Imagine finding and reading a novel by Anonymous. It’s very good. You insist that your friend read it because she’s a literature professor. She says that it’s the most excellent novel that she’s read. She passes it on to her colleagues, who pass it on, and it eventually becomes known worldwide. The consensus is that it’s the greatest story ever written. It is hailed as the unequaled and unsurpassed novel of all time. The book changes the way people think, talk, and act. Children are named after its characters. Its influence is everywhere.

The world burns with a desire for the author. People search the novel for clues about the writer. Entire libraries of books are written about the author. There is a never-ending search for his or her identity. Finally, decades after the book was found, a person steps out of the shadows and claims to be the author. After so long a wait, the world’s interest in the writer immediately surpasses its interest in the book. The writer holds a press conference. It’s broadcast live, and the world stops to watch, holds on to each word, and wonders if this is the one. The writer says things about the novel that no one else had ever said and reveals what had always been missed, despite decades of close reading, re-reading, and discussions about the book. Everyone listening knows that this person is indeed the author and that there is no other author–something inside of them says so–even though no one can prove it.

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Natural theology knows that God exists from his works. Revelation knows God through his deeds and words. There is a difference between knowing that God exists and knowing God. We must recognize God’s existence before we can receive in faith God’s Revelation. Creation had to prepare us for Revelation.

Creation continues to teach about God. That’s why images of The Creation are always important, like this Illumination on the Days of Creation initially found in the Bible of Souvigny: