THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF CREATION IS NEITHER INCREDIBLE NOR UNREASONABLE.
We have hitherto considered the supernatural in its relation to God.
We will now look at it as it regards creatures. And first, as every
one acknowledges that God is the Efficient Cause, on whom both heaven
and earth depend, it is neither untrue nor irrational to say, that God
has created all things in time, or that a certain principle has out of
nothing made all things, both visible and invisible. For what is an
efficient cause, save a cause that gives being to its effects? And is not
the most perfect cause, that which acts upon the most numerous and the
most remote things? God, therefore, being Pure and Perfect, exercises His
power over the being of all things. Consequently, all things depend on
Him.
It is true that, in earthly things, imperfection precedes perfection.
Nevertheless, speaking strictly, perfection always precedes imperfection;
because every imperfect thing depends upon the perfect. God, therefore,
being the most pure and perfect Act, precedes all things, and all things
are made by Him.
We believe, further, and most reasonably, that all things were made out
of nothing, without any pre-existing matter. For, although all things
in nature and in art require material on which to operate, God, being
the universal cause of all effects, gives being to all things; and as
being is a universal effect, it can be produced only by the universal
Cause, who is God. Nothing can exist that has not been produced by Him;
and even those things which are made out of matter, owe their being
to Him who gave being to that matter. For all matter is either made
out of something, or out of nothing. If it be made out of nothing, our
proposition is proved. If it be made out of something, that something
must likewise have been made out of something else. So that we must
finally accept either the hypothesis of creation out of nothing, or that
of eternal matter. This latter alternative is so unreasonable, that we
are driven to the former, namely, that all things were created originally
out of nothing; and, that from created matter other creatures have been
produced. And as God acts, not from necessity but by free will, it is
not necessary to say, that the world was created from eternity; but
that it was made at the time chosen by the Divine Wisdom. The reason
for creation in time, is hidden in the inscrutable counsels of the Most
High. We can, however, in some measure, see its congruity with the Divine
Nature and its utility to man. God has done all things for the good of
His elect. Now this good consists, above all, in the knowledge of God;
and man can know God more perfectly through His having created the world
in time, than if He had created it from all eternity. For, the fact
that the world was created in time, shows that God is infinitely perfect
and infinitely happy in Himself, and that He has no need of creatures;
otherwise He would not have deferred their creation. Thus, the Christian
Faith teaches nothing incredible, nor irrational, about creation.
We will now dismiss this subject. It has been amply treated by the
doctors of the Church, who have pulverised the frivolous arguments
whereby Aristotle, and other philosophers, have sought to prove the
eternity of this world.