Wisdom, Women and Sustainability: Ecological insights from ancient texts

Speaker: Dr Hilary Marlow, Girton College, Cambridge
Series: Faraday Institute for Science and Religion
Note: A light sandwich lunch will be provided from 12:30pm in the Shasha Suite, Woolf Building, Westminster College, Madingley Road, Cambridge. Please be seated by 12:50pm so that the seminar can start promptly.

The world so often seems blind to the effects of human-generated ecological issues and deaf to the struggle for survival facing so many. Sustained economic growth is often the primary driver in political discourse, and competition and innovation are prioritised over concern for the planet and its most vulnerable inhabitants. Despite our modern advances, we have lost much of the wisdom and knowledge about living well and nurturing life that was passed on from generation to generation. As we face up to the catastrophic consequences of our inaction and ignorance, what might the wisdom teaching of ancient texts in the Hebrew Bible and later Jewish traditions have to say? This talk will explore the unique role of Woman Wisdom in these texts and examine ways in which the theological and ethical frameworks they espouse is relevant today.