Sacred Harvest: Wendell Berry, Christian Agrarianism and the Creation of an Environmental Ethic

Wendell Berry, a Christian agriculturalist and writer exemplifies through his life and work a new agrarian environmental ethic. This work will present the major tenets of that ethic and place this unique dictate of consciousness within an ongoing conversation about the importance of human morality in an ever-changing natural environment. Berry’s ethic questions the current notion of farming as a profane endeavor, and seeks to bring to light the reality of a connection between humans and landscapes, as well as between religion and agricultural practice. Through presenting the notion of bucolic landscapes as sacred space, Berry endeavors to question the current understanding of sacred realms in connection to how we view the natural world, as well as how we act in relation to that world. This thesis seeks to provide an explanation of Berry’s Christian agrarian ethic as a necessary voice among many within the environmental debate of our present society