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I. «I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD»
§200
These are the words with which the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed begins. the
confession of God's oneness, which has its roots in the divine revelation of
the Old Covenant, is inseparable from the profession of God's existence and is
equally fundamental. God is unique; there is only one God: «The Christian
faith confesses that God is one in nature, substance and
essence.» 3
§201
To Israel, his chosen, God revealed himself as the only One: «Hear, O
Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.» 4
Through the prophets, God calls Israel and all nations to turn to him, the one
and only God: «Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I
am God, and there is no other.. . To me every knee shall bow, every tongue
shall swear. 'Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and
strength.'» 5
§202
Jesus himself affirms that God is «the one Lord» whom you must love
«with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and
with all your strength» .6 At the same time Jesus gives us to
understand that he himself is «the Lord» .7 To confess that
Jesus is Lord is distinctive of Christian faith. This is not contrary to belief
in the One God. Nor does believing in the Holy Spirit as «Lord and giver
of life» introduce any division into the One God:
We firmly believe and confess without reservation that there is only one true God, eternal infinite (immensus) and unchangeable, incomprehensible, almighty and ineffable, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; three persons indeed, but one essence, substance or nature entirely simple.
II. GOD REVEALS HIS NAME
§203
God revealed himself to his people Israel by making his name known to them. A
name expresses a person's essence and identity and the meaning of this person's
life. God has a name; he is not an anonymous force. To disclose one's name is
to make oneself known to others; in a way it is to hand oneself over by
becoming accessible, capable of being known more intimately and addressed
personally.
§204
God revealed himself progressively and under different names to his people, but
the revelation that proved to be the fundamental one for both the Old and the
New Covenants was the revelation of the divine name to Moses in the theophany
of the burning bush, on the threshold of the Exodus and of the covenant on
Sinai.
The living God
§205
God calls Moses from the midst of a bush that bums without being consumed:
«I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob.» 9 God is the God of the fathers, the One who had
called and guided the patriarchs in their wanderings. He is the faithful and
compassionate God who remembers them and his promises; he comes to free their
descendants from slavery. He is the God who, from beyond space and time, can do
this and wills to do it, the God who will put his almighty power to work for
this plan.
«I Am who I Am»
Moses said to God, «If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you', and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?» God said to Moses, «I AM WHO I AM.» and he said, «Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you'. . . this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.» 10
§206
In revealing his mysterious name, YHWH ("I AM HE WHO IS» , «I AM WHO
AM» or «I AM WHO I AM»), God says who he is and by what name he
is to be called. This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is
at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name, and hence it
better expresses God as what he is - infinitely above everything that we can
understand or say: he is the «hidden God» , his name is ineffable, and
he is the God who makes himself close to men.11
§207
By revealing his name God at the same time reveals his faithfulness which is
from everlasting to everlasting, valid for the past ("I am the God of your
father»), as for the future ("I will be with you»).12
God, who reveals his name as «I AM» , reveals himself as the God who
is always there, present to his people in order to save them.
§208
Faced with God's fascinating and mysterious presence, man discovers his own
insignificance. Before the burning bush, Moses takes off his sandals and veils
his face in the presence of God's holiness.13 Before the glory of the
thrice-holy God, Isaiah cries out: «Woe is me! I am lost; for I am a man
of unclean lips.» 14 Before the divine signs wrought by Jesus,
Peter exclaims: «Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.» 15
But because God is holy, he can forgive the man who realizes that he is a
sinner before him: «I will not execute my fierce anger. . . for I am God
and not man, the Holy One in your midst.» 16 The apostle John says
likewise: «We shall. . . reassure our hearts before him whenever our
hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows
everything.» 17
§209
Out of
respect for the holiness of God, the people of Israel do not pronounce his
name. In the reading of Sacred Scripture, the revealed name (YHWH) is replaced
by the divine title «LORD» (in Hebrew Adonai, in Greek Kyrios). It is
under this title that the divinity of Jesus will be acclaimed: «Jesus is
LORD.»
«A God merciful and gracious»
§210
After Israel's sin, when the people had turned away from God to worship the
golden calf, God hears Moses' prayer of intercession and agrees to walk in the
midst of an unfaithful people, thus demonstrating his love.18 When
Moses asks to see his glory, God responds «I will make all my goodness
pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name «the LORD"
[YHWH].» 19 Then the LORD passes before Moses and proclaims,
«YHWH,
YHWH, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast
love and faithfulness»; Moses then confesses that the LORD is a forgiving
God.20
§211
The divine name, «I Am» or «He Is» , expresses God's
faithfulness: despite the faithlessness of men's sin and the punishment it
deserves, he keeps «steadfast love for thousands» .21 By going
so far as to give up his own Son for us, God reveals that he is «rich in
mercy» .22 By giving his life to free us from sin, Jesus reveals
that he himself bears the divine name: «When you have lifted up the Son of
man, then you will realize that «I AM» .» 23
God alone IS
§212
Over the centuries, Israel's faith was able to manifest and deepen realization
of the riches contained in the revelation of the divine name. God is unique;
there are no other gods besides him.24
He transcends the world and history. He made heaven and earth: «They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment....but you are the same, and your years have no end.» 25
In God «there is no variation or shadow due to change.» 26 God is «HE WHO IS» , from everlasting to everlasting, and as such remains ever faithful to himself and to his promises.
§213
The revelation of the ineffable name «I AM WHO AM» contains then the
truth that God alone IS. the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew
Scriptures, and following it the Church's Tradition, understood the divine name
in this sense: God is the fullness of Being and of every perfection, without
origin and without end. All creatures receive all that they are and have from
him; but he alone is his very being, and he is of himself everything that he
is.
III. GOD, «HE WHO IS» , IS TRUTH AND LOVE
§214
God, «HE WHO IS» , revealed himself to Israel as the one «abounding
in steadfast love and faithfulness» .27 These two terms express
summarily the riches of the divine name. In all his works God displays, not
only his kindness, goodness, grace and steadfast love, but also his
trustworthiness, constancy, faithfulness and truth. «I give thanks to your
name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness.» 28 He is the
Truth, for «God is light and in him there is no darkness»; «God
is love» , as the apostle John teaches.29
God is Truth
§215
«The sum of your word is truth; and every one of your righteous ordinances
endures forever.» 30 «and now, O LORD God, you are God, and
your words are true»;31 this is why God's promises always come
true.32 God is Truth itself, whose words cannot deceive. This is why
one can abandon oneself in full trust to the truth and faithfulness of his word
in all things. the beginning of sin and of man's fall was due to a lie of the
tempter who induced doubt of God's word, kindness and faithfulness.
§216
God's truth is his wisdom, which commands the whole created order and governs
the world.33 God, who alone made heaven and earth, can alone impart
true knowledge of every created thing in relation to himself.34
§217
God is also truthful when he reveals himself - the teaching that comes from God
is «true instruction» .35 When he sends his Son into the world
it will be «to bear witness to the truth":36 «We know
that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, to know him who is
true.» 37
God is Love
§218
In the course of its history, Israel was able to discover that God had only one
reason to reveal himself to them, a single motive for choosing them from among
all peoples as his special possession: his sheer gratuitous love.38 and
thanks to the prophets Israel understood that it was again out of love that God
never stopped saving them and pardoning their unfaithfulness and
sins.39
§219
God's love for Israel is compared to a father's love for his son. His love for
his people is stronger than a mother's for her children. God loves his people
more than a bridegroom his beloved; his love will be victorious over even the
worst infidelities and will extend to his most precious gift: «God so
loved the world that he gave his only Son.» 40
§220
God's love is «everlasting":41 «For the mountains may
depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from
you.» 42 Through Jeremiah, God declares to his people, «I have
loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness
to you.» 43
§221
But St. John goes even further when he affirms that «God is
love":44 God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the
Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost
secret:45 God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.
IV. THE IMPLICATIONS OF FAITH IN ONE GOD
§222
Believing in God, the only One, and loving him with all our being has enormous
consequences for our whole life.
§223
It means coming to know God's greatness and majesty: «Behold, God is
great, and we know him not.» 46 Therefore, we must «serve God
first» .47
§224
It means living in thanksgiving: if God is the only One, everything we are and
have comes from him: «What have you that you did not
receive?» 48 «What shall I render to the LORD for all his
bounty to me?» 49
§225
It means knowing the unity and true dignity of all men: everyone is made in the
image and likeness of God.50
§226
It means making good use of created things: faith in God, the only One, leads
us to use everything that is not God only insofar as it brings us closer to
him, and to detach ourselves from it insofar as it turns us away from him:
My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.51
§227
It means trusting God in every circumstance, even in adversity. A prayer of St.
Teresa of Jesus wonderfully expresses this trust:
Let nothing trouble you / Let nothing frighten you Everything passes / God never changes Patience / Obtains all Whoever has God / Wants for nothing God alone is enough.52
IN BRIEF
§228
«Hear, O Israel, the
LORD our God is one LORD...» (⇒ Dt 6:4;
⇒ Mk 12:29). «The supreme being must be
unique, without equal. . . If God is not one, he is not God» (Tertullian,
Adv. Marc., 1, 3, 5: PL 2, 274).
§229
Faith in God leads us to
turn to him alone as our first origin and our ultimate goal, and neither to
prefer anything to him nor to substitute anything for him.
§230
Even when he reveals
himself, God remains a mystery beyond words: «If you understood him, it
would not be God» (St. Augustine, Sermo 52, 6, 16: PL 38, 360 and Sermo
117, 3, 5: PL 38, 663).
§231
The God of our faith has
revealed himself as HE WHO IS; and he has made himself known as «abounding
in steadfast love and faithfulness» (⇒ Ex
34:6). God's very being is Truth and Love.
Paragraph 2. THE FATHER
I. «IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT»
§232
Christians are baptized «in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit» 53 Before receiving the sacrament, they respond to
a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son and the Spirit:
«I do.» «The faith of all Christians rests on the
Trinity.» 54
§233
Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit: not in their names,55 for there is only one God, the
almighty Father, his only Son and the Holy Spirit: the Most Holy Trinity.
§234
The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith
and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of
all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the
most fundamental and essential teaching in the «hierarchy of the truths of
faith» .56 The whole history of salvation is identical with the
history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men «and reconciles and unites with himself
those who turn away from sin» .57
§235
This paragraph expounds briefly (I) how the mystery of the Blessed Trinity was
revealed, (II) how the Church has articulated the doctrine of the faith
regarding this mystery, and (III) how, by the divine missions of the Son and
the Holy Spirit, God the Father fulfils the «plan of his loving
goodness» of creation, redemption and sanctification.
§236
The
Fathers of the Church distinguish between theology (theologia) and economy
(oikonomia). «Theology» refers to the mystery of God's inmost life
within the Blessed Trinity and «economy» to all the works by which
God reveals himself and communicates his life. Through the oikonomia the
theologia is revealed to us; but conversely, the theologia illuminates the
whole oikonomia. God's works reveal who he is in himself; the mystery of his
inmost being enlightens our understanding of all his works. So it is,
analogously, among human persons. A person discloses himself in his actions,
and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions.
§237
The Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the
«mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they
are revealed by God» .58 To be sure, God has left traces of his
Trinitarian being in his work of creation and in his Revelation throughout the
Old Testament. But his inmost Being as Holy Trinity is a mystery that is
inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel's faith before the Incarnation
of God's Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit.
II. THE REVELATION OF GOD AS TRINITY
The Father revealed by the Son
§238
Many religions invoke God as «Father» . the deity is often considered
the «father of gods and of men» . In Israel, God is called
«Father» inasmuch as he is Creator of the world.59 Even more,
God is Father because of the covenant and the gift of the law to Israel,
«his first-born son» .60 God is also called the Father of the
king of Israel. Most especially he is «the Father of the poor» , of
the orphaned and the widowed, who are under his loving protection.61
§239
By
calling God «Father» , the language of faith indicates two main
things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority;
and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children.
God's parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of
motherhood,62 which emphasizes God's immanence, the intimacy between
Creator and creature. the language of faith thus draws on the human experience
of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this
experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the
face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God
transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor
woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although
he is their origin and standard:63 no one is father as God is Father.
§240
Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only
in being Creator; he is eternally Father by his relationship to his only Son
who, reciprocally, is Son only in relation to his Father: «No one knows
the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any
one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.» 64
§241
For this reason the apostles confess Jesus to be the Word: «In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God»;
as «the image of the invisible God»; as the «radiance of the
glory of God and the very stamp of his nature» .65
§242
Following this apostolic tradition, the Church confessed at the first
ecumenical council at Nicaea (325) that the Son is «consubstantial"
with the Father, that is, one only God with him.66 The second
ecumenical council, held at Constantinople in 381, kept this expression in its
formulation of the Nicene Creed and confessed «the only-begotten Son of
God, eternally begotten of the Father, light from light, true God from true
God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father» .67
The Father and the son revealed by the spirit
§243
Before his Passover, Jesus announced the sending of «another
Paraclete» (Advocate), the Holy Spirit. At work since creation, having
previously «spoken through the prophets» , the Spirit will now be with
and in the disciples, to teach them and guide them «into all the
truth» .68 The Holy Spirit is thus revealed as another divine
person with Jesus and the Father.
§244
The eternal origin of the Holy Spirit is revealed in his mission in time. the
Spirit is sent to the apostles and to the Church both by the Father in the name
of the Son, and by the Son in person, once he had returned to the
Father.69 The sending of the person of the Spirit after Jesus'
glorification70 reveals in its fullness the mystery of the Holy Trinity.
§245
The apostolic faith concerning the Spirit was confessed by the second
ecumenical council at Constantinople (381): «We believe in the Holy
Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the
Father.» 71 By this confession, the Church recognizes the Father as
«the source and origin of the whole divinity» .72 But the
eternal origin of the Spirit is not unconnected with the Son's origin:
«The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is God, one and equal with
the Father and the Son, of the same substance and also of the same nature. . .
Yet he is not called the Spirit of the Father alone,. . . but the Spirit of
both the Father and the Son.» 73 The Creed of the Church from the
Council of Constantinople confesses: «With the Father and the Son, he is
worshipped and glorified.» 74
§246
The Latin tradition of the Creed confesses that the Spirit «proceeds from
the Father and the Son (filioque)» . the Council of Florence in 1438 explains:
«The Holy Spirit is eternally from Father and Son; He has his nature and
subsistence at once (simul) from the Father and the Son. He proceeds eternally
from both as from one principle and through one spiration... And, since the
Father has through generation given to the only-begotten Son everything that
belongs to the Father, except being Father, the Son has also eternally from the
Father, from whom he is eternally born, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the
Son.» 75
§247
The affirmation
of the filioque does not appear in the Creed confessed in 381 at
Constantinople. But Pope St. Leo I, following an ancient Latin and Alexandrian
tradition, had already confessed it dogmatically in 447,76 even before
Rome, in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon, came to recognize and receive the
Symbol of 381. the use of this formula in the Creed was gradually admitted into
the Latin liturgy (between the eighth and eleventh centuries). the introduction
of the filioque into the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed by the Latin liturgy
constitutes moreover, even today, a point of disagreement with the Orthodox
Churches.
§248
At the
outset the Eastern tradition expresses the Father's character as first origin
of the Spirit. By confessing the Spirit as he «who proceeds from the
Father» , it affirms that he comes from the Father through the
Son.77 The Western tradition expresses first the consubstantial
communion between Father and Son, by saying that the Spirit proceeds from the
Father and the Son (filioque). It says this, «legitimately and with good
reason» ,78 for the eternal order of the divine persons in their
consubstantial communion implies that the Father, as «the principle
without principle» ,79 is the first origin of the Spirit, but also
that as Father of the only Son, he is, with the Son, the single principle from
which the Holy Spirit proceeds.80 This legitimate complementarity,
provided it does not become rigid, does not affect the identity of faith in the
reality of the same mystery confessed.
III. THE HOLY TRINITY IN THE TEACHING OF THE FAITH
The formation of the Trinitarian dogma
§249
From the beginning, the revealed truth of the Holy Trinity has been at the very
root of the Church's living faith, principally by means of Baptism. It finds
its expression in the rule of baptismal faith, formulated in the preaching,
catechesis and prayer of the Church. Such formulations are already found in the
apostolic writings, such as this salutation taken up in the Eucharistic
liturgy: «The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.» 81
§250
During the first centuries the Church sought to clarify her Trinitarian faith,
both to deepen her own understanding of the faith and to defend it against the
errors that were deforming it. This clarification was the work of the early
councils, aided by the theological work of the Church Fathers and sustained by
the Christian people's sense of the faith.
§251
In order to articulate the dogma of the Trinity, the Church had to develop her
own terminology with the help of certain notions of philosophical origin:
«substance» , «person» or «hypostasis» , «relation"
and so on. In doing this, she did not submit the faith to human wisdom, but
gave a new and unprecedented meaning to these terms, which from then on would
be used to signify an ineffable mystery, «infinitely beyond all that we
can humanly understand» .82
§252
The Church uses (I) the term «substance» (rendered also at times by
«essence» or «nature») to designate the divine being in its
unity, (II) the term «person» or «hypostasis» to designate
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the real distinction among them, and (III)
the term «relation» to designate the fact that their distinction lies
in the relationship of each to the others.
The dogma of the Holy Trinity
§253
The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons,
the «consubstantial Trinity» .83 The divine persons do not
share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and
entire: «The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the
Father is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e. by nature
one God.» 84 In the words of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215),
«Each of the persons is that supreme reality, viz., the divine substance,
essence or nature.» 85
§254
The divine persons are really distinct from one another. «God is one but
not solitary.» 86 «Father» , «Son» , «Holy
Spirit» are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being,
for they are really distinct from one another: «He is not the Father who
is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who
is the Father or the Son.» 87 They are distinct from one another in
their relations of origin: «It is the Father who generates, the Son who is
begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds.» 88 The divine Unity is
Triune.
§255
The divine persons are relative to one another. Because it does not divide the
divine unity, the real distinction of the persons from one another resides
solely in the relationships which relate them to one another: «In the
relational names of the persons the Father is related to the Son, the Son to
the Father, and the Holy Spirit to both. While they are called three persons in
view of their relations, we believe in one nature or substance.» 89
Indeed «everything (in them) is one where there is no opposition of
relationship.» 90 «Because of that unity the Father is wholly
in the Son and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Son is wholly in the Father and
wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is wholly in the Father and wholly
in the Son.» 91
256 St. Gregory of Nazianzus,
also called «the Theologian» , entrusts this summary of Trinitarian
faith to the catechumens of Constantinople:
Above
all guard for me this great deposit of faith for which I live and fight, which
I want to take with me as a companion, and which makes me bear all evils and
despise all pleasures: I mean the profession of faith in the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit. I entrust it to you today. By it I am soon going to plunge
you into water and raise you up from it. I give it to you as the companion and
patron of your whole life. I give you but one divinity and power, existing one
in three, and containing the three in a distinct way. Divinity without
disparity of substance or nature, without superior degree that raises up or
inferior degree that casts down. . . the infinite co-naturality of three
infinites. Each person considered in himself is entirely God. . . the three considered
together. . . I have not even begun to think of unity when the Trinity bathes
me in its splendour. I have not even begun to think of the Trinity when unity
grasps me. .92
IV. THE DIVINE WORKS AND THE TRINITARIAN MISSIONS
§257
«O blessed light, O Trinity and first Unity!» 93 God is
eternal blessedness, undying life, unfading light. God is love: Father, Son and
Holy Spirit. God freely wills to communicate the glory of his blessed life.
Such is the «plan of his loving kindness» , conceived by the Father
before the foundation of the world, in his beloved Son: «He destined us in
love to be his sons» and «to be conformed to the image of his
Son» , through «the spirit of sonship» .94 This plan is a
«grace [which] was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages
began» , stemming immediately from Trinitarian love.95 It unfolds
in the work of creation, the whole history of salvation after the fall, and the
missions of the Son and the Spirit, which are continued in the mission of the
Church.96
§258
The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. For as
the Trinity has only one and the same natures so too does it have only one and
the same operation: «The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three
principles of creation but one principle.» 97 However, each divine
person performs the common work according to his unique personal property. Thus
the Church confesses, following the New Testament, «one God and Father
from whom all things are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things
are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are» .98 It is above
all the divine missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the Holy
Spirit that show forth the properties of the divine persons.
§259
Being a work at once common and personal, the whole divine economy makes known
both what is proper to the divine persons, and their one divine nature. Hence
the whole Christian life is a communion with each of the divine persons,
without in any way separating them. Everyone who glorifies the Father does so
through the Son in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because
the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him.99
§260
The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures
into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity.100 But even now we are
called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity: «If a man loves
me» , says the Lord, «he will keep my word, and my Father will love
him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him":101
O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action.102
IN BRIEF
§261
The mystery of the Most
Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian
life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.
§262
The Incarnation of God's
Son reveals that God is the eternal Father and that the Son is consubstantial
with the Father, which means that, in the Father and with the Father the Son is
one and the same God.
§263
The mission of the Holy
Spirit, sent by the Father in the name of the Son (⇒ Jn
14:26) and by the Son «from the Father"
(⇒ Jn 15:26), reveals that, with them, the
Spirit is one and the same God. «With the Father and the Son he is
worshipped and glorified» (Nicene Creed).
§264
«The Holy Spirit
proceeds from the Father as the first principle and, by the eternal gift of
this to the Son, from the communion of both the Father and the Son» (St.
Augustine, De Trin. 15, 26, 47: PL 42, 1095).
§265
By the grace of Baptism
«in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit» , we
are called to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity, here on earth in the
obscurity of faith, and after death in eternal light (cf. Paul VI, CPG # 9).
§266
«Now this is the
Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity,
without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance; for the person
of the Father is one, the Son's is another, the Holy Spirit's another; but the
Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their
majesty coeternal» (Athanasian Creed: DS 75; ND 16).
§267
Inseparable in what they
are, the divine persons are also inseparable in what they do. But within the
single divine operation each shows forth what is proper to him in the Trinity,
especially in the divine missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the
Holy Spirit.
Paragraph 3. THE ALMIGHTY
§268
of all the divine attributes, only God's omnipotence is named in the Creed: to
confess this power has great bearing on our lives. We believe that his might is
universal, for God who created everything also rules everything and can do
everything. God's power is loving, for he is our Father, and mysterious, for
only faith can discern it when it «is made perfect in
weakness» .103
«He does whatever he pleases» 104
§269
The Holy Scriptures repeatedly confess the universal power of God. He is called
the «Mighty One of Jacob» , the «LORD of hosts» , the
«strong and mighty» one. If God is almighty «in heaven and on
earth» , it is because he made them.105 Nothing is impossible with
God, who disposes his works according to his will.106 He is the Lord of
the universe, whose order he established and which remains wholly subject to
him and at his disposal. He is master of history, governing hearts and events
in keeping with his will: «It is always in your power to show great strength,
and who can withstand the strength of your arm?107
«You are merciful to all, for you can do all thing» 108
§270
God is the Father Almighty, whose fatherhood and power shed light on one
another: God reveals his fatherly omnipotence by the way he takes care of our
needs; by the filial adoption that he gives us ("I will be a father to
you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord
Almighty»):109 finally by his infinite mercy, for he displays his
power at its height by freely forgiving sins.
§271
God's almighty power is in no way arbitrary: «In God, power, essence,
will, intellect, wisdom, and justice are all identical. Nothing therefore can
be in God's power which could not be in his just will or his wise
intellect.» 110
The mystery of God's apparent powerlessness
§272
Faith in God the Father Almighty can be put to the test by the experience of
evil and suffering. God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of stopping
evil. But in the most mysterious way God the Father has revealed his almighty
power in the voluntary humiliation and Resurrection of his Son, by which he
conquered evil. Christ crucified is thus «the power of God and the wisdom
of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God
is stronger than men.» 111 It is in Christ's Resurrection and
exaltation that the Father has shown forth «the immeasurable greatness of
his power in us who believe» .112
§273
Only faith can embrace the mysterious ways of God's almighty power. This faith
glories in its weaknesses in order to draw to itself Christ's power.113
The Virgin Mary is the supreme model of this faith, for she believed that
«nothing will be impossible with God» , and was able to magnify the
Lord: «For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his
name.» 114
§274
«Nothing is more apt to confirm our faith and hope than holding it fixed
in our minds that nothing is impossible with God. Once our reason has grasped
the idea of God's almighty power, it will easily and without any hesitation
admit everything that [the Creed] will afterwards propose for us to believe -
even if they be great and marvellous things, far above the ordinary laws of
nature.» 115
IN BRIEF
§275
With Job, the just man,
we confess: «I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of
yours can be thwarted» (⇒ Job 42:2).
§276
Faithful to the witness
of Scripture, the Church often addresses her prayer to the «almighty and
eternal God» (“omnipotens sempiterne Deus. . .»), believing firmly
that «nothing will be impossible with God» (⇒ Gen
18:14; ⇒ Lk 1:37;
⇒ Mt 19:26).
§277
God shows forth his
almighty power by converting us from our sins and restoring us to his
friendship by grace. «God, you show your almighty power above all in your
mercy and forgiveness. . .» (Roman Missal, 26th Sunday, Opening Prayer).
§278
If we do not believe that
God's love is almighty, how can we believe that the Father could create us, the
Son redeem us and the Holy Spirit sanctify us?
Paragraph 4. THE CREATOR
§279
«In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.» 116
Holy Scripture begins with these solemn words. the profession of faith takes them
up when it confesses that God the Father almighty is «Creator of heaven
and earth» (Apostles' Creed), «of all that is, seen and unseen"
(Nicene Creed). We shall speak first of the Creator, then of creation and
finally of the fall into sin from which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to
raise us up again.
§280
Creation is the foundation of «all God's saving plans,» the
«beginning of the history of salvation» 117 that culminates in
Christ. Conversely, the mystery of Christ casts conclusive light on the mystery
of creation and reveals the end for which «in the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth": from the beginning, God envisaged the glory of
the new creation in Christ.118
§281
And so
the readings of the Easter Vigil, the celebration of the new creation in
Christ, begin with the creation account; likewise in the Byzantine liturgy, the
account of creation always constitutes the first reading at the vigils of the
great feasts of the Lord. According to ancient witnesses the instruction of
catechumens for Baptism followed the same itinerary.119
I. CATECHESIS ON CREATION
§282
Catechesis on creation is of major importance. It concerns the very foundations
of human and Christian life: for it makes explicit the response of the
Christian faith to the basic question that men of all times have asked
themselves:120 «Where do we come from?» «Where are we
going?» «What is our origin?» «What is our end?"
«Where does everything that exists come from and where is it going?"
the two questions, the first about the origin and the second about the end, are
inseparable. They are decisive for the meaning and orientation of our life and
actions.
§283
The
question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many
scientific studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and
dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of
man. These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness
of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and for the
understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers. With Solomon
they can say: «It is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to
know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements. . . for
wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.» 121
§284
The
great interest accorded to these studies is strongly stimulated by a question
of another order, which goes beyond the proper domain of the natural sciences.
It is not only a question of knowing when and how the universe arose
physically, or when man appeared, but rather of discovering the meaning of such
an origin: is the universe governed by chance, blind fate, anonymous necessity,
or by a transcendent, intelligent and good Being called «God"? and if
the world does come from God's wisdom and goodness, why is there evil? Where
does it come from? Who is responsible for it? Is there any liberation from it?
§285
Since
the beginning the Christian faith has been challenged by responses to the
question of origins that differ from its own. Ancient religions and cultures
produced many myths concerning origins. Some philosophers have said that
everything is God, that the world is God, or that the development of the world
is the development of God (Pantheism). Others have said that the world is a
necessary emanation arising from God and returning to him. Still others have
affirmed the existence of two eternal principles, Good and Evil, Light and
Darkness, locked, in permanent conflict (Dualism, Manichaeism). According to
some of these conceptions, the world (at least the physical world) is evil, the
product of a fall, and is thus to be rejected or left behind (Gnosticism). Some
admit that the world was made by God, but as by a watch-maker who, once he has
made a watch, abandons it to itself (Deism). Finally, others reject any
transcendent origin for the world, but see it as merely the interplay of matter
that has always existed (Materialism). All these attempts bear witness to the
permanence and universality of the question of origins. This inquiry is
distinctively human.
§286
Human intelligence is surely already capable of finding a response to the
question of origins. the existence of God the Creator can be known with
certainty through his works, by the light of human reason,122 even if
this knowledge is often obscured and disfigured by error. This is why faith comes
to confirm and enlighten reason in the correct understanding of this truth:
«By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so
that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.» 123
§287
The truth about creation is so important for all of human life that God in his
tenderness wanted to reveal to his People everything that is salutary to know
on the subject. Beyond the natural knowledge that every man can have of the
Creator,124 God progressively revealed to Israel the mystery of
creation. He who chose the patriarchs, who brought Israel out of Egypt, and who
by choosing Israel created and formed it, this same God reveals himself as the
One to whom belong all the peoples of the earth, and the whole earth itself; he
is the One who alone «made heaven and earth» .125
§288
Thus the revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging
of the covenant of the one God with his People. Creation is revealed as the
first step towards this covenant, the first and universal witness to God's
all-powerful love.126 and so, the truth of creation is also expressed
with growing vigour in the message of the prophets, the prayer of the psalms
and the liturgy, and in the wisdom sayings of the Chosen People.127
§289
Among all the Scriptural texts about creation, the first three chapters of
Genesis occupy a unique place. From a literary standpoint these texts may have
had diverse sources. the inspired authors have placed them at the beginning of
Scripture to express in their solemn language the truths of creation - its
origin and its end in God, its order and goodness, the vocation of man, and
finally the drama of sin and the hope of salvation. Read in the light of
Christ, within the unity of Sacred Scripture and in the living Tradition of the
Church, these texts remain the principal source for catechesis on the mysteries
of the «beginning": creation, fall, and promise of salvation.
II. CREATION - WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY
§290
«In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth":128
three things are affirmed in these first words of Scripture: the eternal God
gave a beginning to all that exists outside of himself; he alone is Creator
(the verb «create» - Hebrew bara - always has God for its subject).
the totality of what exists (expressed by the formula «the heavens and the
earth») depends on the One who gives it being.
§291
«In the beginning was the Word. . . and the Word was God. . . all things
were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was
made.» 129 The New Testament reveals that God created everything by
the eternal Word, his beloved Son. In him «all things were created, in
heaven and on earth.. . all things were created through him and for him. He is
before all things, and in him all things hold together.» 130 The
Church's faith likewise confesses the creative action of the Holy Spirit, the
«giver of life» , «the Creator Spirit» (Veni, Creator
Spiritus), the «source of every good» .131
§292
The Old Testament suggests and the New Covenant reveals the creative action of
the Son and the Spirit,132 inseparably one with that of the Father.
This creative co-operation is clearly affirmed in the Church's rule of faith:
«There exists but one God. . . he is the Father, God, the Creator, the
author, the giver of order. He made all things by himself, that is, by his Word
and by his Wisdom» , «by the Son and the Spirit» who, so to
speak, are «his hands» .133 Creation is the common work of the
Holy Trinity.
III. «THE WORLD WAS CREATED FOR THE GLORY OF GOD»
§293
Scripture and Tradition never cease to teach and celebrate this fundamental
truth: «The world was made for the glory of God.» 134 St.
Bonaventure explains that God created all things «not to increase his
glory, but to show it forth and to communicate it» ,135 for God has
no other reason for creating than his love and goodness: «Creatures came
into existence when the key of love opened his hand.» 136 The First
Vatican Council explains:
This one, true God, of his own goodness and «almighty power» , not for increasing his own beatitude, nor for attaining his perfection, but in order to manifest this perfection through the benefits which he bestows on creatures, with absolute freedom of counsel «and from the beginning of time, made out of nothing both orders of creatures, the spiritual and the corporeal. . .» 137
§294
The glory of God consists in the realization of this manifestation and
communication of his goodness, for which the world was created. God made us
«to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace» ,138 for «the glory of
God is man fully alive; moreover man's life is the vision of God: if God's
revelation through creation has already obtained life for all the beings that
dwell on earth, how much more will the Word's manifestation of the Father
obtain life for those who see God.» 139 The ultimate purpose of
creation is that God «who is the creator of all things may at last become
«all in all» , thus simultaneously assuring his own glory and our beatitude.» 140
IV. THE MYSTERY OF CREATION
God creates by wisdom and love
§295
We believe that God created the world according to his wisdom.141 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.» 142 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.» 143 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.144 God creates freely «out of nothing":145
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.146
§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.147
§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,148 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.» 149 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.150
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.» 151 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.152 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.153 Because creation comes forth from God's goodness, it shares in
that goodness - «and God saw that it was good. . . very
good» 154- 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.155
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.» 156 Indeed, God's «greatness is
unsearchable» .157 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.» 158 In the words of St. Augustine, God is «higher than
my highest and more inward than my innermost self» .159
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.160
V. GOD CARRIES OUT HIS PLAN: DIVINE PROVIDENCE
§302
Creation has its own goodness and proper perfection, but it did not spring
forth complete from the hands of the Creator. the universe was created «in
a state of journeying» (in statu viae) toward an ultimate perfection yet
to be attained, to which God has destined it. We call «divine
providence» the dispositions by which God guides his creation toward this
perfection:
By his providence God protects and governs all things which he has made, «reaching mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and ordering all things well» . For «all are open and laid bare to his eyes» , even those things which are yet to come into existence through the free action of creatures.161
§303
The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence
is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the
great events of the world and its history. the sacred books powerfully affirm
God's absolute sovereignty over the course of events: «Our God is in the
heavens; he does whatever he pleases.» 162 and so it is with
Christ, «who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one
opens» .163 As the book of Proverbs states: «Many are the
plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be
established.» 164
§304
And so
we see the Holy Spirit, the principal author of Sacred Scripture, often
attributing actions to God without mentioning any secondary causes. This is not
a «primitive mode of speech» , but a profound way of recalling God's
primacy and absolute Lordship over history and the world,165 and so of
educating his people to trust in him. the prayer of the Psalms is the great
school of this trust.166
§305
Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father
who takes care of his children's smallest needs: «Therefore do not be
anxious, saying, «What shall we eat?» or «What shall we
drink?» . . . Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek
first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as
well.» 167
Providence and secondary causes
§306
God is the sovereign master of his plan. But to carry it out he also makes use
of his creatures' co-operation. This use is not a sign of weakness, but rather
a token of almighty God's greatness and goodness. For God grants his creatures
not only their existence, but also the dignity of acting on their own, of being
causes and principles for each other, and thus of co-operating in the accomplishment
of his plan.
§307
To human beings God even gives the power of freely sharing in his providence by
entrusting them with the responsibility of «subduing» the earth and
having dominion over it.168 God thus enables men to be intelligent and
free causes in order to complete the work of creation, to perfect its harmony
for their own good and that of their neighbours. Though often unconscious
collaborators with God's will, they can also enter deliberately into the divine
plan by their actions, their prayers and their sufferings.169 They then
fully become «God's fellow workers» and co-workers for his
kingdom.170
§308
The truth that God is at work in all the actions of his creatures is
inseparable from faith in God the Creator. God is the first cause who operates
in and through secondary causes: «For God is at work in you, both to will
and to work for his good pleasure.» 171 Far from diminishing the
creature's dignity, this truth enhances it. Drawn from nothingness by God's
power, wisdom and goodness, it can do nothing if it is cut off from its origin,
for «without a Creator the creature vanishes.» 172 Still less
can a creature attain its ultimate end without the help of God's grace.173
Providence and the scandal of evil
§309
If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good world, cares
for all his creatures, why does evil exist? To this question, as pressing as it
is unavoidable and as painful as it is mysterious, no quick answer will
suffice. Only Christian faith as a whole constitutes the answer to this
question: the goodness of creation, the drama of sin and the patient love of
God who comes to meet man by his covenants, the redemptive Incarnation of his
Son, his gift of the Spirit, his gathering of the Church, the power of the
sacraments and his call to a blessed life to which free creatures are invited
to consent in advance, but from which, by a terrible mystery, they can also
turn away in advance. There is not a single aspect of the Christian message
that is not in part an answer to the question of evil.
§310
But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it?
With infinite power God could always create something better.174 But
with infinite wisdom and goodness God freely willed to create a world «in
a state of journeying» towards its ultimate perfection. In God's plan this
process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance
of others, the existence of the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both
constructive and destructive forces of nature. With physical good there exists
also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection.175
§311
Angels and men, as intelligent and free creatures, have to journey toward their
ultimate destinies by their free choice and preferential love. They can
therefore go astray. Indeed, they have sinned. Thus has moral evil,
incommensurably more harmful than physical evil, entered the world. God is in
no way, directly or indirectly, the cause of moral evil.176 He permits
it, however, because he respects the freedom of his creatures and,
mysteriously, knows how to derive good from it:
For almighty God. . ., because he is supremely good, would never allow any evil whatsoever to exist in his works if he were not so all-powerful and good as to cause good to emerge from evil itself.177
§312
In time we can discover that God in his almighty providence can bring a good
from the consequences of an evil, even a moral evil, caused by his creatures:
«It was not you» , said Joseph to his brothers, «who sent me
here, but God. . . You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring
it about that many people should be kept alive.» 178 From the
greatest moral evil ever committed - the rejection and murder of God's only
Son, caused by the sins of all men - God, by his grace that «abounded all
the more» ,179 brought the greatest of goods: the glorification of
Christ and our redemption. But for all that, evil never becomes a good.
§313
«We know that in everything God works for good for those who love
him.» 180 The constant witness of the saints confirms this truth:
St. Catherine of Siena said to
«those who are scandalized and rebel against what happens to them":
«Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God
does nothing without this goal in mind.» 181
St. Thomas More, shortly before his martyrdom, consoled his daughter:
«Nothing can come but that that God wills. and I make me very sure that
whatsoever that be, seem it never so bad in sight, it shall indeed be the
best.» 182
Dame Julian of Norwich: «Here I was taught by the grace of God that I
should steadfastly keep me in the faith... and that at the same time I should
take my stand on and earnestly believe in what our Lord shewed in this time -
that 'all manner (of) thing shall be well.'» 183
§314
We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the
ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our
partial knowledge ceases, when we see God «face to face» ,184
will we fully know the ways by which - even through the dramas of evil and sin
- God has guided his creation to that definitive sabbath rest185 for
which he created heaven and earth.
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 DS 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» (⇒ Heb 1:3), and by his Creator
Spirit, the giver of life.
§321
Divine providence
consists of the dispositions by which God guides all his creatures with wisdom
and love to their ultimate end.
§322
Christ invites us to
filial trust in the providence of our heavenly Father (cf
⇒ Mt 6:26-34), and St. Peter the apostle
repeats: «Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you"
(⇒ I Pt 5:7; cf. ⇒ Ps
55:23).
§323
Divine providence works
also through the actions of creatures. To human beings God grants the ability
to co-operate freely with his plans.
§324
The fact that God permits
physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus
Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that
God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very
evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life.