“How Great Thou Art” is one of my favourite hymns and reminds us how awesome and magnificent God is. When I contemplate the wonders and beauty of this world and the universe, I am in total awe.
The world in its uninhabited state shows great beauty – the sky, the vast plains, the great forests, the magnificent mountains and the wonder of the weather. Admittedly mankind has damaged some of it, but has enhanced it too. As I look out at our garden I am struck by the beauty that can be created by working with nature.
An evolutionist would say that we are perfectly attuned to the world we live in, whereas a creationist would say that God has created the perfect world for us to live in. I believe the latter, but I don’t know whether it was done by creation as outlined in the Holy Bible or by creation of a universe that would evolve they way it has. There is a tendency to think of Biblical creationists as scientifically illiterate, but they include very intelligent people and their arguments are not without merit. I am prepared to keep an open mind, in the knowledge that we will ultimately know. As St Paul wrote “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:” (1 Corinthians 13 v.12 KJV).
I don’t have the brain to understand the science of the beginning of the universe. Extrapolating the observed data back in time, only gets back to 1 second after the supposed Big Bang. Now, as I understand it, something called inflation preceded the big bang. What nobody has come up with is any scientific explanation of the creation of something as awesome as the universe out of nothing. As St Paul wrote “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God”. And I am left in no doubt that God created us the way we are and the world the way it is. I don’t of course have any problem with people trying to find out more about God’s creation. So far, all discovery has made me more in awe of what God has done.
We are clearly responsible for looking after this world and for many years conservationists have been reminding us of that responsibility, as well as doing invaluable conservation work. I am very impressed with the work of Allan Savory (see his talk on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTHi7O66pI), showing how land can be restored and carbon absorbed from the atmosphere. Interestingly it involves the introduction of grazing animals, which, of course, provide food which is necessary to cure hunger in so many parts of the world. So veganism may meet the moral and health requirements of some, but it is not an answer to climate change.