Nature and Man

IN SEARCH OF TRUTH Over the centuries, man gradually developed a new understanding of nature. He realised that nature is not a god. Instead, it is a creature, in the same way as man is a creature. With this understanding, nature became an object of study and investigation for man rather than something to be feared, propitiated, and worshipped. Gradually, a new process began, a process of control over nature. Man’s search led him to discover different hidden forces inside nature. Then man started efforts to discover these forces and use them for his benefit. In this way, a new revolution began. Gradually, it transformed the pattern of human life in the 20th century. The world that had hitherto been hidden in nature appeared ultimately before man. In this way, humankind arrived in the modern civilised world. On the face of it, there is a big difference between these two worlds. If the first was characterised by nature worship; in the second, man regarded himself as the controller of nature. However, no essential difference exists between the ancient age and the modern age that succeeded it as regards the relationship between man and nature. In both these ages, man failed to discover the proper relationship between nature and himself. In both ancient and contemporary times, man remained unaware and ignorant of this vital matter. The fundamental error of ancient man was that he took nature as his deity, although nature is, in reality, a creature of God in the same way as man is. As a result of this error,