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The Catechism of the Catholic Church Today on Creation out of Nothing.

The Catechism Today
Al the Church Fathers
From the Scriptures

This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church states on this issue:

IV. The Mystery Of Creation

God creates by wisdom and love

295 We believe that God created the world according to his wisdom. (cf. Wisdom 9:9) It is not the product of any necessity whatever, nor of blind fate or chance. We believe that it proceeds from God's free will; he wanted to make his creatures share in his being, wisdom and goodness: "For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." (Revelation 4:11) Therefore the Psalmist exclaims: "O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all"; and "The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made." (Psalm 104:24; 145:9)

God creates "out of nothing"

296 We believe that God needs no pre-existent thing or any help in order to create, nor is creation any sort of necessary emanation from the divine substance. (cf. Vatican I, Dei Filius, canon 2-4: DS 3022-3024) God creates freely "out of nothing": (Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 800; cf. DS 3025)

If God had drawn the world from pre-existent matter, what would be so extraordinary in that? A human artisan makes from a given material whatever he wants, while God shows his power by starting from nothing to make all he wants.

St. Theophilus of Antioch, Ad Autolycum II, 4: PG 6,1052

297 Scripture bears witness to faith in creation "out of nothing" as a truth full of promise and hope. Thus the mother of seven sons encourages them for martyrdom:

I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you. Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws. . . Look at the Heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. Thus also mankind comes into being. (2 Maccabees 7:22-21,28)

298 Since God could create everything out of nothing, he can also, through the Holy Spirit, give spiritual life to sinners by creating a pure heart in them, (cf. Psalm 51:12) and bodily life to the dead through the Resurrection. God "gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist." (Romans 4:17) And since God was able to make light shine in darkness by his Word, he can also give the light of faith to those who do not yet know him. (cf. Genesis 1:3; 2 Corinthians 4:6)

God creates an ordered and good world

299 Because God creates through wisdom, his creation is ordered: "You have arranged all things by measure and number and weight." (Wisdom 11:20) The universe, created in and by the eternal Word, the "image of the invisible God", is destined for and addressed to man, himself created in the "image of God" and called to a personal relationship with God. (Colossians 1:15, Genesis 1:26) Our human understanding, which shares in the light of the divine intellect, can understand what God tells us by means of his creation, though not without great effort and only in a spirit of humility and respect before the Creator and his work. (cf. Psalm 19:2-5; Job 42:3) Because creation comes forth from God's goodness, it shares in that goodness - "And God saw that it was good. . . very good" (Genesis 1:4,10,12,18,21,31) - for God willed creation as a gift addressed to man, an inheritance destined for and entrusted to him. On many occasions the Church has had to defend the goodness of creation, including that of the physical world. (cf. Denzinger-Schonmetzer 286; 455-463; 800; 1333; 3002)

God transcends creation and is present to it.

300 God is infinitely greater than all his works: "You have set your glory above the heavens." (Psalm 8:1; cf. Sirach 43:28) Indeed, God's "greatness is unsearchable". (Psalm 145:3) But because he is the free and sovereign Creator, the first cause of all that exists, God is present to his creatures' inmost being: "In him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28) In the words of St. Augustine, God is

"higher than my highest and more inward than my innermost self."

St. Augustine, Conf. 3,6,11: PL 32,688

God upholds and sustains creation.

301 With creation, God does not abandon his creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and at every moment, upholds and sustains them in being, enables them to act and brings them to their final end. Recognizing this utter dependence with respect to the Creator is a source of wisdom and freedom, of joy and confidence:

For you love all things that exist, and detest none of the things that you have made; for you would not have made anything if you had hated it. How would anything have endured, if you had not willed it? Or how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved? You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord, you who love the living. (Wisdom 11:24-26)

In Brief

315 In the creation of the world and of man, God gave the first and universal witness to his almighty love and his wisdom, the first proclamation of the "plan of his loving goodness", which finds its goal in the new creation in Christ.

316 Though the work of creation is attributed to the Father in particular, it is equally a truth of faith that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit together are the one, indivisible principle of creation.

317 God alone created the universe, freely, directly and without any help.

318 No creature has the infinite power necessary to "create" in the proper sense of the word, that is, to produce and give being to that which had in no way possessed it (to call into existence "out of nothing"). (cf. Denzinger-Schonmetzer 3624)

319 God created the world to show forth and communicate his glory. That his creatures should share in his truth, goodness and beauty - this is the glory for which God created them.

320 God created the universe and keeps it in existence by his Word, the Son "upholding the universe by his word of power" (Hebrews 1:3), and by his Creator Spirit, the giver of life.

— St. Hermas, (A.D. c.40-100)
— Aristides of Athens, (A.D. 110-180)
— St. Theophilus of Antioch, (unknown - A.D. c.186)
— St. Irenæus of Lyons, (A.D. 125-202)
— Tertullian, (A.D. 160-218)
— St. Hippolytus of Rome, (A.D. 170-236)
— Origen of Alexandria, (A.D. 184-253)
— St. Cyprian of Carthage, (A.D. 200-258)
— Lactantius, (A.D. 240-c.330)
— St. Methodius of Olympus, (A.D. 250-311)
— The Apostolic Constitutions (or Constitutions of the Holy Apostles), (A.D. c.270)
— St. Augustine of Hippo, (A.D. 354-428)

St. Hermas, (A.D. c.40-100), author of the book called "The Shepherd" (A.D. c.90-c.150): a work which had great authority in ancient times, considered a valuable book by many Christians.

Believe first of all that God is one, that he created all things and set them in order and brought out of nonexistence ito existence everything that is, and that he contains all things while he himself is uncontained.

The Shepherd, 2:1:1 [A.D. 80]

Aristides of Athens, (A.D. 110-180), Greek; second century Greek Christian author who is primarily known as the author of the Apology of Aristides.

Let us proceed, then, 0 king, to the elements themselves, so that we may demonstrate concerning them that they are not gods but corruptible and changeable things, produced out of the nonexistent by him that is truly God, who is incorruptible and unchangeable and invisible, but who sees all things and changes them and alters them as he wills.

Apology 4 [A.D. 140]

St. Theophilus of Antioch, (unknown - A.D. c.186), Patriarch of Antioch, born pagan but embraced Christianity by studying the Holy Scriptures, especially the prophetical books. Wrote against idols, made contributions to Christian literature, polemics, exegetics, and apologetics.

Furthermore, inasmuch as God is uncreated, he is also unchangeable; so also, if matter were uncreated, it would be unchangeable and equal to God. That which is created is alterable and changeable, while that which is uncreated is unalterable and unchangeable. What great thing were it, if God made the world out of existing matter? Even a human artist, when he obtains material from someone, makes of it whatever he pleases. But the power of God is made evident in this, that he makes whatever he pleases out of what does not exist, and the giving of life and movement belongs to none other but to God alone.

To Autolycus 2:4 [A.D. 181]

St. Irenæus of Lyons, (A.D. 125-202), Asia Minor; bishop, missionary, theologian, defender of orthodoxy. Though by birth a Greek, he was Bishop of Lyons in the second century. He tells us that, in his early youth, he learned the rudiments of religion from St. Polycarp, the disciple of St. John the Apostle. He wrote several works, of which only a few fragments are now known, with the exception of his Treatise against Heretics which we have in five books.

Men indeed are not able to make something from nothing but only from existing material. God, however, is greater than men first of all in this: that when nothing existed beforehand, he called into existence the very material for his creation.

Against Heresies 2:10:4 [A.D. 189]

Tertullian, (A.D. 160-218), North African; ecclesiastical writer, Christian apologist and lawyer, son of a centurion and contemporary of St. Irenæus, a native and citizen of Carthage. The zeal and ability with which he defended the Christian cause, and vindicated its faith and discipline, have immortalized his name, though it has suffered by his adoption, around the year A.D. 200, of some of the Montanist's errors, whose cause he is thought to have supported until his death. His works are numerous, and are written with great ability and erudition, but in an harsh style.

The object of our worship is the one God, who, by the word of his command, by the reason of his plan, and by the strength of his power, has brought forth from nothing for the glory of his majesty this whole construction of elements, bodies, and spirits; whence also the Greeks have bestowed upon the world the name Cosmos.

Apology 17:1 [A.D. 197]

There is, however, a rule of faith; and so that we may acknowledge at this point what it is we defend, it is this precisely that we believe: There is only one God and none other besides him, the Creator of the world who brought forth all things out of nothing through his Word, first of all sent forth".

The Prescription Against Heretics 13:1 [A.D. 200]

St. Hippolytus of Rome, (A.D. 170-236), Roman; bishop and martyr, probably a scholar of St. Irenæus of Lyons.

Then shall the righteous answer, astonished at the mighty and wondrous fact that he, whom the hosts of angels cannot look upon openly, addresses them as friends, and shall cry out to him, "Lord, when saw we you hungry, and fed you? Master, when saw we you thirsty, and gave you drink? You Terrible One, when saw we you naked, and clothed you? Immortal, when saw we you a stranger, and took you in? You friend of man, when saw we you sick or in prison, and came to you? You are the ever-living One. You are without beginning, like the Father, and co-eternal with the Spirit. You are he who made all things out of nothing".

Discourse on the End of the World 43 [A.D. 217]

Origen of Alexandria, (A.D. 184-253), Alexandrian; born in Egypt, philosopher, theologian, writer.

The specific points which are clearly handed down through the apostolic preaching are these: First, that there is one God who created and arranged all things and who, when nothing existed, called all things into existence.

On First Principles 10:4 [A.D. 225]

St. Cyprian of Carthage, (A.D. 200-258), North African; bishop; biblical scholar, martyr.

[The mother of the seven Maccabean martyrs said:] '0 son, pity me that bore you [nine] months in the womb, and gave you milk for three years, and nourished you and brought you up to this age; I pray you, 0 son, look upon the Heaven and the earth; and having considered all the things which are in them, understand that out of nothing God made these things and the human race.

Exhortation to Martyrdom 11 [A.D. 253]

Lactantius, (A.D. 240-c.330), was an early Christian author, the goal of his writings was to present Christianity in a form that would be attractive to philosophical pagans.

Let no one inquire of what materials God made those so great and wonderful works, for he made all things out of nothing. Without wood a carpenter will build nothing, because the wood itself he is not able to make. Not to be able is a quality of weak humanity. But: God himself makes his own material, because he is able. To be able is a quality of God, and, were he not able, neither would he be God. Man makes things out of what already exists, because he is... of limited and moderate power. God makes things from what does not exist, because he is strong; because of his strength, his power is immeasurable, having neither end nor limitation, like the life itself of the maker.

Divine Institutes 2:8:8 [A.D. 307]

St. Methodius of Olympus, (A.D. 250-311), Asia Minor; bishop, ecclesiastical writer, martyr.

In fact out of nothing, man is brought into being, [so] how much rather shall man spring again into being out of a previously existing man? For it: is not so difficult to make anything anew after it has once existed and fallen into decay, as to produce out of nothing that which has never existed".

Discourse on the Resurrection 1:14 [A.D.300]

All things are placed under you [God] as their cause and author, as he who brought all things into being out of nothing, and gave to what was unstable a firm coherence; as the connecting band and preserver of that which has been brought into being; as the framer of things by nature different; as he who, with wise and steady hand, holds the helm of the universe: as the very principle of all good order; as the unchallengeable bond of concord and peace.

Oration on Simeon and Anna 6 [A.D. 305]

The Apostolic Constitutions (or Constitutions of the Holy Apostles), dated A.D.c 270, is a Christian collection of eight treatises which belongs to genre of the Church Orders.

For you [Father] are eternal knowledge, everlasting sight, unbegotten hearing, untaught wisdom, the first by nature, and the measure of being, and beyond all number; who brought all things out of nothing into being by your only begotten Son, but begot him before all ages by your will, your power, and your goodness, without any instrument, the only begotten Son, God the Word.

Apostolic Constitutions 8:2:12 [A.D. 400]

St. Augustine of Hippo, (A.D. 354-428), North African; born in Tagaste in A.D. 354, baptized in Milan in A.D. 387, ordained a priest in A.D. 391 and appointed bishop of Hippo in A.D. 395, Augustine is one of our greatest theologians. His numerous works display genius of the highest order, and have ever had great weight in the Christian churches. He is also a Doctor of the Church.

God transcends creation and is present to it.

300 God is infinitely greater than all his works: "You have set your glory above the heavens."Indeed, God's "greatness is unsearchable". But because he is the free and sovereign Creator, the first cause of all that exists, God is present to his creatures' inmost being: "In him we live and move and have our being." In the words of St. Augustine,

God is "higher than my highest and more inward than my innermost self".

Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC paragraph 300

The Early Fathers also taught that God created everything out of nothing. They believed that our complex universe was the creation of an intelligent being and not the result of a series of random accidents.

The Church's Scriptures that support Creation out of Nothing:

A mother speaking to her seven sons says the following.

22 "I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you. 23 Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws." . . . . 28 I beseech you, my child, to look at the Heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. Thus also mankind comes into being.

2 Maccabees 7:22-23, 28

God's Promise realized through Faith

17 As it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Romans 4:17

From out of the darkness in our heart we give glory to God.

6 For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," [Genesis 1:3] who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6