The Gospel of Trees with Dr. Thomas Arentzen

In this conversation, Victoria Loorz speaks with Dr. Thomas Arentzen, a Norwegian author and docent in Church History at Lund University, whose work uncovers a forgotten Christian tradition where trees, birds, and the more-than-human world were understood not as the backdrop to human salvation, but as active participants in the sacred life of creation. Thomas specializes in ecological perspectives in (and on) the Christian world, and is the author of the newly released The Gospel of Trees. Together, they explore the mysterious dendrites, early Christian monks who lived in trees, along with saints praying alongside cypresses, birds singing hymns to God, and ancient visions of all creation joined in a cosmic liturgy. Recovering our kinship with the living world, Thomas shares, is not something new but a return to Christianity's own roots. Faith becomes not something practiced apart from creation, but a way of belonging within a community of life where all beings share in the praise of God. Connect with Thomas: - Website: sanktignatios.org/dr-thomas-arentzen - Book: The Gospel of Trees by Thomas Arentzen - Book: Byzantine Tree Life: Christianity and the Arboreal Imagination by Thomas Arentzen, Virginia Burrus & Glenn Peers Mentioned in the episode: - Film: Silent Friend - Book: The Overstory by Richard Powers - Film: Disclosure Day - Individual: Margaret Wheatley - Organization: Mystical Theology Network - Organization: Dumbarton Oaks Garden - Book: Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard - Book: The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben - Wiki: Saint Christina the Astonishing - Book: Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods by Julia "Butterfly" Hill - Mark 8:22-25 Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida Connect with the Center: - Website: wildspirituality.earth - Victoria's Website: victorialoorz.com - Email: hello@wildspirituality.earth - Linktree: linktr.ee/ctrforwildspirituality - Instagram: @center\for\wild\_spirituality Timestamps: - 00:00 - Introduction - 05:28 - Interview Begins - 08:05 - The Pull To Place - 10:27 - Christianity's Relationship with Trees - 15:05 - Synchronicity of Emerging Fields - 17:16 - The Dendrites - 23:26 - Is Religion Only A Human Enterprise? - 27:27 - The Worldview of Kin and Neighbor - 36:47 - Countering Many Fundamentalisms - 39:20 - Shifting Attention - 44:08 - Drawn Next to the Birds - 46:15 - Wild Invitation - 49:23 - Credits