Creation and the Heavens

As I continue to ponder the thoughts on the universe and our creator shared by Gery Essenmacher at The Ave last night, I came across these words by John Calvin, that great theologian of the Protestant Reformation.

In the midst of astronomers making great strides in understanding the universe in his era that, at times, seemed to contradict Scripture as it was understood at that time, Calvin sets the mind free from ignorant condemnation of science as he comments on Genesis 1:

Moses wrote in a popular style things which, without instruction, all ordinary persons endued with common sense are able to understand; but astronomers investigate with great labor whatever the sagacity of the human mind can comprehend. Nevertheless, this study is not to be reprobated, nor this science to be condemned, because some frantic persons are wont boldly to reject whatever is unknown to them. For astronomy is no only pleasant but also very useful to be known; it cannot be denied that this art unfolds the admirable wisdom of God.

From The Book of the Cosmos, edited by D. R. Danielson (thanks to Ryan Boettcher on this)

The ‘art’ of science, here specifically astronomy, ‘unfolds the admirable wisdom of God.’ A wonderful phrase by Calvin that sets us free to explore the wonders of God’s expansive and awesome creation.


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2 Replies to “Creation and the Heavens”

  1. Jonathan Edwards is another advocate of the study of sciences alongside our worship of God and His creation. For him, the study of sciences WAS an act of worship, as it was a means for us to understand God more fully in His creation. But he never separated the natural order of things from the divine order of things. “There is no such thing as mechanism, if that word is taken to be that whereby bodies act each upon other, purely and properly by themselves.” (Edwards) The world and its properties and functions can be explained, perhaps, by the sciences, but they cannot exist apart from the divine. It is God that holds all things together.

    Here is a link to a piece written by Edwards on the beauty of the world. Absolutely brilliant. http://www.jonathanedwards.com/text/Beauty.htm

  2. Jonathan Edwards is another advocate of the study of sciences alongside our worship of God and His creation. For him, the study of sciences WAS an act of worship, as it was a means for us to understand God more fully in His creation. But he never separated the natural order of things from the divine order of things. “There is no such thing as mechanism, if that word is taken to be that whereby bodies act each upon other, purely and properly by themselves.” (Edwards) The world and its properties and functions can be explained, perhaps, by the sciences, but they cannot exist apart from the divine. It is God that holds all things together.

    Here is a link to a piece written by Edwards on the beauty of the world. Absolutely brilliant. http://www.jonathanedwards.com/text/Beauty.htm

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