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Moon, Face, and Phases
Every twenty-nine and one-half days we can follow the phases of the Moon, watching it wax from the new and darkened moon to the full moon, only to then wane from the full moon, returning once again to the new and darkened moon. It operates with remarkable and predictable precision. This occurs according to the changing position of the Moon relative to the Earth and the Sun as it completes its near-monthly orbit around the Earth.
As the Earth rotates, the Moon remains at just the distance needed to regulate the high and low tides of the Earth’s oceans each day. This alone is astoundingly remarkable. To underscore the precision involved, consider that all of the physical relationships necessary to accomplish these phenomena align perfectly, while the Moon also always presents the same face toward the Earth. There has been no significant deviation throughout recorded history, and perhaps for tens or even hundreds of millions of years.
Such consistency cannot reasonably be described as arbitrary or random. It is precision.
Creation
The relationship between the Moon and the Earth is but one glimpse into the precision of the vast expanse of the universe. Natural laws of mathematics and physics apply on scales that overwhelm the imagination. Astronomers estimate that the observable universe contains hundreds of billions—and perhaps even trillions—of galaxies. Our own Milky Way is estimated to contain hundreds of billions of stars. Among those billions of stars, our single star—the Sun—is positioned at a distance that sustains an environment capable of supporting plants, animals, and human life.
The same order evident in the heavens is also found throughout the natural world. Seasons arrive in their appointed times. Seeds consistently produce plants according to their own nature. Living creatures reproduce according to their own kinds. The same mathematical and physical laws that govern the stars also govern the smallest elements of creation. Everywhere we look, creation exhibits relationships that are stable, intelligible, and directed toward definite ends.
The Human Body
The human body itself reveals this same order and purpose. The heart pumps blood continuously throughout our lives. The lungs provide oxygen while removing carbon dioxide. The brain coordinates the countless functions necessary for life. The eyes are ordered toward sight, the ears toward hearing, and the hands toward grasping and creating. Muscles, bones, nerves, organs, and countless biological systems work together as a single living whole. Each possesses its own purpose while contributing to the good of the entire body.
Even more remarkable is the body’s development, beginning with the astonishing order already present within a single human cell. From the union of a sperm and an ovum, one human life begins. This first stage of human development—the single-cell stage—is known as the zygote. Though only a single cell, this new human being is already complete in what it is, even while immature in its development. That one cell divides, differentiates, and develops into the tissues, organs, and systems that together form the mature human body. This development does not proceed randomly. It unfolds according to the nature already present within that new human life.
Purpose and order are evident not only in the finished body but throughout its entire development. Yet God’s creative work does not stop with a shared human nature. Every human being is also created as a unique and unrepeatable person. The mystery of that individuality belongs to a later discussion. Here it is enough to observe that the same God who orders the universe with astonishing precision also delights in creating no two human persons exactly alike.
Creation is extraordinarily ordered, yet extraordinarily diverse. The laws of physics are constant. The periodic table is ordered. Human nature is shared. Yet no two persons are identical. That itself says something about the Creator.
Sacred Scripture
Long before modern science observed these realities, Sacred Scripture presented creation as an ordered work of God.
When God created the natural world, He began with light, the heavens and the earth. He then brought forth the dry land, the seas, and vegetation. He then continued with the celestial bodies to govern time and provide light, followed by the creatures of the sea and the air, then the animals of the land. Finally, He crowned creation with humanity—male and female—created in His image and likeness. God completed the week of creation with a day of rest.
Vegetation cannot precede the earth upon which it grows. The seas cannot exist apart from the heavens above them. Genesis presents creation not as a collection of unrelated events but as an ordered work proceeding according to wisdom and purpose. The order observed throughout creation reflects the wisdom of its Creator.
Purpose and Order
Order answers the question, “How are things rightly related?”
Purpose answers the question, “For what end do they exist?”
The two cannot be separated. Without purpose there is no reason for order. Without order purpose cannot be accomplished.
Wherever we observe reality, we encounter both. The planets move according to ordered relationships. Living things develop according to their own natures. The human body functions through the ordered cooperation of many parts. Everywhere, things exist not only in relationship to one another but also toward particular ends.
God
Creation is intelligible. That is, it is capable of being understood because it possesses an order that the human mind can discover rather than invent. Because reality is intelligible, science is possible. Philosophy is possible. Theology is possible. We can discover truth because creation is not chaotic but ordered.
These observations invite an important question. Why is reality so intelligible? Why is the universe governed by laws that can be discovered? Why do living things consistently act according to their own natures? Why does the human body develop with such astonishing precision?
Christian theology answers that these characteristics of creation reflect the One who created it.
God is not merely a being who chooses to act with purpose and order. Purpose and order belong to His Divine Nature. Whatever God knows, wills, or creates reflects the perfect unity of His Being. His wisdom is never separated from His goodness. His justice never opposes His mercy. His power never acts apart from His love. All that God is exists in perfect harmony because God is perfectly one.
Creation therefore bears the imprint of its Creator. The order observed throughout creation reflects the order of the Divine Mind. The purposes found throughout creation reflect the wisdom of the Divine Will.
The Human Person
The human person occupies a unique place within creation. We not only live within this ordered universe; we are capable of recognizing its order. We ask questions that no other visible creature asks.
Who am I?
Why do I exist?
What is the purpose of my life?
Where am I going?
These questions arise because we are rational beings created to know the truth. We naturally seek purpose because we ourselves were created with purpose.
Why It Matters
If reality is the product of purpose and order, then human life is not accidental. We were each created with the same human nature, yet each of us was also created as a unique and unrepeatable person. Our nature possesses meaning. Our relationships possess meaning. Freedom possesses meaning. Moral truth possesses meaning.
The search for truth therefore begins not by inventing our own purpose but by discovering the purpose already present within creation and within ourselves.
This understanding forms the foundation for everything that follows. To know God more fully, to understand the human person more completely, to appreciate the dignity of every human life, and to live according to our true nature, we must first recognize that reality itself is ordered and purposeful.
Creation does not merely tell us that God exists; it reveals something of who He is.
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Sources
For Further Reading and Sources
- Sacred Scripture: Genesis 1–2; Psalm 19; Wisdom 11; Romans 1.
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church (creation, reason, and the human person).
- NASA — astronomy resources on galaxies, stars, and the observable universe.
- European Space Agency — astronomy and cosmology resources.
