Augustine on Reading the Book of Nature

“Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Note it. Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that? Why, heaven and earth shout to you: ‘God has made me!’” - Sermon 126.6

After last Sunday’s services, several people asked for this wonderful quote from the great African Bishop of the ancient Church, and I promised to post it for them here.

Heaven and Earth are very vocal witnesses to the Covenant mercies of God, and faithfully testify to his attributes, pointing us beyond themselves to their Maker. The Book of Nature has led many to the Book of Scripture, the first revealing the glory of God the Creator, and the second revealing the glory of God the Redeemer. The star led the Magi to Jerusalem, and the Scripture took them the rest of the way to Bethlehem and the presence of Jesus the Savior.