Few people realize that the first character in the Bible (after the headline sentence of Genesis 1.1) is Earth. What if we read thecreation story and the primal myths of Genesis from the perspective ofthat key character, rather than from the anthropocentric perspective inwhich our culture has nurtured us?This is the project of Norman Habel's commentary, resisting the longhistory in Western culture of devaluing, exploiting, oppressing andendangering the Earth. Earth in Genesis first appears wrapped in theprimal waters, like an embryo waiting to be born. On the third day ofcreation it is...

In 2015 a conference on ""Rediscovering the Spiritual in God's Creation"" was held at the Serafino winery complex in the McLaren Vale region of South Australia. The aim of the conference was not to seek consensus but to survey the landscape with a view to intentional responsible action in caring for God's creation. Delegates were challenged to recognize their own worldviews and to widen their horizons to encompass the enormity of the transcendence and immanence of God's presence in all creation. A group of leading international scholars and experts in the fields of science, ecology, theology,...