26. Creation
Part I
CREATION
When we recite the Creed, immediately after professing our faith in God the Father Almighty, we affirm that he is “the Creator of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.”1 In order to know the content of this truth of faith with precision, we should know the meaning of the term creation and why we say that God created all things.
1. The Notion of Creation
The word creation is often used in ordinary speech. For example, we may say that a certain novel is a great literary creation, or that the clothes sold in a department store are the creations of a fashion designer. In these cases, the word creation is used in a wide sense, and it refers to what could more properly be termed production or transformation. The genius of the writer in his novel is limited to describing the adventures he has had or those his imagination has conceived, making use of existing words. The high fashion couturier chooses the fabric and design that she considers to be most appropriate for the next season’s fashions.
There is a more precise, philosophical meaning of the term creation: the production of something out of nothing (ex nihilo), not out of any pre-existing substance. This is what we mean when we call God the Creator, because he did not make use of any pre-existing being for his work of creation. The writer needs words in order to express his ideas; the fashion designer needs cloth, scissors, needles, and other such tools in order to make clothing. In contrast, God does not need any materials or tools to create. If he wants something to come into being, he simply creates it with his infinite power.
St. Thomas Aquinas defines creation as “the production of a thing in its entire substance, nothing, either uncreated or created by another, being presupposed.”2
In a truly creative act, the production should affect the entire substance, that is, the totality of the being and not just one aspect of it, such as color, size, or place. If it did not, it would be a simple modification and not, properly speaking, a creation. In this lies the difference between God’s creation and the activity of a creature. A painter does not produce the totality of his painting because the canvass and the colors already existed. The ironsmith does not make the whole ironwork because he did not make the iron from which he forged it. For creation, the production should be made out of nothing, that is, without anything presupposed. The starting point of the creative act is the absolute lack of being.
Creation has no before, only after. It is not a change or a movement, since there is no succession in it. Creation is the production of being.
2. The Beginning of the World
The world had a beginning in time (de fide).
Throughout history, there have always been some people who think that the world has eternally existed. “They are led to this view because they do not know how to imagine the beginning of the world. They are, says Rabbi Moses [Maimonides], like a boy who immediately after his birth is placed in an island, and remains ignorant of the manner of child-bearing and of infant’s birth. Thus, when he grows up, if one explains all things to him, he will not believe how a man could once have been in his mother’s womb. So also those who consider the world as it is now, do not believe that it had a beginning.”3
The Magisterium of the Church has condemned the affirmation that the world has eternally existed as heretical. It has explicitly defined that God created it “from the very beginning of time.”4
Sacred Scripture, in the Book of Genesis, mentions the initial moment of creation: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gn 1:1). Creation is the foundation of God’s plan of salvation and the beginning of the history of salvation, which has its apex in Christ. Referring to the vocation with which God calls each Christian, St. Paul writes to the Ephesians, “He chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4). From this expression of the Apostle, it is immediately clear that the world began to exist at a definite moment.
The Fathers of the Church unanimously attest to the belief of the Church on this matter. Origen says, “The Church preaches that this world was made and that it began to exist at a given moment.”5 St. Basil warns, “Do not think that the visible world did not have a beginning. If the celestial bodies move in circles in the heavens without our being able to ascertain how was the beginning of their movement, beware of thinking that these orbiting bodies did not have a beginning.”6
Reason tells us that it is not necessary that the world should have existed always, although such a possibility is not absurd either. Our certainty that it began to exist in time comes to us from our faith. According to St. Thomas, this revealed truth—though perfectly possible—cannot be demonstrated.
Nowadays, astronomical, geological, and physical calculations allow us to establish the age of the universe. The figures quoted are about five billion years for the earth and close to 15 billion for the universe. Nevertheless, the reasoning behind these calculations—mainly the increase in entropy (second principle of thermodynamics) and the continuous expansion of the universe—though highly reliable, is probably not irrefutable, since their formulation is based on experimental data rather than on metaphysical reality. In any case, the teaching of revelation is clear: The universe was created in time.
Creation in time means that if we were able to go back in the history of the cosmos, we would reach an initial point before which there was nothing except God, who is eternal. There would not even be time because time implies change, and to have change, there must be things that change. That is why time begins with creation.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that it is not so important to determine when and how the world came to be or when humans appeared, but rather to discover the meaning of this origin: whether the world and mankind are governed by mere chance, a blind destiny, an unidentified necessity, or, rather, if they are governed by a transcendent, intelligent, and good Being called God.7 Further, if the world proceeds from the wisdom and goodness of God, why is there evil? From where does evil come? Who is responsible for it? Is there a possibility of being liberated from evil?
3. The Biblical Account of Creation
The Book of Genesis gives us an account in which God’s work of creation is distributed over six days (cf. Gn 1:1–31). It is a simple, historical narrative that is easy for all to understand. It does not try to give a scientific explanation of the world’s beginning. That could be the subject of an astrophysical or geological treatise, but not of Sacred Scripture. The purpose of Sacred Scripture is to teach people the truths needed for salvation. So, it uses a language that can be understood by all.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Pontifical Biblical Commission was asked the following question: “May one question the literal historical sense of these chapters [Genesis 1–3] when they deal on facts that touch on fundamental points of the Christian religion? To give some examples: the creation of all things made by God in the beginning of time; the special creation of man; the formation of the first woman from the first man; the unity of the human race; the original happiness of our first parents in the state of justice, integrity, and immortality; the command given to man by God as a test of obedience; the transgression of the divine command at the persuasion of the devil in the form of a serpent; the degradation of our first parents from that primeval state of innocence; and the promise of a future Redeemer.”
The answer was “The literal historical sense may not be questioned.”8 The accounts of these events in Sacred Scripture are not myths or legends, or moralizing fables, but historical narratives in the literal sense. Since there can be no error in the sacred books (because they are inspired by God), and since these events are narrated as having really happened, it follows that they are true. Nevertheless, these accounts should not be considered a scientific explanation of the constitution of the world, which the text itself has never pretended to be.
Many recent discoveries in the natural sciences seem to support the authenticity of truths narrated in Genesis.
Every now and then, monotonously sounding like a broken record, some people try to resurrect a supposed incompatibility between faith and science, between human knowledge and divine revelation. But such incompatibility could only arise—and then only apparently—from a misunderstanding of the elements of the problem.
If the world has come from God, if he has created man in his image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26) and given him a spark of divine light, the task of our intellect should be to uncover the divine meaning imbedded in all things by their nature, even if this can be attained only by dint of hard work. And with the light of faith, we also can perceive their supernatural purpose, resulting from the elevation of the natural order to the higher order of grace. We can never be afraid of developing human knowledge, because all intellectual effort, if it is serious, is aimed at the truth. Christ assures us, “I am the truth” (Jn 14:6).9
Some centuries ago, a person without faith may have thought that matter was eternal. Nowadays, many scientists consider this stand untenable. As for the theory of cosmic evolution, we should note that it cannot be considered a demonstrated truth in all its aspects. Nevertheless, there is no problem in accepting it as a working hypothesis in scientific research, within the limits pointed out by the Magisterium.10
There are several grave errors about creation.11 Pantheism teaches that everything is God, that the world is God, and that the evolution of the world is the evolution of God. Others say that the world is a necessary emanation of God that springs from him and returns to him.
Dualism and Manichaeism teach that there are two eternal principles: Goodness and Evil, or Light and Darkness, which are in permanent struggle.
The Gnostics teach that the material world is basically evil—the result of a fall—and thus, it must be rejected and overcome.
Deism admits that God has created the world, but it claims that, like a watchmaker, once he did it, he abandoned it to itself.
Materialism does not accept any transcendent origin of the world. It sees only the mere interaction of matter, which has always existed.
Footnotes:
1. Cf. CCC, 279–421.
2. ST, I, q. 65, a. 3.
3. The Catechetical Instructions of St. Thomas Aquinas, p. 12.
4. DS 800. The First Vatican Council repeated this using the same words: DS 3002.
5. Origen, De princ. Praef., 7.
6. St. Basil, In Hexaem. hom. 1.7.
7. Cf. CCC, 284.
8. DS 3114.
9. St. Josemaría Escrivá, Christ is Passing By, 10.
10. Cf. Pius XII, Enc. Humani Generis: DS 3895–98.
11. Cf. CCC, 285.
CREATION
When we recite the Creed, immediately after professing our faith in God the Father Almighty, we affirm that he is “the Creator of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.”1 In order to know the content of this truth of faith with precision, we should know the meaning of the term creation and why we say that God created all things.
1. The Notion of Creation
The word creation is often used in ordinary speech. For example, we may say that a certain novel is a great literary creation, or that the clothes sold in a department store are the creations of a fashion designer. In these cases, the word creation is used in a wide sense, and it refers to what could more properly be termed production or transformation. The genius of the writer in his novel is limited to describing the adventures he has had or those his imagination has conceived, making use of existing words. The high fashion couturier chooses the fabric and design that she considers to be most appropriate for the next season’s fashions.
There is a more precise, philosophical meaning of the term creation: the production of something out of nothing (ex nihilo), not out of any pre-existing substance. This is what we mean when we call God the Creator, because he did not make use of any pre-existing being for his work of creation. The writer needs words in order to express his ideas; the fashion designer needs cloth, scissors, needles, and other such tools in order to make clothing. In contrast, God does not need any materials or tools to create. If he wants something to come into being, he simply creates it with his infinite power.
St. Thomas Aquinas defines creation as “the production of a thing in its entire substance, nothing, either uncreated or created by another, being presupposed.”2
In a truly creative act, the production should affect the entire substance, that is, the totality of the being and not just one aspect of it, such as color, size, or place. If it did not, it would be a simple modification and not, properly speaking, a creation. In this lies the difference between God’s creation and the activity of a creature. A painter does not produce the totality of his painting because the canvass and the colors already existed. The ironsmith does not make the whole ironwork because he did not make the iron from which he forged it. For creation, the production should be made out of nothing, that is, without anything presupposed. The starting point of the creative act is the absolute lack of being.
Creation has no before, only after. It is not a change or a movement, since there is no succession in it. Creation is the production of being.
2. The Beginning of the World
The world had a beginning in time (de fide).
Throughout history, there have always been some people who think that the world has eternally existed. “They are led to this view because they do not know how to imagine the beginning of the world. They are, says Rabbi Moses [Maimonides], like a boy who immediately after his birth is placed in an island, and remains ignorant of the manner of child-bearing and of infant’s birth. Thus, when he grows up, if one explains all things to him, he will not believe how a man could once have been in his mother’s womb. So also those who consider the world as it is now, do not believe that it had a beginning.”3
The Magisterium of the Church has condemned the affirmation that the world has eternally existed as heretical. It has explicitly defined that God created it “from the very beginning of time.”4
Sacred Scripture, in the Book of Genesis, mentions the initial moment of creation: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gn 1:1). Creation is the foundation of God’s plan of salvation and the beginning of the history of salvation, which has its apex in Christ. Referring to the vocation with which God calls each Christian, St. Paul writes to the Ephesians, “He chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4). From this expression of the Apostle, it is immediately clear that the world began to exist at a definite moment.
The Fathers of the Church unanimously attest to the belief of the Church on this matter. Origen says, “The Church preaches that this world was made and that it began to exist at a given moment.”5 St. Basil warns, “Do not think that the visible world did not have a beginning. If the celestial bodies move in circles in the heavens without our being able to ascertain how was the beginning of their movement, beware of thinking that these orbiting bodies did not have a beginning.”6
Reason tells us that it is not necessary that the world should have existed always, although such a possibility is not absurd either. Our certainty that it began to exist in time comes to us from our faith. According to St. Thomas, this revealed truth—though perfectly possible—cannot be demonstrated.
Nowadays, astronomical, geological, and physical calculations allow us to establish the age of the universe. The figures quoted are about five billion years for the earth and close to 15 billion for the universe. Nevertheless, the reasoning behind these calculations—mainly the increase in entropy (second principle of thermodynamics) and the continuous expansion of the universe—though highly reliable, is probably not irrefutable, since their formulation is based on experimental data rather than on metaphysical reality. In any case, the teaching of revelation is clear: The universe was created in time.
Creation in time means that if we were able to go back in the history of the cosmos, we would reach an initial point before which there was nothing except God, who is eternal. There would not even be time because time implies change, and to have change, there must be things that change. That is why time begins with creation.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that it is not so important to determine when and how the world came to be or when humans appeared, but rather to discover the meaning of this origin: whether the world and mankind are governed by mere chance, a blind destiny, an unidentified necessity, or, rather, if they are governed by a transcendent, intelligent, and good Being called God.7 Further, if the world proceeds from the wisdom and goodness of God, why is there evil? From where does evil come? Who is responsible for it? Is there a possibility of being liberated from evil?
3. The Biblical Account of Creation
The Book of Genesis gives us an account in which God’s work of creation is distributed over six days (cf. Gn 1:1–31). It is a simple, historical narrative that is easy for all to understand. It does not try to give a scientific explanation of the world’s beginning. That could be the subject of an astrophysical or geological treatise, but not of Sacred Scripture. The purpose of Sacred Scripture is to teach people the truths needed for salvation. So, it uses a language that can be understood by all.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Pontifical Biblical Commission was asked the following question: “May one question the literal historical sense of these chapters [Genesis 1–3] when they deal on facts that touch on fundamental points of the Christian religion? To give some examples: the creation of all things made by God in the beginning of time; the special creation of man; the formation of the first woman from the first man; the unity of the human race; the original happiness of our first parents in the state of justice, integrity, and immortality; the command given to man by God as a test of obedience; the transgression of the divine command at the persuasion of the devil in the form of a serpent; the degradation of our first parents from that primeval state of innocence; and the promise of a future Redeemer.”
The answer was “The literal historical sense may not be questioned.”8 The accounts of these events in Sacred Scripture are not myths or legends, or moralizing fables, but historical narratives in the literal sense. Since there can be no error in the sacred books (because they are inspired by God), and since these events are narrated as having really happened, it follows that they are true. Nevertheless, these accounts should not be considered a scientific explanation of the constitution of the world, which the text itself has never pretended to be.
Many recent discoveries in the natural sciences seem to support the authenticity of truths narrated in Genesis.
Every now and then, monotonously sounding like a broken record, some people try to resurrect a supposed incompatibility between faith and science, between human knowledge and divine revelation. But such incompatibility could only arise—and then only apparently—from a misunderstanding of the elements of the problem.
If the world has come from God, if he has created man in his image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26) and given him a spark of divine light, the task of our intellect should be to uncover the divine meaning imbedded in all things by their nature, even if this can be attained only by dint of hard work. And with the light of faith, we also can perceive their supernatural purpose, resulting from the elevation of the natural order to the higher order of grace. We can never be afraid of developing human knowledge, because all intellectual effort, if it is serious, is aimed at the truth. Christ assures us, “I am the truth” (Jn 14:6).9
Some centuries ago, a person without faith may have thought that matter was eternal. Nowadays, many scientists consider this stand untenable. As for the theory of cosmic evolution, we should note that it cannot be considered a demonstrated truth in all its aspects. Nevertheless, there is no problem in accepting it as a working hypothesis in scientific research, within the limits pointed out by the Magisterium.10
There are several grave errors about creation.11 Pantheism teaches that everything is God, that the world is God, and that the evolution of the world is the evolution of God. Others say that the world is a necessary emanation of God that springs from him and returns to him.
Dualism and Manichaeism teach that there are two eternal principles: Goodness and Evil, or Light and Darkness, which are in permanent struggle.
The Gnostics teach that the material world is basically evil—the result of a fall—and thus, it must be rejected and overcome.
Deism admits that God has created the world, but it claims that, like a watchmaker, once he did it, he abandoned it to itself.
Materialism does not accept any transcendent origin of the world. It sees only the mere interaction of matter, which has always existed.
Footnotes:
1. Cf. CCC, 279–421.
2. ST, I, q. 65, a. 3.
3. The Catechetical Instructions of St. Thomas Aquinas, p. 12.
4. DS 800. The First Vatican Council repeated this using the same words: DS 3002.
5. Origen, De princ. Praef., 7.
6. St. Basil, In Hexaem. hom. 1.7.
7. Cf. CCC, 284.
8. DS 3114.
9. St. Josemaría Escrivá, Christ is Passing By, 10.
10. Cf. Pius XII, Enc. Humani Generis: DS 3895–98.
11. Cf. CCC, 285.