ABSTRACT
One of the repeated refrains in the influential story of creation with which the Christian and Jewish Bible opens is that God declares everything good. The goodness of all creation is a fundamental principle that implies something like the Earth Bible Team's ecojustice principle of the intrinsic worth of all things and should underpin any ecological theological and ethical reflection. The story of the Flood, and of God's eternal covenant with which the story ends, offers a good example of the ways in which commentators interests and presuppositions have shaped their reading of the text. The ethical action will, to begin with, be guided by convictions concerning the goodness of all creation, the interconnectedness of all creation, humanity included, and the calling of all creation to praise. The New Testament ethics also have an important contribution to offer to a biblical ecotheology and ethics, in suggesting a basic pattern of action through which peace and reconciliation are to be achieved.
