Student Spotlight: Molly McKnight Published in Green Christian Magazine

Congratulations to BA Philosophy, Ethics and Religions student, Molly McKnight, on the publication of her article in the Green Christian Magazine.

Molly McKnight is a 2nd Year BA Philosophy, Ethics and Religions student in the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science. Molly has written an article on arboreal imagery in the Bible which is to be published in the next issue of Green Christian Magazine (issue 101, Spring 2026: 4-5). 

Molly shares her inspiration and experience preparing this article, how teaching at Leeds inspires her writing, and her plans for the future.

What is your article about? Can you give us a summary?

This article explores how arboreal imagery in biblical texts reflects a deeply ecological and relational theological vision. Rather than treating trees as background detail, it reads them as active participants in meaning-making, expressing themes of interconnectedness, wisdom and healing across scripture. While grounded in biblical texts, the argument is not intended to persuade a particular faith group, but to demonstrate the broader relevance of these ideas across religious and secular contexts.

Drawing on ecofeminist perspectives, the article considers how environmental discourses can shape wider conceptual frameworks, including those that influence how women are perceived and treated. It highlights how the ways we speak about and relate to the natural world can inform attitudes towards women, at both a linguistic and conceptual level, suggesting a wider cultural connection between environmental and gendered forms of harm.

In doing so, the article suggests that reading these texts more attentively, particularly their environmental language, not only challenges dominion-based interpretations but also encourages a more reflective engagement with the natural world itself.

What inspired you to explore the topic?

This topic grew out of a curiosity about how parts of the Bible that often feel overlooked, especially environmental imagery, might still speak meaningfully to contemporary concerns. While there is a lot of work on both the environment and gender in biblical texts, there is less that brings those two conversations together, which is something I was particularly interested in exploring.

It also involved trying to read scripture a little more slowly and attentively, rather than skimming over environmental details, taking time to notice how the natural world is described, how it functions within the text, and what kinds of meanings it helps to shape. 

This connects to an interest in gently challenging dominion-based readings of scripture, and in asking whether more relational ways of understanding nature might reshape how human relationships are imagined. From an ecofeminist perspective, I’ve been especially drawn to the idea that the way the natural world is perceived and treated can reflect, and even influence, how people are treated, especially women. Environmental discourses, in this sense, can participate in wider conceptual frameworks that may contribute to the suppression of women.

There is also an awareness that the Bible has been used in ways that support both ecological and social harm. At the same time, I think it can be read in much more liberatory ways, depending on how it is approached and which voices are brought into conversation. Overall, this article was a way of exploring whether attending more carefully to environmental language in scripture might open up more life-giving and ethically attentive interpretations.

What does this publication mean for you at this stage of your studies?

This publication has been a really valuable opportunity to put my ideas into writing and to begin clarifying where my academic interests are developing. I’ve been interested in gender and the Bible for a long time, and the addition of environmental perspectives is something I’ve become particularly passionate about and hope to pursue further. In many ways, this piece has brought together my favourite aspects of different modules at Leeds, allowing me to see how these interests can be combined in a more focused and meaningful way. 

How has teaching at Leeds inspired your writing?

Teaching at Leeds has been hugely influential in shaping my writing. The teaching environment is incredibly nurturing and encouraging, and my lecturers have consistently supported original and independent thinking, which has given me the confidence to explore more interdisciplinary and less conventional ideas.

I’ve been particularly inspired by the way many of them approach our studies not just academically, but ethically, encouraging us to think about how theology and biblical interpretation can be used for good in the world. Engaging with ideas around scriptural violence has been especially formative, prompting deeper reflection on how these themes can extend into areas such as environmental harm and gender-based violence.

Overall, the nurturing and encouraging environment has played a really important role in shaping both the direction and purpose of my writing.

What's next for you? Does this publication connect to your future plans?

I’m not entirely certain what the next step looks like yet, but this publication reflects the direction I’m excited to continue developing. I hope to deepen my engagement with environmental discourses and the intersection between scripture and gender, shaping my final year project along these lines.

This involves moving towards a more ‘green’ theological approach, bringing ecological concerns into conversation with questions of gender and examining how these areas intersect. While it is important to acknowledge the ways in which the Bible has been interpreted in harmful or hierarchical ways, I am motivated to contribute to more reparative readings, ones that challenge dominion-based interpretations and practices, particularly those that reinforce hierarchy in relation to both the natural world and women. 

I hope to continue seeking opportunities to learn and to engage in textual biblical study from a sociological perspective, particularly where academic study connects with contemporary ethical and social concerns. More broadly, I aim to keep developing my writing and to contribute to conversations that highlight the constructive and life-giving possibilities within scripture in socially meaningful ways.