You Have Heard It Said

Let us turn our eyes to the Father and Creator of the universe, and consider… the total absence of any friction that marks the ordering of His whole creation.

-Clement of Rome (ca. 37-101), Letter to the Corinthians 1:19

My first thought as a non-scientist is… maybe the “absence of any friction” is not the most accurate way to describe the ordering of creation anymore. That would be interesting to explore more.

That said… I think it is telling to look at how nature is ordered. What can we learn about ourselves and the Creator from the way that nature functions. For example, does monoculture or polyculture reflect the nature of creation more accurately? The answer seems glaringly obvious that agriculture that mimics nature’s biodiversity and ecosystems reflects the Creator. In that case, monoculture could be seen as offensive to the Creator because it is an exploitative way of “having dominion” over the earth.

Initially science observed nature in order to understand it better. As science was applied to different fields (medicine, agriculture, etc.), it seems that it moved away from nature and began to carve its own path. Perhaps it is time for a return to observing nature and relearning some things about the world and the way it works from creation.