Salvation and Non-Human Creation: An Orthodox Witness in the Digital Age: Ecological Insights from Maximus the Confessor and John Zizioulas

In this essay, we contend that the exercise of human dominance over nature extends beyond a mere utilitarian and exploitative attitude toward non-human creation, which inevitably leads to ecological crises, and is also reflected in humanity’s impulse toward ‘escape from nature’, manifesting as a growing detachment from the rest of creation. This impulse, although evident throughout history, holds particular relevance in today’s increasingly digitally mediated world, where the acceleration of the ‘digital transformation’ process is often presented as a key component in the solution to the current climate crisis. While the digitalization of essential aspects of modern life, such as communication, transportation, and even food production, may indeed provide a temporary remedy for the pressing ecological challenges of our time, notably by reducing the global carbon footprint, it also forces a fundamental reevaluation of the significance of humanity’s care for the non-human world. To this end, we argue that Orthodox theology, particularly in the patristic thought of Maximus the Confessor and its modern reinterpretation by John Zizioulas, offers a crucial perspective for recognizing the ontological importance of non-human creation and responding to the ‘ontological threat’ it faces in our digital age. Specifically, we propose that Maximus’ concept of the logoi of being, along with Zizioulas’ emphasis on an eschatological rather than protological view of creation, as well as his affirmation of the universal ‘right to the future’, are key to understanding non-human creation not as a perishable artefact of historical creation but as an essential companion on the journey to its eschatological fulfilment.