary
Ask Not What Altmetrics Can Do for You, But What Altmetrics Can Do for Developing Countries
New Opportunities for Repositories in the Age of Altmetrics
The Many Faces of Article-Level Metrics
Five Challenges in Altmetrics: A Toolmaker's Perspective
Are Alternative Metrics Still Alternative?
The Reception of Suzanne Briet in the United States
IA: Enabling Action: Digging Deeper into Strategies for Learning
RDAP Review: Collaborative Annotation for Scientific Data Discovery and Reuse


text: A scene from Bangarra Dance Theatre's Lore: the oldest continuing culture in the world resonates with overseas audiences. Jeff Tan/Newzulu November 7, 2017 'Australia has no culture': changing the mindset of the cringe Alison Carroll, University of Melbourne Why do students still describe Australia as a 'young' country lacking culture? Are our universities doing enough to to teach Australian films, artwork and books?