EMBRACING THE SPIRIT OF ALL THINGS: PANPSYCHISM AS A FRAMEWORK FOR COSMIC ESCHATOLOGY
International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conferences on the Dialogue between Sciences & Arts, Religion & Education November 28, 2024 Tafatolu Tapaleao
Christian hope has traditionally focused on the salvation of individual human souls, but this article argues that God's redemptive plan includes the entire cosmos. It proposes panpsychism—the view that all things possess some form of spirit or consciousness—as a theological framework for a cosmic eschatology. Drawing on biblical texts and Pacific indigenous worldviews, particularly the Samoan concept of 'tautua' (sacred service), the article reimagines Christian discipleship as mutual participation with creation rather than domination. This vision offers a reorientation of Christian hope that affirms the sacredness of the material world in the face of global ecological crisis, while remaining rooted in biblical faith and the example of Jesus Christ as the ultimate 'tautua'.