62. What does Sacred Scripture teach about the creation of the visible world? (part 1)

62. What does Sacred Scripture teach about the creation of the visible world? (part 1)

(Comp 62) Through the account of the “six days” of creation Sacred Scripture teaches us the value of the created world and its purpose, namely, to praise God and to serve humanity. Every single thing owes its very existence to God from whom it receives its goodness and perfection, its proper laws and its proper place in the universe.

“In Brief”

(CCC 355) "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them" (Gen 1:27). Man occupies a unique place in creation: he is "in the image of God"; in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; he is created "male and female"; God established him in his friendship.

To deepen and explain

(CCC 337) God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine "work", concluded by the "rest" of the seventh day (Gen 1:l-2:4). On the subject of creation, the sacred text teaches the truths revealed by God for our salvation (Cf. DV 11), permitting us to "recognize the inner nature, the value and the ordering of the whole of creation to the praise of God" (LG 36 § 2). (CCC 338) Nothing exists that does not owe its existence to God the Creator. The world began when God's word drew it out of nothingness; all existent beings, all of nature, and all human history are rooted in this primordial event, the very genesis by which the world was constituted and time begun (Cf. St. Augustine, De Genesi adv. Man. 1, 2, 4: PL 34, 175).

On reflection

(CCC 341) The beauty of the universe: the order and harmony of the created world results from the diversity of beings and from the relationships which exist among them. Man discovers them progressively as the laws of nature. They call forth the admiration of scholars. The beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and submission of man's intellect and will. (IT CONTINUES)

(The question “What does Sacred Scripture teach about the creation of the visible world?” continues)