It is becoming ever more apparent that the discoveries of science, and especially the discoveries of astronomy and cosmology, are offering today what it eras past only religion has: a sense of wonder, and of awe; a sense that the world is rational; a sense, even, of the sacred; hints to believers of the nature and character of God”. So writes Sharon Begley in her introduction to The Hand of God, a pairing of some of the most remarkable photographs ever made with some of the most thought-provoking observations ever written.
Throughout history, scientists and theologians, artists and writers, poets and philosophers all have struggled eloquently to make sense of the universe and God’s part in it. Together, the images in The Hand of God and the accompanying thoughts and reflections encourage a sense of awe, and even perhaps of purpose, in an age often hostile to both.