Creation

Creation is the act by which the eternal God gave a beginning to all that exists outside of himself — bringing the world, matter, time, space, angels, and human beings into being freely, out of nothing, and out of love (CCC 290, 296).

Creation Out of Nothing

God did not fashion the world from pre-existing material. He brought it into existence from nothing — creatio ex nihilo. The very existence of anything at all is God's free gift; there is no eternal matter that existed before God acted (CCC 296–297).

Creation Is Good

"God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good" (Genesis 1:31). Matter is not evil; the physical world is not an illusion or a prison. The created world is God's work and the theater of his saving action — to be received with gratitude and cared for with stewardship (CCC 299, 341).

Why God Created

God created not out of need or necessity but freely and out of love — to share his goodness and to invite creatures into a share of his own divine life. Creation is pure gift (CCC 293–295).

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Church accept evolution? The Church does not require a literal six-day creation and has not condemned the theory of biological evolution. What the Church insists on is that God created the universe from nothing, that every human soul is directly created by God (not evolved), and that the first human beings really existed and really fell (CCC 283, 366, 390).