This booklet offers an unique presentation of the unfolding of our universe. It interweaves the insights of contemporary science with Christian faith, and reveals the divine orchestration of the Creation Story in a dramatic, fresh and appealing way.

Part One offers a brief background to the new story of creation which has emerged over the past century with the discovery of the expanding universe. We now know that the universe is 13.8 billion years old.

Part Two takes the reader through thirty stages of the development of the cosmos and of our Earth from the big bang to the present day. Each stage is succinctly outlined and offers material for prayerful pondering.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• Part One The New Story of Creation
  • 1 The New Cosmology
  • 2 Science and Scripture
  • 3 Finding God in Creation
  • 4 A Loving Gaze
  • 5 Climate Grief and Christian Hope
• Part Two The Creation Walk
  • Making the Most of the Creation Walk
  • Step 1 13,800,000,000 years ago, The Birth of the Cosmos
  • Step 2 12,800,000,000 years ago, Galaxies
  • Step 3 11,800,000,000 years ago, Molecules
  • Step 4 4,600,000,000 years ago, Sun and Earth
  • Step 5 4,300,000,000 years ago, The Moon
  • Step 6 4,100,000,000 years ago, Water and Earth
  • Step 7 4,000,000,000 years ago, The First Cells
  • Step 8 3,700,000,000 years ago, Photosynthesis
  • Step 9 2,000,000,000 years ago, A Breathing World
  • Step 10 1,000,000,000 years ago, Multi-celled Life
  • Step 11 525,000,000 years ago, Fish and Sight
  • Step 12 460,000,000 years ago, Plants and Animals
  • Step 13 From 444,000,000 years ago, Five Mass Extinctions of Species
  • Step 14 400,000,000 years ago, Flying Insects
  • Step 15 335,000,000 years ago, Forests
  • Step 16 235,000,000 years ago, Dinosaurs and Other Reptiles
  • Step 17 200,000,000 years ago, Mammals
  • Step 18 150,000,000 years ago, Birds and Flowers
  • Step 19 60,000,000 years ago, The Carnival of the Animals
  • Step 20 6,000,000 years ago, The Ancestors of Homo sapiens
  • Step 21 200,000 years ago, Homo sapiens
  • Step 22 16,000 years ago, Ireland’s Ice Cap Melts
  • Step 23 11,000 years ago, Agriculture
  • Step 24 5,000 years ago, Empires and Religions
  • Step 25 2,000 years ago, The New Creation
  • Step 26 1600 years ago, Irish Christianity
  • Step 27 250 years ago, The Anthropocene Era
  • Step 28 90 years ago, Our Expanding Universe
  • Step 29 50 years ago, A Small Blue Planet
  • Step 30 The God of Galaxies, Glow Worms and Grace Now and Forever
• Part Three What Hope for a Small Blue Planet?
  • 1 The God of Small Things
  • 2 Laudato Si’ Speaks of Hope
  • 3 Divine Power Is at Work
  • 4 God Makes the Barren Fruitful
  • 5 The New Creation Has Begun
  • 6 The Cosmos is Already Being Divinised
  • 7 May Nothing Be Lost!
• Sources
• Notes