Louis of Granada - The Marvels of Creation

T he Venerable Louis of Granada was a 16th century Spanish Dominican. He is celebrated as a theologian of great merit, and the author of numerous spiritual works, such as the Sinners Guide.

In this holy Dominicans meditation on creation, you will find no polemical work of any sort. In our day debates about creation and questions raised by modern science cause a great deal of contention and consternation. However, in the Marvels of Creation, these debates are far from the mind of the author. This is not merely because the work was written four centuries ago, but even more so, because his aim is one specific thing: that man might see the wonders that God has put in plain sight and give glory to Him for them. Thus, the reader can take the book in confidence and find herein great spiritual fruit, whatever his views are in relation to modern questions on creation.

Nevertheless, though the author writes as a theologian and only means to present the science as it was in his own day, just the same, discoveries subsequent to his time have allowed for the formulation of new principles and led to the rejection of older ideas in favor of more precise modern formulations. So, when the author makes reference to Aristotles notion of the four elements, or Galens teaching of the humors, these theories of ancient learning are best looked upon as superseded rather than merely wrong. The theory of the humors, for what it was meant to explain, is not wrong per se, but it is too broad to be precise, let alone isolate phenomena or predict events based on principles. Likewise, the theory of the four elements, which is not wrong in observing that some things go down and others tend to go up, is still wrong as to the causes of such things. In both areas, modern science affords us more precise theories that more accurately describe what takes place and allow us to predict other events based on them. Whenever it is advantageous to the reader, we have placed footnotes where a claim or comparison by the author has been superseded or corrected by modern scientific knowledge.

None of this should trouble the reader when he comes across an antiquated description of events. In fact, noting our more precise scientific theories in physics or cosmology, we should give God glory all the more for the complicated workings of the created world that we find all around us, and of which we are, nevertheless, the pinnacle.

Therefore, let the reader carefully and prayerfully consider the wisdom of Fr. Granada, and look with wonder at all things, great and small, which our creator God has placed in the world for us.

The Editor