Awe and wonder, but definitely not science

Such is my approach to the Biblical AND Quranic texts that deal with creation. I revel in the poetry, but would never try to base on that poetry any kind of intellectual understanding of how the universe came into being, continues, and what its end might be. Traditionalists and fundamentalists are barking up the wrong tree, in my view.

Speaking of the poetry, you will find heaps of it in the texts of the Jewish tradition, both canonical and other, and in the Quran, but very little on the creation theme in the Christian canon known by Christians as as the New Testament, apart from the opening of John’s gospel.

Take this wonderful poem in Ecclesiaticus (Sirach), which you will find in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles but not in Jewish or Protestant ones.

NOW I WILL CALL to mind the works of the Lord and describe what I have seen; by the words of the Lord his works are made. As the sun in its brilliance looks down on everything, so the glory of the Lord fills his creation. Even to his angels the Lord has not given the power to tell the full story of his marvels, which the Lord Almighty has established so that the universe may stand firm in his glory. He fathoms the abyss and the heart of man, he is versed in their intricate secrets; for the Lord possesses all knowledge and observes the signs of all time. He discloses the past and the future, and uncovers the traces of the world’s mysteries. No thought escapes his notice, and not a word is hidden from him. He has set in order the masterpieces of his wisdom, he who is from eternity to eternity; nothing can be added, nothing taken away, and he needs no one to give him advice. How beautiful is all that he has made, down to the smallest spark that can be seen! His works endure, all of them active for ever and all responsive to their various purposes. All things go in pairs, one the opposite of the other; he has made nothing incomplete. One thing supplements the virtues of another. Who could ever contemplate his glory enough ?

Chapter 43

What a masterpiece is the clear vault of the sky!
How glorious is the spectacle of the heavens!

The sun comes into view proclaiming as it rises
how marvellous a thing it is, made by the Most High.

At noon it parches the earth,
and no one can endure its blazing heat.

The stoker of a furnace works in the heat,
but three times as hot is the sun scorching the hills.

It breathes out fiery vapours,
and its glare blinds the eyes.

Great is the Lord who made it,
whose word speeds it on its course.

He made the moon also to serve in its turn,
a perpetual sign to mark the divisions of time.

From the moon, feast- days are reckoned;
it is a light that wanes as it completes its course.

The moon gives its name to the month;
it waxes marvellously as its phases change,

a beacon to the armies of heaven,
shining in the vault of the sky.

The brilliant stars are the beauty of the sky,
a glittering array in the heights of the Lord.

At the command of the Holy One they stand in their appointed places;
they never default at their post.

Look at the rainbow and praise its Maker;
it shines with a supreme beauty,

rounding the sky with its gleaming arc,
a bow bent by the hands of the Most High.

His command speeds the snow -storm
and sends the swift lightning to execute his sentence.

To that end the storehouses are opened,
and the clouds fly out like birds.

By his mighty power the clouds are piled up
and the hailstones broken small.

The crash of his thunder makes the earth writhe,
and, when he appears, an earthquake shakes the hills.

At his will the south wind blows,
the squall from the north and the hurricane.

He scatters the snow -flakes like birds alighting;
they settle like a swarm of locusts.

The eye is dazzled by their beautiful whiteness,
and as they fall the mind is entranced.

He spreads frost on the earth like salt,
and icicles form like pointed stakes.

A cold blast from the north,
and ice grows hard on the water,

settling on every pool,
as though the water were putting on a breastplate.

He consumes the hills, scorches the wilderness,
and withers the grass like fire.

Cloudy weather quickly puts all to rights,
and dew brings welcome relief after heat.

By the power of his thought he tamed the deep
and planted it with islands.

Those who sail the sea tell stories of its dangers,
which astonish all who hear them;

in it are strange and wonderful creatures,
all kinds of living things and huge sea- monsters.

By his own action he achieves his end,
and by his word all things are held together.

However much we say, we cannot exhaust our theme;
to put it in a word: he is all.

Where can we find the skill to sing his praises ?
For he is greater than all his works.

The Lord is terrible and very great,
and marvellous is his power.

Honour the Lord to the best of your ability,
and he will still be high above all praise.

Summon all your strength to declare his greatness,
and be untiring, for the most you can do will fall short.

Has anyone ever seen him, to be able to describe him ?
Can anyone praise him as he truly is ?

We have seen but a small part of his works,
and there remain many mysteries greater still.

The Lord has made everything
and has given wisdom to the godly.

Or the Quran, Sura 30:

16 Celebrated be the praises of God, when ye are in the evening and when ye are in the morning! 17 For to Him belongs praise in the heavens and the earth! And at the evening, and when ye are at noon. 18 He brings forth the living from the dead, and brings forth the dead from the living; and He quickens the earth after its death, and thus shall ye too be brought forth.

19 And of His signs is this, that He hath created you from dust; then, behold, ye are mortals who are spread abroad. 20 And of His signs is this, that He hath created for you of yourselves wives with whom ye may cohabit; He has made between you affection and pity. Verily, in that are signs unto a people who reflect. 21 And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the diversity of your tongues and colours; verily, in that are signs unto the worlds.

22 And of His signs is your sleep by night and by day; and your craving after His grace. Verily, in that are signs unto a people who do hear. 23 And of His signs is this, that He shows you lightning for fear and hope; and sends down from the sky water, and quickens therewith the earth after its death; verily, in that are signs unto a people who have sense.

24 And of His signs is this, that the heavens and the earth stand by His order; then when He calls you from the earth, lo! Ye shall come forth. 25 His are those who are in the heavens and the earth, and all to Him are devoted. 26 And He it is who produces a creation and then makes it to go back again; for it is very easy to Him; and His are the loftiest similitudes in the heavens and the earth; and He is the mighty, wise!

I have highlighted a sentence there which I find very interesting, given the time and place it emerged. It does seem a rather enlightened approach to race, doesn’t it, compared with the notorious divisions of humanity verses in Genesis that follow the story of the Flood, verses which have done untold harm over the centuries.

Interesting blog

I found The Questioning Christian while trying to track a quote from the 1960s, when US Episcopalian Bishop James Pike once memorably, and controversially, said he could sing the Nicene Creed but not say it.
Questioning Christian, or rather one of his commenters, refers to this in a 2004 post Why Say the Nicene Creed? Looking at some more recent posts, I am happy to have found this blog, which is not to say I agree with it all, of course. But it certainly is interesting, to me at least.

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