The Most High, foreseeing the mechanism and harmony of the world,/had made heaven and earth, established sea and waters,/and the seeds of plants, and the bushes in thickets,/sun, moon, and stars, fire and all needful things,/birds, fish, and cattle, beasts and animals,/and last of all the first man, to rule them through foreknowledge.

  - Colum Cille, Altus Prosator (Irish, 6th century)

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see Jesus...

  - Hebrews 2.8 9

Celtic Christians understood that the entire creation is God's servant (Ps. 119.89-91), placed in the hands of His people for the purpose of advancing His glory and providing for their needs. They loved and honored the creation and used it as God's stewards to bring out all that was good and useful in the world around them.

They did this because they understood that Jesus had redeemed, not only them and their souls, but the wide world as well. As His servants they were called to bring the redeeming and reconciling work of Christ to a world that was in many ways undeveloped, misunderstood, and misused.

The Celtic Christian view of creation foreshadows the scientific revolution that occurred under the impetus of similarly-minded Christians in the 16th and 17th centuries. Celtic Christians would not have accepted the charge - widely circulated these days - that their faith was hostile to science. And they would have been right.

Celtic Christians understood that Jesus Christ rules all creation, but He advances His rule of beauty, goodness, truth, righteousness, peace, and joy through the labors of His redeemed and faithful followers. We who believe in Jesus see in Him the key to understanding all of life and the vast cosmos.

The writer of Hebrews knew the world of his day was very far from realizing the redemptive power of Christ. But he pointed us to Jesus as the starting-point for recovering our proper role in putting all the world right before God by bringing everything in the world, beginning in our own lives, to the feet of Jesus Christ.

This calling applies to every one of us in some way, at some level. We are stewards of the creation, called to rescue it from the blight, corruption, and waste of sin, and to renew it in the service of Christ and His Church.

An ancient marginal note on this passage from Colum says that "foreknowledge" really means "preaching." The followers of Christ, in other words, accomplish their rule by looking to the Word of God to guide them in all their interactions in, on, with, and through the created world.

Looking to Jesus and looking into His Word we may expect to make important contributions to the redemption of the creation. Many small steps of creation-keeping can amount to large gains in restoring the beauty and goodness of the created world, and in learning to use and develop the creation more responsibly and fruitfully.

So let each of us ask how we might take up this challenge and help to make the world - the cosmos - a better and more God-honoring place. Start where you are, anywhere, today, and make creation-keeping a part of your calling to rule the world.

T. M. Moore, Principal

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We don't write much about the sciences at The Fellowship of Ailbe, but if you're interested in that topic, and if you'd like to read some of T. M.'s thoughts in that area, visit the site of The Center for Faith and Science International, and sign up for their twice-weekly newsletter.