Chapter VI: The Definition of Creation, § 89
CHAPTER VI: ON THE DEFINITION OF CREATION
§ 89. The Scholastics define creation as “the emanation of the being of the entire universe from its first beginning, which is God.” From what we have said, we can establish a more complete definition of creation in this way: Creation is the act of the one and only God, the indivisible work of the three persons of the Godhead, in which the Father through His coeternal Son in the coeternal Holy Spirit, by His free will, created all things visible and invisible on six distinct days, not out of some material coexistent with Him from eternity but out of nothing, for the glory of His name and for man’s use. All things whatsoever God has made are very good. What He created He also still today preserves, sustains, and governs. To Him be praise, honor, and glory. Amen.
1 An “impulsive cause” impels a principal efficient cause to act. This impulsion comes either from inside or outside of the principal cause. The impulsive cause of creation can only come from within God.
2 The same as an “end,” that is, an aim, purpose, or goal. See above, p. 40 n. 10.
3 See above, p. 11 n. 1.