Holy Nature Paula New 💯

To the uninitiated, "Holy Nature" might sound like a simple synonym for "beautiful landscape." However, within the Paula New lexicon, the term carries specific, almost legalistic weight.

According to New, "Holy Nature" is defined by three distinct characteristics:

| Aspect | Traditional Western Theology | Paula New’s “Holy Nature” | |--------|------------------------------|----------------------------| | View of nature | Fallen, to be subdued or escaped | Sacred, revealing God’s glory | | Salvation focus | Human souls only | Whole creation (Romans 8:19-22) | | Spiritual practice | Indoor, verbal, doctrinal | Outdoor, sensory, contemplative | | Eschatology | Leaving earth for heaven | New heaven and new earth | holy nature paula new

No new theological movement arrives without friction. Traditional environmentalists have accused New of anthropomorphism, arguing that calling a virus "holy" (which she does in her chapter on disease) is dangerous magical thinking. Evangelical Christians have labeled her a pantheist (a label she rejects, preferring "panentheist"—God in all things, not equivalent to all things).

New’s response is characteristically blunt: "If your theology cannot hold the holiness of a maggot eating a corpse, your theology is too small for this world." To the uninitiated, "Holy Nature" might sound like

Strengths:

Potential Criticisms:

Paula New likely responds that panentheism (God in all things, yet beyond) not pantheism, is the correct frame, and that the cross fully addresses both human and natural suffering.