Creation and providence

Choose an option and you are told at once whether it was right. The answer and the reason wait behind “Show the answer”.

A watercolor of a lamb watering a young sprout from a watering can under a fan of golden light, with a yellow star and a small bird beside it

What does it mean to say that “God created the world out of nothing”?
1. That he brought it into being by his word alone, with no material already there to work from
2. That he skilfully shaped and set in order material that was already lying about in chaos
3. That the world flowed out of God's own being of its own accord
4. That the world, like God, has simply always been there from the start
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Answer ① That he brought it into being by his word alone, with no material already there to work from
Creation is not the reworking of material but the giving of existence itself. The second makes God a craftsman tied to the stuff at hand; the third is emanation, the world spilling out of God by necessity; and the fourth sets the world up as something every bit as eternal as God.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 296-298
Where does the idea that “God made the world and then left it to run by itself” go wrong?
1. Nothing is wrong with it; the Church teaches the same thing
2. It overlooks the fact that God is holding his creatures in being at this very moment
3. It denies outright that God made the world at all
4. It forgets that creation took an enormously long time
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Answer ② It overlooks the fact that God is holding his creatures in being at this very moment
If God were to let go, a creature would fall back into nothing that same instant. Seeing the world as a clock wound up and set down is called deism — a half-truth that grants creation but cuts away God's preserving of the world and his providence.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 285, 301
Creation was the work of the Father alone; the Son and the Holy Spirit had no part in it.
1. Yes
2. No
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Answer ② No
Creation is the work of the three persons together. Scripture says that all things came to be through the Word and that the Spirit of God hovered over the waters, and the Church has long spoken of the Father creating by his “two hands”, the Word and the Holy Spirit.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 290-292
What does the Church teach about why God created the world?
1. Because he was lonely on his own and needed someone to talk to
2. Because he wanted creatures to make up for what he was short of
3. Because he willed to show forth his glory and to share his own goodness and happiness
4. Because he was bound by a necessity that left him no choice
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Answer ③ Because he willed to show forth his glory and to share his own goodness and happiness
God created not because anything was missing in him but out of a goodness that overflows. The first and the second make God someone in need, and the fourth turns a free decision of love into something he could not help. God's glory and human happiness are not set against each other.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 293-295
What is the relationship between the six days of creation in Genesis and scientific research into the age of the universe and of life?
1. What science has found contradicts the faith, so it must all be rejected
2. Genesis is only an ancient people's tale and carries no truth at all
3. Scripture is a natural science textbook, so its dates and its order have to be read literally, word for word
4. They are asking different questions, so genuine science and faith do not collide
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Answer ④ They are asking different questions, so genuine science and faith do not collide
Scripture tells us not how the world works but who brought it into being and for what. The first and the third both mistake Scripture for a science textbook and so make the same error from opposite sides, while the second rubs out the truth of faith that Scripture hands on.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 159, 283-284, 337
What does “the providence of God” refer to?
1. The care by which God leads his creatures toward their completion
2. That everything that will happen is already settled and no one can change it
3. That God looks after the large matters and leaves the small ones to chance
4. That God lets good things happen only to people of deep faith
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Answer ① The care by which God leads his creatures toward their completion
Creation did not end with everything finished; it is on its way toward completion, and God watches over that road and leads it. The second is the fatalism that rubs out human freedom, while the third and the fourth take the care of a Father who counts even the hairs of our head and shrink it to a question of size or of reward.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 302-303
Even under God's providence, human beings act with real freedom and work together with God's plan.
1. Yes
2. No
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Answer ① Yes
God gave his creatures not only their being but the dignity of acting for themselves and of being causes for one another. Using providence as an excuse to lighten human responsibility does not honor God's work; it makes it look smaller than it is.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 306-308
How can we profess that God is good and almighty when there is evil in the world?
1. Because evil is not really there and people only feel that it is
2. Because God does not will evil but permits it, and draws good even out of that evil
3. Because there is another power that matches God, and evil is that power's business
4. Because God would like to stop evil but has not the strength for it
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Answer ② Because God does not will evil but permits it, and draws good even out of that evil
Joseph, sold by his brothers, and the cross are where this shows most clearly. The first turns evil into a trick of the mind; the third is the dualism that sets up two gods, one of good and one of evil; and the fourth cuts down God's almighty power. Why the road had to run this way we shall understand fully only at the end.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 309-314
Angels are what people who lived good lives become after they die.
1. Yes
2. No
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Answer ② No
Angels are purely spiritual beings, created as angels from the start, and so a different creature from us. Saying that the dead become angels sounds warm, but it is not what the Church teaches: a human being rises again and is brought to completion as a human being.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 328-330
Which of these matches what the Church teaches about creatures other than human beings?
1. They have worth only when they are of use to people
2. They are no different from human beings, so they must be treated exactly alike
3. Each has a goodness of its own, and, leaning on one another, they give praise to God
4. Being matter, they are in themselves close to evil
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Answer ③ Each has a goodness of its own, and, leaning on one another, they give praise to God
“God saw that it was good” does not mean useful to people; it means good in itself. The first sees creatures as tools alone and lets us handle them however we please, the second rubs out the particular place entrusted to human beings, and the fourth is the old dualism that held matter to be evil.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 339-344