What Aquinas & Hildegard Might Say about the Webb Telescope

Those who dismiss Webb Telescope as “pretty pictures” ought to explore its meaning more deeply. 

One of the early contributors to the James Webb Space Telescope explains how the newly released images allow us to explore the origins of the universe. Washington Post

First, they should consider what Thomas Aquinas says about nature and religion when he tells us that “Revelation comes in two volumes: Nature and the Bible.”  This means of course that we must enter deeply and spiritually into what nature is telling us. And:

One meditates on creation in order to view and marvel at divine wisdom….Indeed, divine wisdom first appears in the creation of things.

Of course he had no idea that the universe was two trillion galaxies big with hundreds of billions of stars in each galaxy–and expanding!  Nor that the universe is 13.8 billion years old.  Nor that humans can now bring the light from the original generation of stars and galaxies into our homes and computers.

But we do and we can.  And Aquinas would be beside himself with this reality—and of course be hanging on every discovery that scientists will be making about the nature of nature, the history of the universe, the story of how we—earth, sun, moon, and humans sharing the earth with so many amazing creatures—got here. 

Unmistakably feminine imagery in “The Cosmic Egg,” Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias.

For this is, in his words, revelation, just as the Bible is revelation.  Not more and not less.

Hildegard too would be over the moon to be learning more about the universe which God made and to which we belong.  She said “all science comes from God” and listened to scientists when her first book appeared (at the age of 52) who told her the universe was egg shaped—so she painted that.  Then, in her last book, scientists had changed their mind so she offered three pictures of the universe as a circle.

There is much “revelation” that comes along with cosmology.  Thomas Berry certainly believes so.  His commitment to the ‘Great Work’ is a commitment to implementing the values that derive from an awareness of the sanctity of the universe as a whole and from how the universe works including how all beings form a communion of subjects (not objects).

And, since “ecology is functional cosmology,” one can work for a deeper and more broad recognition of the sacredness of this planet, our home, put denial about climate change aside, and commit to rendering our planet sustainable again. 

So an awakening to cosmology such as Webb can contribute to can hopefully inspire and nurture those committed to seeing our earth and all living creatures on it thrive.

Pope Francis speaks on his “Laudato Si'” encyclical, May 2021. Vatican IHD

In this regard, Pope Francis too should be consulted for his encyclical on “Our Common Home,” called “Laudato Si,” which means to Praise the Earth is very much in this same creation spirituality tradition.

Those who reduce the Webb Telescope to giving us “pretty pictures” have some homework to do—inner work around wonder and awe and gratitude, the Via Positiva; and about the suffering of Mother Earth, the Via Negativa; and outer work about working toward a sustainable future for the planet (Via Creativa and Transformativa). 

Compassion and eco-justice are calling us all.  And Webb is part of that call.


Adapted from Matthew Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times, pp. 17-21, 11f., 19f.  

And Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen, pp. 48-70. 

To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.

Banner Image: This side-by-side comparison of photos from from NASA’s Webb Telescope shows the Southern Ring Nebula in near-infrared light (NIRCAM), at left, and mid-infrared light (MIRI), at right. Notice a dying white dwarf star to the lower left of the bright, central star in the NIRCAM image: the same star appears – but brighter, larger, and redder, cloaked in thick layers of dust – in the MIRI image. Today, the white dwarf is heating up the gas in the inner regions – which appear blue at left and red at right. Both stars are lighting up the outer regions, shown in orange and blue, respectively. Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STSc

Queries for Contemplation

Do you meditate on creation in order to view and marvel at divine wisdom?  Will meditation on the findings of the Webb Telescope assist you in that marveling?


Recommended Reading

The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times

A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a sublime roadmap for spirituality and action.
Foreword by Ilia Delio.
“What a wonderful book!  Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.”
–Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit

Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen

An introduction to the life and work of Hildegard of Bingen, Illuminations reveals the life and teachings of one of the greatest female artists and intellectuals of the Western Mystical Tradition.  At the age of 42, she began to have visions; these were captured as 36 illuminations–24 of which are recorded in this book along with her commentaries on them.
“If one person deserves credit for the great Hildegard renaissance in our time, it is Matthew Fox.”  – Dr Mary Ford-Grabowsky, author of Sacred Voices.

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23 thoughts on “What Aquinas & Hildegard Might Say about the Webb Telescope”

  1. Richard Reich-Kuykendall
    Richard Reich-Kuykendall

    Matthew, Today you ask us these Queries for Contemplation:
    “Do you meditate on creation in order to view and marvel at divine wisdom?”
    Thomas Aquinas said that “Revelation comes in two volumes: Nature and the Bible”–so did a visionary woman in the 19th century who taught me the same truth. Her name was Ellen White, and she too said that God’s revelation came in two volumes: Nature and the Bible. And this means of course that we must enter deeply and spiritually into what nature is telling us. And even Hildegard before him said “all science comes from God” and she listened to scientists when her first book appeared (at the age of 52). Thomas Berry who said, “ecology is functional cosmology,” sees that one can work for a deeper and more broad recognition of the sacredness of this planet–and a recognition of the sacredness of our whole cosmos–that is the ultimate cosmology. And finally Pope Francis too should be consulted for his encyclical on “Our Common Home,” called “Laudato Si,” which means to Praise the Earth is very much in this same Creation Spirituality tradition.
    “Will meditation on the findings of the Webb Telescope assist you in that marveling?”
    Yes, it surely will. The very beauty of it, the very amazing human accomplishment in science and technology, all drive me to wonder at it all, and as I wrote a few days ago, not like the Genesis story which is basically Jewish mythology, regardless of the poetic value of the account. We can actually see into the past what all was like billions of years ago !!! How amazing…

  2. Jeanette Metler

    To meditate on creation, is to INTUITE the relationships and connections within the all and the everything that exists… to see the ever unfolding, evolving and emerging breadth, width, heighth and depth of this beauty… which is the presence and essence of the light of God’s love, in all things.

    Everything is to be considered as interconnected and everything is to be related to, as sacred… all apart of the temple, the altar of God… each one, a blessed gift of service to God and each other… all contributing to the greater good of the whole.

    Everything praises God, by listening and responding to the wisdom of these two sacred cosmic laws… of relationship and connection… founded and established on the light of love. Our souls journey, is to preserve the beauty of this reality.

    May I see, the ever unfolding, evolving and emerging beauty before me.
    May I see, the ever unfolding, evolving and emerging beauty behind me.
    May I see, the ever unfolding, evolving and emerging beauty above me.
    May I see, the ever unfolding, evolving and emerging beauty below me.
    May I see, the ever unfolding, evolving and emerging beauty to the right of me.
    May I see, the ever unfolding, evolving and emerging beauty to the left of me.
    May I see, the ever unfolding, evolving and emerging beauty within me and all around me.
    May I relate and connect with the all and the everything that exists in creation, in this beauty way of praise… in service to preserving this beauty… through considering everything as sacred… responding with thoughts, words and acts of love.

  3. Counterpoint: As for looking deeply into the past, we have, and for years have had astronomy, genetics, archeology, paleontology, history itself, ancient biblical records, genealogy, and psychoanalysis. As either the Webb telescope, all are tools for looking backward to examine the past. All are tools of science and technology, useful in some ways, ineffective in others, save with those who already have eyes to see deeply. Overall, science and technology have succeeded in achieving a trade-off, exchanging breadth for depth in human perception, focus and knowledge — when the latter is MORE important for mankind to overcome its many spiritual self-alienation maladies. Since when has sharpening humanity’s tools of far-sightedness helped it, en toto, look within? Viewing heavenly stars brings a soul, already resistant to looking within, about as close to itself and its origin in God as does viewing Hollywood stars. If such were NOT the case, particularly amid the embarrassment of so many far-sighted “scientific” riches (evidence), the chief characteristic of modernity wouldn’t be its wholesale loss of faith in transcendence. Nor would it be marked by an lack of comprehensive (integrated vision) of the whole, a concerted sense of reality that informs our godless age. Truth be told, spiritually minded folk like Hildegard, Aquinas, and Matthew are transported by these galactic images because they ALREADY have spiritual perception, and such modern discoveries and devices only excite same. Yet as for contributing to the depth of their faith, conviction, and spiritual vision, other than affirming same, they’d have been just as well-off without them. Ditto all the mystics and godly at heart. This is why the public relies so heavily on hearing from from Art (Webb’s pretty pics) what it has grown chronically tired of hearing from Theology, Philosophy, dead Religion, Social Theory, Psychology and what it cannot hear from pure science in the Age of Science: a broader, fuller, more coherent, more comprehensive account of what we humans are, who we are, and what this life is for. Otherwise, the center of human life would not be as God-eclipsing as it is, pre-empted by ever more sensory, outward looking (empirical) scientific and technological data than it knows what to do with. I’m afraid filling mankind’s empty center with more of the same promises to be it’s undoing more than its salvation. Such is a the apostle Paul’s hallmark of mankind’s end times fate, “ever learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). If you hadn’t noticed, humankind has been steeped deeply in same for decades, and it ain’t getting better, super telescopic space pics notwithstanding.

    1. Richard Reich-Kuykendall
      Richard Reich-Kuykendall

      Joe, Today you have written, “Since when has sharpening humanity’s tools of far-sightedness helped it, en toto, look within? Viewing heavenly stars brings a soul, already resistant to looking within, about as close to itself and its origin in God as does viewing Hollywood stars.” Is your criterion for judging our ideal state “looking within?” Remember Matthew 7:1 says, “Judge not lest you be judged.” I think human beings are self-reflective, and that requires “looking within.” Part of the problem of “looking within” is people don’t necessarily see God, rather they see themselves. A self that is only known to them and God. Then you write: “Truth be told, spiritually minded folk like Hildegard, Aquinas, and Matthew are transported by these galactic images because they ALREADY have spiritual perception, and such modern discoveries and devices only excite same.” Okay, so they and others have spiritual perception, so I don’t see how that undoes the importance of the Webb Telescope and the pictures it is sending back to us. To me its just more reasons to enjoy the “Sheer Joy” of the Via POsitiva as it unfolds before us!

  4. With due respect to Master Fox, I have a bit of a different take on the Webb Telescope. It seems to me more like the Tower of Babel, an egotistical reach to the heavens asserting that man is in some manner equal to God. Certainly, I don’t see the scientists admiring the mind of the universe in this effort. I see them patting themselves on the back for having achieved this great thing.

    For those of us with spiritual inclination, we can certainly look at these images of the universe and be overwhelmed with awe by how far over our heads we are in to this vast mystery of creation. But we aren’t equal to it. As long as we are allowing our planet, Gaia, to be exploited and killed by our egos, we are falling short. If we wish to live into and fulfill the spiritual vision that Master Fox regularly presents, we need to move beyond these egotistical urges to accomplish and achieve. Instead we should spend our wealth, mental energy, and physical energy to bring peace to the world, food to the starving and love to the isolated. These are the immediate needs to which our spiritual resources should be going. In today’s world, Babel is already vastly too over-funded.

    1. Dear Danna, Thanks stepping up and pointing out the things we can change.
      There are plenty of reasons for compassion and justice to go around.
      Meanwhile we need each other’s encouragement and assistance to proceed each day on our own spiritual journey. Yes the beginnings of the Universe are spectacular but I can do nothing about them but watch.

    2. Richard Reich-Kuykendall
      Richard Reich-Kuykendall

      Dana, The Webb Telescope may be just some kind of “Tower of Babel”–remember, “Let us build a tower that reaches unto heaven”? Well, I can tell you that their tower would never have reached some kind of bronze age Paradise. Because IT IS NOT UP THERE! We have been up there, and that is not where heaven is. First of all, Creation Spirituality teaches of a “panentheistic” God. That means that God is in all things, and all things are in God. Therefore ANYWHERE ONE GOES IN THE UNIVESRSE God is there, the Psalmist even says, “If I make my bed in hell even there you are with me.” So it doesn’t matter if you are at the foot of the tower or the top of the tower or in the Milky Way galaxy you are in God and God is in you. And secondly, when it comes to where heaven is, Jesus said, “The kingdom of God comes without observation: neither shall they say look here or look there, for the Kingdom of God is within (and among) you.” Just some things to think about.

  5. Albert Einstein once wrote: “…most beautiful and profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and most radiant beauty – which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive form – this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of all religion.”

  6. This is beautiful, Matthew. Yes! I do meditate on Creation–creation here on Earth and creation in the skies. A photo I took at Monument Valley is one that helps me focus my attention and now these photos from JWST are others, especially the one of the Carina Nebula. I am posting again below the chant I use with my Monument Valley photograph in front of me. I took it at dawn and it is of dirt, a dawning stream of light and the powder-blue sky. What a collision of worlds we live in right now–politically so very, very dark and scientifically so stunningly alive!

    Awake O my soul awake, and know that you are born of the earth
    (I call upon my ancestors for help)
    Awake O my soul awake to the river of light that runs through you
    (I call upon the angels for help)
    Awake O my soul awake to the sky above that contains you
    (I call upon my allies for help)
    Awake O my soul awake . . .
    I hear the pounding of my ancestors’ feet in the earth below me
    I detect the songs of the angels in the sunrise greeting me
    I feel the arms of my allies comforting me
    Here, God, is your presence . . . here . . . here
    In all these things

  7. Yes Matthew, Divine Love~Wisdom, like the mystics have experienced and taught us, is within and among us (microcosm and macrocosm) in Sacred relationships with our selves, others, Mother Earth and all Her creatures, our spiritual multidimensions (including our spirit guides/angels), and our beautiful evolving multiverse Creation~Cosmos… Thank you for including in your DM Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si” (2021). He is praying for all humanity to be more aware of the Sacredness of our home/nest, Mother Earth, and to be more compassionate and healing towards Her and all Her children, by compassionately building more simple, sustainable, and equitable communities. This is also the message of Michael Dowd and 85 environmentalists and spiritual teachers/leaders in his website, post doom.com, about the imminent ending of our global industrial civilization. Blessings!
    🔥❤️🙏

    1. P.S.: We still have a lot to learn from indigenous peoples and cultures around the world that are still surviving, about developing more simple, sustainable, equitable small communities living in spiritual harmony with sacred Mother Earth, Her living creatures and environment!
      🔥❤️🙏

  8. Jeanette Metler

    Will you, my Beloved
    accept the nebula ring I offer
    from the southern realm of my heart,
    once pierced by the lance,
    my undying love… misunderstood.

    Will you my Beloved,
    accept the light of saphire blue,
    the encircling of my compassion,
    pulsating like a radiant star
    from my gaze that is ever upon you?

    Will you, my Beloved
    return to me, face to face
    to encounter my passionate
    unconditional love, that binds
    our hearts together as One?

    Will you, my Beloved
    surrender to my embrace
    as I wrap my essence
    around your soul
    offering you a ruby red kiss?

        1. Jeanette Metler

          Yes Damian, I am the author of the poem. The words came to me, as I meditated and contemplated upon the Webb telescope images within today’s DM. If you look upon these, while reading the poem… you’ll see the connection and the communion with Spirit that unfolded, evolved and emerged throughout the creative process… that were inspiring as well as comforting to my soul. Seems the words had a similar effect on others.

          Jeanette

    1. Very beautiful, Jeanette. Sometimes only poetry and other forms of art can awaken us to the depth of the spiritual. Prose—unless exquisitely written—simply cannot express what God is.

  9. I am struck today by the similarity of the Banner Image of the Southern Ring Nebula and Hildegard’s painting.

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