CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
SECOND EDITION
Paragraphs 301–400
- 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,…
- 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…
- 303 The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least…
- 304 And so we see the Holy Spirit, the principal author of Sacred Scripture, often attributing actions to God without mentioning any secondary…
- 305 Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father who takes care of his children's smallest needs: "Therefore…
- 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…
- 307 To human beings God even gives the power of freely sharing in his providence by entrusting them with the responsibility of "subduing" the…
- 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…
- 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,…
- 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.…
- 311 Angels and men, as intelligent and free creatures, have to journey toward their ultimate destinies by their free choice and preferential…
- 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…
- 313 "We know that in everything God works for good for those who love him." The constant witness of the saints confirms this truth: St.…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 323 Divine providence works also through the actions of creatures. To human beings God grants the ability to cooperate 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…
- 325 The Apostles' Creed professes that God is "creator of heaven and earth". The Nicene Creed makes it explicit that this profession includes…
- 326 The Scriptural expression "heaven and earth" means all that exists, creation in its entirety. It also indicates the bond, deep within…
- 327 The profession of faith of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) affirms that God "from the beginning of time made at once ( simul ) out of…
- 328 The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls "angels" is a truth of faith. The witness of…
- 329 St. Augustine says: "'Angel' is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is 'spirit'; if you…
- 330 As purely spiritual creatures angels have intelligence and will: they are personal and immortal creatures, surpassing in perfection all…
- 331 Christ is the center of the angelic world. They are his angels: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him." They…
- 332 Angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation, announcing this salvation from afar or near and serving…
- 333 From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels. When God…
- 334 In the meantime, the whole life of the Church benefits from the mysterious and powerful help of angels.
- 335 In her liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God. She invokes their assistance (in the funeral liturgy's In…
- 336 From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. "Beside each believer stands an angel as…
- 337 God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as…
- 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…
- 339 Each creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection . For each one of the works of the "six days" it is said: "And God saw…
- 340 God wills the interdependence of creatures . The sun and the moon, the cedar and the little flower, the eagle and the sparrow: the…
- 341 The beauty of the universe : The order and harmony of the created world results from the diversity of beings and from the relationships…
- 342 The hierarchy of creatures is expressed by the order of the "six days", from the less perfect to the more perfect. God loves all his…
- 343 Man is the summit of the Creator's work, as the inspired account expresses by clearly distinguishing the creation of man from that of the…
- 344 There is a solidarity among all creatures arising from the fact that all have the same Creator and are all ordered to his glory: May you be…
- 345 The sabbath - the end of the work of the six days . The sacred text says that "on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done",…
- 346 In creation God laid a foundation and established laws that remain firm, on which the believer can rely with confidence, for they are the…
- 347 Creation was fashioned with a view to the sabbath and therefore for the worship and adoration of God. Worship is inscribed in the order of…
- 348 The sabbath is at the heart of Israel's law. To keep the commandments is to correspond to the wisdom and the will of God as expressed in…
- 349 The eighth day . But for us a new day has dawned: the day of Christ's Resurrection. The seventh day completes the first creation. The…
- 350 Angels are spiritual creatures who glorify God without ceasing and who serve his saving plans for other creatures: "The angels work…
- 351 The angels surround Christ their Lord. They serve him especially in the accomplishment of his saving mission to men.
- 352 The Church venerates the angels who help her on her earthly pilgrimage and protect every human being.
- 353 God willed the diversity of his creatures and their own particular goodness, their interdependence and their order. He destined all…
- 354 Respect for laws inscribed in creation and the relations which derive from the nature of things is a principle of wisdom and a foundation…
- 355 "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them." Man occupies a unique place in…
- 356 Of all visible creatures only man is "able to know and love his creator". He is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own…
- 357 Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of…
- 358 God created everything for man, but man in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him: What is it that is…
- 359 "In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear." St. Paul tells us that the human…
- 360 Because of its common origin the human race forms a unity , for "from one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth": O…
- 361 "This law of human solidarity and charity", without excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures and peoples, assures us that all men…
- 362 The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. The biblical account expresses this reality in…
- 363 In Sacred Scripture the term "soul" often refers to human life or the entire human person . But "soul" also refers to the innermost aspect…
- 364 The human body shares in the dignity of "the image of God": it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it…
- 365 The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the "form" of the body: i.e., it is because of its…
- 366 The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it is not "produced" by the parents - and also that it is…
- 367 Sometimes the soul is distinguished from the spirit: St. Paul for instance prays that God may sanctify his people "wholly", with "spirit…
- 368 The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart , in the biblical sense of the depths of one's being, where the person…
- 369 Man and woman have been created , which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in…
- 370 In no way is God in man's image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the…
- 371 God created man and woman together and willed each for the other. The Word of God gives us to understand this through various features of…
- 372 Man and woman were made "for each other" - not that God left them half-made and incomplete: he created them to be a communion of persons,…
- 373 In God's plan man and woman have the vocation of "subduing" the earth as stewards of God. This sovereignty is not to be an arbitrary and…
- 374 The first man was not only created good, but was also established in friendship with his Creator and in harmony with himself and with the…
- 375 The Church, interpreting the symbolism of biblical language in an authentic way, in the light of the New Testament and Tradition, teaches…
- 376 By the radiance of this grace all dimensions of man's life were confirmed. As long as he remained in the divine intimacy, man would not…
- 377 The "mastery" over the world that God offered man from the beginning was realized above all within man himself: mastery of self . The first…
- 378 The sign of man's familiarity with God is that God places him in the garden. There he lives "to till it and keep it". Work is not yet a…
- 379 This entire harmony of original justice, foreseen for man in God's plan, will be lost by the sin of our first parents.
- 380 "Father,. . . you formed man in your own likeness and set him over the whole world to serve you, his creator, and to rule over all…
- 381 Man is predestined to reproduce the image of God's Son made man, the "image of the invisible God" ( Col 1:15), so that Christ shall be the…
- 382 "Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity" ( GS 14 § 1). The doctrine of the faith affirms that the spiritual and immortal soul is…
- 383 "God did not create man a solitary being. From the beginning, "male and female he created them" ( Gen 1:27). This partnership of man and…
- 384 Revelation makes known to us the state of original holiness and justice of man and woman before sin: from their friendship with God flowed…
- 385 God is infinitely good and all his works are good. Yet no one can escape the experience of suffering or the evils in nature which seem to…
- 386 Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark reality other names would be futile. To try to understand…
- 387 Only the light of divine Revelation clarifies the reality of sin and particularly of the sin committed at mankind's origins. Without the…
- 388 With the progress of Revelation, the reality of sin is also illuminated. Although to some extent the People of God in the Old Testament had…
- 389 The doctrine of original sin is, so to speak, the "reverse side" of the Good News that Jesus is the Savior of all men, that all need…
- 390 The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the…
- 391 Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy.…
- 392 Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. This "fall" consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably…
- 393 It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable.…
- 394 Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer from the beginning", who would even try to divert Jesus…
- 395 The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a…
- 396 God created man in his image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual creature, man can live this friendship only in free…
- 397 Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what…
- 398 In that sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements…
- 399 Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and Eve immediately lose the grace of original holiness. They…
- 400 The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties…