God created the world voluntarily. He did this all by the power of his own will. He did not need any help from any objects or pre-existing
material. He did not use any discharges from his own self. He did not HAVE to do this, he did it out of Love. He spoke the words, and it came
into being.
Genesis 1-2 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness over the surface of the
deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness and he called
the light "day" and the darkness he called "night" And there was evening and there was morning -the first day.
And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water. So God made the expanse and separated the water
under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "Sky." And there was evening and there was morning - the second day.
And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry land appear. And it was so. God called the dry ground "land"
and the gathered waters he called "seas" And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed bearing plants
and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing
seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was
evening, and there was morning - The third day.
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days
and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth. And it was so. God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day
and the lesser light to govern the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there
was morning - the fourth day.
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the
great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.
And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds
increase on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning- the fifth day.
And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals,
each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the
creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image,
in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over the creatures
that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the seas and the birds
of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Then God said, "I give you every seed bearing plant on the face of the whole
earth and every tree that has fruit with seeds in it. They will be yours for food. And to all of the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all
the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food." And so it was. God saw all that
he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day.
CCC
295 We believe that God created the world according to his wisdom. 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." 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." 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. God creates freely "out of nothing": 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.
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.
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." 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.
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.
I believe in the Big Bang Theory. "God spoke and BANG! there it was." I also believe in Evolution. I believe that humans and some animals may have developed from less advanced creatures. However I do not believe that we are an accident, I believe that God set it in motion. This is called "Theistic Evolution." The Catholic Church permits us to believe in either "Special Creation" which is the belief that God created everything in a moment. Or in Theistic evolution. She does NOT allow her members to believe in Atheistic Evolution, the belief that we evolved over time by a chance of nature or an accident. I believe in Evolution because of the scientific evidence that Science has been coming up with. However I do believe in the special creation of the human soul at the same time in believing the evolution of the body.
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