A new framework has been presented in recent years to periodize and interpret the effects of human life on the natural environment: the age of the ‘Anthropocene.’ By this definition, we are now in an era when human activities have become a key macro-determinant of the destiny of the ecosystems of Earth. Critical analyses of this age generally have one of two orientations. One perspective looks back, re-examining the relationship of human social, economic, and technical developments on the natural environment. Another looks forward, attempting to build alternative models of human development that put ecological sustainability as a foundational principle. The natural environment presents itself as a ground for life and a gift of life in all communities of faith and spiritual meaning. In the ‘age of the Anthropocene,’ how might faith (and explicitly non-faith) communities productively engage? Looking backward: could this be an opportunity for productive dialogues between principles