{"id":815,"date":"2017-01-29T01:01:14","date_gmt":"2017-01-29T01:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=815"},"modified":"2021-01-07T18:39:29","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T18:39:29","slug":"making-a-universe-why-bother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/making-a-universe-why-bother\/","title":{"rendered":"Making a Universe: Why Bother?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder’s craft.”
\n(Psalms 19:2<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Okay, so who is this message proclaimed to?<\/p>\n

Us, apparently.<\/p>\n

One of the ways we can learn about God is by noticing order and beauty in the universe. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 31<\/a>–32<\/a>, 319<\/a>)<\/p>\n

St. Bonaventure said that the universe communicates God’s glory, St. Thomas Aquinas said that the Almighty creates because God is good and loving. (Catechism, 293<\/a>)<\/p>\n

I think they’re right.<\/p>\n

God creates the universe, and humanity, because God loves us and wants to adopt us; all of us. It’s that simple. (Matthew 5:45<\/a>; John 1:12<\/a>–14<\/a>, 3:17<\/a>; Romans 8:14<\/a>–17<\/a>; Peter 1:3<\/a>–4<\/a>; Catechism, 1<\/a>, 27<\/a>–30<\/a>, 52<\/a>, 1825<\/a>, 1996<\/a>)<\/p>\n

<\/a>Paying Attention<\/h4>\n

<\/a>It’s not<\/strong> simple, too.<\/p>\n

For one thing, neither of the Genesis creation narratives mentions angels. Not specifically, anyway. (Genesis 1:1<\/a>–2, 3<\/a>, 2, 4<\/a>–2, 25<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Thomas Aquinas had something to say about that. (“Summa Theologica,” First Part, Question 61<\/a>, via dhspriory.org)<\/p>\n

Then there’s the possibility that we have neighbors; people with bodies, like us, but not human. Or maybe we don’t. Either way, as Walt Kelly’s Porky Pine said, “it’s a mighty sobering thought.” (December 2, 2016<\/a>)<\/p>\n

<\/a>Some physicists say quantum mechanics makes more sense if we’re not<\/a>, or not quite, living in the only universe.<\/p>\n

Multiverse<\/a> hypotheses, Schr\u00f6dinger’s cat<\/a>, and quantum gears<\/a> are topics for another post.<\/p>\n

We’ve learned a bit since the Psalms<\/a> were written, about two dozen centuries back, give or take<\/a> a quarter-millennium.<\/p>\n

Living in a universe that’s immensely bigger and older than Ussher’s<\/a> tidy little version of a Mesopotamian model upsets some folks.<\/p>\n

I’m not among them. I figure part of my job is appreciating God’s creation: not telling the Almighty how it should work. (September 23, 2016<\/a>)<\/p>\n

No matter where we look, God’s creation is filled with beauty and wonders that we’re just beginning to understand.<\/p>\n

Paying attention to God’s work can’t hurt an informed faith.<\/p>\n

Truth cannot contradict truth, we’re supposed<\/strong> to be curious, and scientific discoveries are opportunities for greater admiration of God’s creation. (Catechism, 159<\/a>, 214<\/a>–217<\/a>, 283<\/a>, 294<\/a>, 341<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Everything and everyone ultimately points back to God. (1 Corinthians 15:27<\/a>–28<\/a>; Catechism, 294<\/a>)<\/p>\n

I’ve talked about faith, reason, science, and getting a grip, before. Often. (January 27, 2017<\/a>; December 23, 2016<\/a>; October 28, 2016<\/a>; July 29, 2016<\/a>)<\/p>\n

<\/a>Developing a Sense of Scale<\/h4>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

“4<\/a><\/sup> Indeed, before you the whole universe is as a grain from a balance, or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.
\n“But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of men that they may repent.
\n“For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.
\n“And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?”
\n(Wisdom 11:22<\/a>–25<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God isn’t merely big and strong. God is “…infinite … almighty and ineffable … infinitely greater than all his works….” (Catechism, 202<\/a>, 300<\/a>)<\/p>\n

What we’re learning about the scale of this universe doesn’t, I think, make God ‘more infinite.’ But I think it adds emphasis to verses like these:<\/p>\n

“When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place –
\n“4<\/a><\/sup>What are humans that you are mindful of them, mere mortals that you care for them?
\n“5<\/a><\/sup>Yet you have made them little less than a god, crowned them with glory and honor.”
\n(Psalms 8:4<\/a>–6<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>I also think remembering who and what we are is important. And that’s another topic.<\/p>\n

More about faith and paying attention:<\/p>\n