Second Sunday of Great Lent: The Starry Heaven and the Moral Law

Author: Fr George Dimopoulos

Source: Orthodox Sermons for all the Sundays of the Year – Volume I

Publisher: Christian Orthodox Editions

“And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the works of thine hands”, (Heb. 1:10).

Last week in one of my classes in a theological seminary I taught about the creation of the world. I taught, of course, what the Scriptures say; what the Church says; the tradition of the Fathers, and the position of our Church today. I did not ignore the opinions of men who are specialists in this very heated subject, many of whom do not want to connect scientific results with Scriptural sayings.

I entrusted one of the better students to make a brief research about what the geologists and the astronomers say regarding the creation and how the world was derived, and to bring the report to class.

The student zealously and devotedly worked, then brought the report to class and read it. The general conclusion was that none of the geologists and the astronomers agreed concerning the origin and age of this world, because all began from the theoretical hypothetical presuppositions of the most lean kind.

Great and famous geologists say that the earth is millions and billions of years old. Kalvin says that the age of the earth is twenty-five million years; Osmpron, one hundred million; Huxley, four hundred million, and another estimate one billion and six hundred million years.

They also disagree about the earth’s origin. There are as many theories and opinions as there are scientists. The materialists and rationalists say that the world is made of matter that pre-existed. Other say that the earth was created by chance. Neither theory satisfies us.

A wrist watch presupposes a watch-maker. Somewhere there must be a watch-maker. Can we say that by chance all those wheels, levers, jewels, and springs formed themselves? Did they by chance set themselves going? Was it by chance that a wrist watch became an instrument that counts and tells the hours, minutes and seconds? I do not think so, and no logical man does either. The shoe presupposes a shoemaker; the automobile presupposes a factory, and previous to that a man’s brain which conceived the shape, design and produced the car; and the aeroplane which flies above the clouds and is invisible to the human eye presupposes pilots and mechanics.

Many of the geologists, astronomers and philosophers who are geniuses express their opinions, but they do not stop to say and confess that beyond the creation and behind the perfect natural law is the creative and providential hand of God. The great philosopher Kant, used to say that two things convinced him of God – “the starry heavens above me, and the moral law within me”. Xenophon, in the memorabilia, tells how Socrates argued about the divine pronoia, providence and forethought from the structure of the human body.

“Are there not other contrivances which look like the results of forethought? Thus, the eyeballs, being weak, are set behind the eyelids, that open like doors when we want to see, and close when we sleep. On the lids grow lashes through which the very winds filter harmlessly; above the eye is a cropping of brows that let no drops of sweat from the head hurt them…” And Cicero used to say that the “musical harmony of the world would be impossible without a mind behind it”. And also says, “the belief in God is only strengthened by the passage of years, and grows more deeply rooted with each successive generation of mankind. Men of all nations have engraved in their minds an innate belief that gods exist”.

But why am I relating all these opinions of the philosophers? We have the word of God which speaks; the revelation unhesitatingly and unequivocally lays down its belief in God the Creator. The very first words of the Bible are: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The Prophet Isaiah describes the Lord as the one “who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and what comes from it, who gives them breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it…and hears God say, ‘I made the earth, and created man upon it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens and I commanded all their host’ ” (Isaiah 42:5, 45:12).

In the New Testament there is a strong line of thought which connects not only the Father but the Son also with the creation. Speaking about the Eternal Word, who as Jesus became flesh, John in the fourth gospel writes, “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made” (John 1:3). St Paul, in order to overthrow the teachings of the Gnostic heresies who did not accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, wrote to the Colossians saying that “in Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him”.

Finally Paul, in order to point out the unity and the connection of the Old Testament with the New Testament, borrows a passage from the Psalmist in writing to his compatriots that the belief of the New Testament concerning the creation of the world is the same as in the Old Testament, “And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall perish, but Thou remainest: and they all shall wax old as doth a garment” (Heb. 1:10-11).

The Scriptures do not mention the method God used in creating the world; it only states, “And God said…and it was so”. Androutsos, a great theologian and philosopher, says that “the Holy Scriptures is not a book on natural science, but presents its content in a form and language agreeable to the ideas and comprehension of those for whom it was written. It has in view the purpose of ascribing the genesis (beginning) of the world to God”.

As a conclusion of this sermon, I want to mention the opinion of Dr Wernher von Braun, a key man behind America’s moon trip. “Through a closer look at creation, we ought to gain a better knowledge of the Creator, and a greater sense of man’s responsibility to God will come into focus. We must learn to consider God as Creator of the universe and master of everything”. He says he now finds it difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of sciences.

We are small and unwise. We do not have anything more to add except to confess with King David the Psalmist, “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth: who hast set thy glory above the heavens. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon, and the stars, which thou has ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: O Lord, Our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth”.