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    The Marvels of Creation
    The Marvels of Creation
    The Marvels of Creation
    Ebook155 pages2 hours

    The Marvels of Creation

    By Louis of Granada

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    In Marvels of Creation these holy Dominican writes beautifully and profoundly, so that we might see the wonders that God has put in plain sight and give glory to Him for them. Here is great spiritual fruit that has nourished the greatest saints for centuries, and now will sustain you in prayerful reflection and wonder of all that God created in His perfect and awesome design.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTAN Books
    Release dateNov 5, 2019
    ISBN9781505114836
    The Marvels of Creation

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      The Marvels of Creation - Louis of Granada

      AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION

      In the following work, our aim is none other than that man should glorify Almighty God by seeing His providence and care at work in creation. We shall look at the works of the creator that are both great and small, complex and simple, to see His handiwork not only in the marvelous arrangement of stars and planets, but of tiny ants and bees which we overlook on account of their size.

      To do this, I shall quote from many authors who observed these marvels while adding commentary to them so as to fix the mind of the reader inextricably on God. There is nothing in this work that will not seem positively wondrous and which will not give further testimony of the wisdom and providence of God who made all these things.

      The interpretation and application of these marvels I leave to the devotion and prudence of the reader. If I were to comment on each detail, the discussion would be too lengthy. I should like only to remind the reader that man is created in the image and likeness of God because of his immortal soul, which is illumined with the light of reason. As a result, man is not only able to know divine things, but also to establish and govern nations, with all their necessary offices and functions. But the reader should realize that while man does all these things through the light of reason with which he has been endowed, God’s smallest creatures perform many of the same functions much better than does man himself, although they lack the use of reason. Moreover, while man can indeed devise many marvels, whether they be great buildings or great works of the mind, the great creations of God that light the heavens, and the mighty animals of the earth eclipse his endeavors.

      This applies to many of the things we shall now describe, and we should remember that God did all this to manifest His greatness and providence, so that knowing these things, we would honor and reverence Him.

      –The Ven. Louis of Granada

      1

      CREATION OF THE WORLD

      Sacred scripture tells us of the immensity and greatness of our Creator. This fact of revelation may also be understood by making a simple exploration into the world He created, since it gives clear testimony to God’s greatness.

      One of the many differences between the Creator and His creatures is that all created things have limits and boundaries to which their natures and powers extend. As a result, they have a limited or finite being and limited powers, knowledge, and faculties that flow from that being. This limitation is according to the measure that the Creator willed to impart to His creatures, giving more to some and less to others.

      Seeing that God Himself was not created by any superior being, there is no being that can put limits or boundaries to His essence, power, knowledge, goodness, happiness, or any of His other perfections and attributes. Now, since there are no limits or restrictions of any kind in God, He is infinite in every respect. Therefore, His being is infinite, as are all of His other attributes, such as His beauty, His glory, His richness, His mercy, and His justice. Because He is incomprehensible and ineffable, no creature that has been made or could be made will ever comprehend Him. God alone can perfectly know and comprehend Himself.

      Comparing the relationship between the Creator and His creatures with that of a king and his subordinates, we can readily grasp the notion of God’s infinity. They distribute the duties and offices in their kingdom at their pleasure to various persons, limiting the jurisdiction and power given to each one lest it be prejudicial to others. The king who thus restricts this delegated power, possesses in himself the supreme and universal authority throughout his entire kingdom, so that he acknowledges no one superior to himself. As a result, there is in the kingdom no jurisdiction or power, however great, that the king does not surpass. We call such jurisdiction and power infinite or absolute, in the sense that it is not restricted to any limit or boundary within its own area of jurisdiction.

      We can demonstrate the same truth in another way. According to philosophers and theologians, God is so great a being that it is impossible that a being greater than He exists. One could not even imagine a greater or more perfect being than God. If the perfections of God were in any way limited, we would be able to imagine other perfections greater than His. But this is impossible, for we have already stated that our concept of God is that of a being so great that we could not even imagine one that is greater.

      Let us take as our theme the words of the angel who represented the person of God. When the father of Samson asked his name he replied: Why do you ask my name, which is wonderful?(Judg. 13:18) This is a word well suited to the greatness of God and all His works, for there is nothing however small which, if well considered, will not cause hearts to marvel at the Creator, saying to us in His name: Why do you ask my name, which is wonderful?

      God created all things out of love of Himself, that is to say, as a manifestation of the greatness of His perfections. If a man is not filled with admiration and wonder when he contemplates the works of the Creator, it is because he does not understand them. Their majesty and brilliance are sufficient to utterly dazzle the human mind. But our intellects cannot easily encompass so immense a world and all the things that are in it. Rather, we would be overwhelmed if we tried to consider all these marvelous things at the same time.

      Creation, in its proper sense, does not mean to make one thing from another (this is called generation), but to make something from nothing. Such a power is proper to God, and it cannot be communicated to any creature, however perfect. Observing the changes that take place in natural things, we see that the greater the distance from one extreme to the other, the greater the power required to cause such a change. Still, the distance between non-being and being is infinite. So, an infinite power is required for the work of creation. This power is found in God alone, who calls those things that are not, as those that are (Romans 4:17).

      As we delve into the marvels of creation, we shall first treat of the world, the heavens and the elements. Then we shall treat in particular of all living bodies, such as plants, animals, and finally man. My intention is not merely to declare that there is a God who is Creator and Lord of all things. Rather, I endeavor to demonstrate the divine providence that shines forth in all creatures, as well as the three other perfections that accompany it, especially the divine goodness, wisdom, and omnipotence, for these are, as Isaiah says, the three fingers on which God has poised the bulk of the earth (Isaiah 40:12).

      These three perfections are all one in God, but each has its own purpose. Divine goodness desires to bring benefits to His creatures, divine wisdom plans and ordains how this is to be done, and divine omnipotence executes and effects what His goodness desires and His wisdom ordains. These three perfections are, so to speak, the constituent parts of divine providence whereby God, with a pious and fatherly concern, furnishes a wide variety of things that His creatures need. These three divine perfections and countless others shine forth in all the things of this world, the great as well as the small.

      The words of David show us how wonderful the study of the divine perfections really is: Blessed are they that search His testimonies; that seek Him with their whole heart (Psalm 118 [119]:2). And they will be no less blessed who search God’s works; not only those of grace, but also those of nature, because they all spring from the same source. Uncreated Wisdom promises: They that explain Me shall have life everlasting (Sirach 24:31). That is what we are seeking to do here: to reveal the plan of divine Wisdom as it is manifested in all created things.

      A great aid in acquiring rhetorical skill is to observe the plan and technique that a great orator employs in his speeches. St. Augustine considered it extremely helpful that he himself had done so in regard to certain passages in St. Paul (Christian Doctrine, 4). How much better a study it is to observe the admirable plan of divine wisdom in the structure and government of the created universe. And if it is written of the Queen of Saba that she had no longer any spirit in her (3 [1] Kings 10:5), when she saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the house that he had built, how much more will the devout soul be humbled when, gazing upon the works of incomprehensible wisdom, he seeks to understand the means and prudence that made them?

      2

      THE SPLENDOR OF THE SKY

      The divine perfections are reflected in the created works of God so that our hearts may be moved to love the goodness of God, and our minds aroused to a holy awe and reverence for such great majesty. Let us also be inspired with hope in His paternal care and providence and with greater admiration for the mighty power and wisdom that shine forth through the works of His hands.

      We accept as a fundamental proposition that the most gracious and sovereign Lord determined to create man and place him in this world through His infinite goodness. By knowing, loving, and obeying his Creator man might merit the happiness of the world to come. He also determined to provide man with all the things necessary for his sustenance and preservation. Consequently, God created the visible world and all things in it for the use and necessities of human life.

      In any workshop two things are required: the material from which things are made and the worker who makes the things. In the great workshop of the universe, these two requirements have been amply provided for by the Creator. The material from which new things are made is the variety of elements, and the agents that generate new things from the elements are the heavenly bodies, such as the planets and stars. While God is the First Cause and moves every other cause, these heavenly bodies are among the principal instruments that God uses for the government of the world.

      Since the heavenly bodies are among the principal agents of the First Mover, God has ennobled them and made them excel over all other bodies. They are seemingly incorruptible, so that even after so many ages since they were created, they appear to continue in the same perfection and beauty that they possessed from the beginning. Time, the destroyer of all things, seems not to have impaired any of them.¹

      God also endowed them with brilliant light, both to adorn the universe, and to benefit human life. The Psalmist declares: "Praise

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