Paul Tillich defines faith as what people are ultimately concerned about. (1) This can be anything from God, to money, and to success. People base their decisions on their ultimate concerns and use it as a guide of life. Through technology and modernization, an environmental crisis has emerged in our day. The actions that humans make have a direct impact on the environment. Through their ultimate concerns, Confucianism and Judaism presents a guide to people on how they should respond to the environmental crisis in their daily lives. The ultimate concern with Confucianism is learning how to live a life of benevolence and goodness. The Analects of Confucius give followers guidelines on how to live. Confucianism teaches that one must learn …show more content…
According to Yaakov Ariel, Jews spend the entire week in preparation for the Sabbath. (27) It is through the Sabbath we can find guidance in how those of the Jewish faith should responding to the environmental crisis. Kathryn Schifferdecker discusses the importance of the Sabbath in the Jewish faith in how it not just applies to humans but also to the Earth itself. According to her analyzation of the Hebrew Bible the Earth needs a day of rest too. The Earth requires time to “naturally regenerate itself, when plant matter decays and returns its nutrients to the soil”. (212) The planet cannot produce endlessly; thus, we must allow the Earth to replenish with nutrients and not over-farm the land. The land must also have a day of rest, not just the people. The ultimate concerns of acting out of goodness and the Sabbath for the people of the Confucian and Jewish faiths respectively provides insights on how we should respond to the environmental crisis that we face today. In Confucianism, we must learn to live with less and face a life with nature as part of us. As for Judaism, we must learn to give the land a rest so it can restore to its full potential. Overall, it is through respect of the environment and learning to live with nature that we can solve the environmental crisis of