本文首先藉助Tucker 與Grim 對「宗教與生態學」相關研究途徑的分析，來說明這些途徑總是以生態學論域為出發點，因而傾向以生態學、環境倫理等領域的目標與價值為研究宗教的基礎，而非依據一種具有宗教學理論基礎的科學性宗教概念。接著指出，為了更符合宗教學作為一門專門研究宗教現象的科學的宗旨，應該把當前宗教領域中涉及生態學、環境倫理等議題的論述與行為視為宗教現象來研究。本文建議盧曼的系統理論或可作為宗教學領域中對宗教與生態相關問題的研究途徑，此理論涵蓋一套宗教理論，並排除生態學論域的預設立場，但卻以對生態學相關問題而言最根本的「系統／環境」關係為核心概念。結語指出，系統理論對宗教與生態相關現象的研究將針對宗教系統的兩種層次：一為宗教系統的基本運作層次，一為宗教系統的語意學層次。前者涉及宗教系統在其環境中存在的條件與問題，後者則關注宗教系統與其他社會系統在語意方面的複雜關係，例如宗教系統引進並應用當前生態學論域相關語意的過程。

This paper discusses “Religion and Ecology” as an object of study within the context of the Science of Religion. A classification of approaches that was proposed by Tucker and Grim reveals that the point of departure in ecology and religion studies is the ecological and environmental discourse, but not a scientific concept of religion. Religion is studied as an expression of aspects of ecology. The paper suggests shifting the focus of observation to religion: Explicit ecological and environmental religious communication, especially the ongoing process of appropriation of ecological semantics by religious groups and individuals, should be studied as religious phenomenon. Next, Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory is recommended as a possible approach to the study of eco-religious phenomena, because it precludes any kind of involvement in the ecological discourse while at the same time incorporating conceptual tools that are crucial for the study of ecological issues. A systems-theoretical approach studies ecological issues on two different levels of the religious system: the basic operative level of the system that causes its emergence and continuous existence, and the semantic level with its complex relationship to semantics of other systems in its environment, for example the ecological discourse of modern society. An important characteristic of this approach is its radical non-anthropocentric perspective that rules out any reference to the “human being” as a scientifically valid concept.