The Glory of the Cosmos

In recent years controversy over the Catholic Church's stance on environmentalism has increased. In order to avoid the errors promoted by some environmentalists—sometimes even going as far as a revived paganism—some Catholics have embraced a point of view rooted ultimately in deism or Cartesian philosophy. This book seeks to explore the question from the standpoint of authentic Catholic theology and philosophy, the theology and philosophy of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas. Readers, regardless of their ideology, will be challenged to rethink their positions, to look beyond the political strife of our time and engage with the timeless teaching of the Church. 

Contributions by: 

Thomas Storck ∙ Pater Edmund Waldstein ∙ Michael Storck ∙ Susan Waldstein ∙ Christopher Shannon ∙ Christopher Zehnder ∙ David Clayton ∙ Peter Kwasniewski 

Praise for the book

With a sensitivity to the deep and perennial truths, Storck has assembled here in this volume a chorus of witnesses sure to prompt in each of us a deeper evaluation of our own posture before creation, indeed, the Lord of Creation. Without resentment or nostalgia, this collection is a call to contemplation of the splendor of creation, desperately needed in an age exhausted by the most alluring, yet empty promises. – Christopher J. Thompson, Ph.D., Academic Dean, St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, University of St. Thomas

A brilliant and timely contribution to the Catholic conversation on ecology. To the extent that Pope Francis´ encyclical Laudato Si´ is the fruit of a dialogue between St. Francis of Assisi and Romano Guardini, The Glory of the Cosmos invites Thomas Aquinas to the table and explores insights and applications of Catholic thought to the liturgy, economy, scriptures, technology, philosophy, agriculture and theology, drawing on the rich tradition of the Church. – Ricardo Simmonds, founder of Creatio, a Catholic environmental organization

The relatively recent focus in Catholic magisterial teaching on human care for creation necessitates a deep reflection by Catholic theologians and philosophers of traditionalist inclination on the relationship between God, humanity, and physical creation. The Glory of the Cosmos provides a much-needed foundation, in line with modern Thomist thought, for such reflection. At the same time, the clearly written essays in this collection are accessible to a general readership. The book would make an excellent addition to any theological and philosophical library. – Keith Lemna, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, Author of The Apocalypse of Wisdom: Louis Bouyer’s Theological Recovery of the Cosmos

In this collection you will find not only an edifying series of reflections on the Catholic Church’s teaching on our place and role in the natural world, but you will meet the Catholic tradition’s great sources of philosophical and theological insight, including Plato and Aristotle, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, and more. The essays directly engage the core falsehoods of the Cartesian project of the mastery of nature that has culminated today in a ‘technocratic paradigm’, with its unlimited drive for power without ends—whether practical or theoretical—over the natural world and the people in it. Readers will encounter the calm strength of the Catholic contemplative spirit, asking them to turn and see the glory of the cosmos and showing them how. – John G. Brungardt, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Philosophy, School of Catholic Studies, Newman University