free choice, since His infinite love for Himself is the same in either case (S. Thom. Qq. disp. de creat. a. 15).

3. God, therefore, was not only free to create this or another among the infinite worlds possible (libertas specificationis), but was also free to create or omit creation altogether (libertas contradictionis). For He would have been dependent on something external, and His own infinite perfection would not be sufficient for Him, if, for any cause, He needed the existence of a world. Therefore the Vatican Council (de fide, I. can. 5) declares: "If any one assert that God did not create with a will free from all necessity, but that He created with the same necessity with which He loves Himself; let him be anathema."

God's internal glory, or His complacency in His infinite perfection, may rightly be said to have been His motive in creating the world (finis operantis). This same internal glory, however, could have been also God's motive for not creating the world, since His complacency in His infinite perfection would have been the same in either case.

96. Though determined by His own free choice, God intended by the creation of the world to communicate His goodness to His creatures.

1. The act of creation was essentially an act of benevolence. God, the infinite goodness, is inclined to do good to others. Now, although this inclination does not create any necessity in God, because creatures are not essential to His happiness, yet it is displayed in the creation, just as our sense of sight is displayed in the action of seeing. If the act of creation is a free manifestation of God's goodness to His creatures, God in the creation must have intended the good of His creatures; for an act of goodness has evidently a good end. Hence we may say with St. Augustine (de doct. christ. I. c. 32): "Because God is good, we exist."

2. God intended in creation that effect which is inseparable from it. But beneficence is inseparable from creation. For, what is existence else than a divine favor, or an assemblage of divine favors? Therefore, since by calling the world into existence God actually conferred benefits on His creatures, He cer

tainly must have intended to do so; in other words, He must have created the world for the good of His creatures. God. moreover, can create only good. For, as every effect must have some resemblance to its cause, creatures must bear some resemblance to the Creator. Now God the Creator is infinite goodness and the sum of all perfection. Consequently, what ever He created must be good; and by the very fact that He did create He must have intended that goodness which is inseparable from creation. Hence the words: "God saw that it was good" (Gen. i.).

God in creation had chiefly in view the welfare or happiness of His rational creatures, the master-works of His power and wisdom. We may, therefore, simply say that God's object in the creation of the world was the happiness of His rational creatures, especially of

man.

97. In the creation of the world and the communication of His goodness to His creatures God further intended His own external glorification by His creatures.

I. God created the world for His external glory.

The external glory of God consists in the manifestation of His perfections and their acknowledgment by His rational creatures. This acknowledgment implies, according to God's intention, adoration and love. A rational creature, therefore, withholding this recognition from God incurs His just wrath and vengeance. Hence the reprobate necessarily recognizes the justice of Him to whom he refused due adoration, submission, and love.

1. If God intended the good of creatures by the very fact that this effect is inseparable from the act of creation (96), the same holds of His external glory, or the manifestation of His perfections. For, what is creation else than a grand manifestation of God's power, goodness, and wisdom? From the creatures we necessarily infer the existence of an infinitely powerful, good, and wise creator (73). Now, since God's creatures are His interpreters to rational beings, it is His intention that we hear their voice, recognize His perfections, and thus honor and glorify Him. Not without reason, therefore, does St. Paul censure the pagan philosophers because, having known God from His works, they failed to glorify Him (Rom. i. 21). 2. Scripture repeatedly speaks of the glory of God as the

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object of His works both in the natural and the supernatural order. "Bring My sons from afar, and every one that calleth upon My name I have created him for My glory" (Is. xliii. 6, 7). Jesus Christ represents the object of His mission, now as the salvation of man, now as the glorification of His Father. I am come that they may have life, and may have it abundantly" (John x. 10). "I have glorified Thee [O Father] upon earth; I have accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do" (John xvii. 4). The life, the salvation, of souls was the object of Christ's mission in regard to man, the glory of His Father in regard to God. Hence the Vatican Council (de fide, I. can. 5) declares: "If any one deny that the world is created for the glory of God; let him be anathema."

II. God's external glory is the last end of creation to which the good of His creatures is subordinate. In other words, God wills the good of creatures, especially the happiness of man, with reference to His own external glory; the good of His creatures is a means to God's glory as the ultimate end.

God by intending His own glory intends the good of His creatures. For the manifestation of His divine power, goodness, and wisdom is beneficial also to them. By requiring men to acknowledge His perfections, and thus to glorify Him, He exacts an homage of them that is also useful to themselves. Finally, man by glorifying, honoring, and praising God secures his own happiness, the service of God being the means of obtaining his last end.

1. God, being infinitely holy, observes the most perfect order in His actions; but perfect order consists in this, that what is most perfect in itself is intended as the highest object for its own sake. Now, the glory of God is evidently higher than the good of His creatures, for what is divine, i.e., what immediately relates to God, is in itself more perfect than what relates to His creatures. Man himself would not act rationally if he sought his own happiness as the end, and the glory of God only as the means to this end; how much less God?

2. Scripture represents God's glory as the last end of His works: "The Lord hath made all things for Himself, the wicked also for the evil day [of judgment]" (Prov. xvi. 4). Even the reprobate must contribute to this end. But they

are no longer capable of happiness; consequently, not the happiness of man, nor the good of God's creatures, but the glory of God, by the manifestation of His perfections, is the last end of creation.

The glory of God is, therefore, the external end of creation, i.e., the object which God intends by communicating His goodness to His creatures; it is also the last end of creation, since all things are subordinate to it. Happiness, however, is the last internal end of man, since all other goods are subservient to this end. In man's happiness two things are to be distinguished: the internal subjective state, and the external good the possession of which produces this state, i.e., God Himself.

It is manifest that God does not seek His own glory from selfishness or ambition. He who is incapable of receiving any increase of happiness from His external glory, and who seeks it only in as far as His infinite holiness requires, does not act from selfish motives. God's goodness towards creatures is not diminished by its subordination to His external glory, any more than our charity towards our neighbor is lessened by its subordination to the love of God.

98. God continually preserves the world.

God not only preserves His creatures in existence inasmuch as He negatively guards them against destructive influences, but by the same act by which He called them into being He positively wills them to continue in existence.

1. Scripture clearly distinguishes between the creation and the preservation of the world. After stating that the Father made the world by His Son, it immediately adds that the Son upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb. i. 2, 3). If the omnipotence of the Son is shown no less in the preservation of the world than in its creation, the world owes its preservation no less than its creation to an act of God's omnipotence. Again: "All things were created by Him and in Him; and He is before all, and by Him all things consist" (Col. i. 16, 17). For the same reason we may attribute the action of the forces of nature to God Himself; for, as He created all things and endowed them with activity, so He also preserves both the things themselves and their forces. He covereth the heavens with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth; who maketh grass to grow on the mountains, and herbs for the service of men" (Ps. cxlvi. 8).

2. Owing to its total dependence on God, the world con

stantly requires His preserving influence. A work of art does not need the artist's continued co-operation, because he gave only the form, not the matter or substance, to his work, and the form will persevere as long as the material in which it is produced. God, on the other hand, produced not only the form but also the substance of things. Now, as created things wholly depend upon the Creator, they do not possess in themselves the sufficient cause of their being the second or third, any more than they did in the first, instant of their existence. For the whole duration of their existence, therefore, they are dependent on the preserving hand of God as much as in the moment of their creation.

99. God rules the world by His providence.

God's providence implies two things: the destination of His creatures to an appropriate end and their direction to this end. The latter is called the government of the world.

1. There is a divine providence. Scripture often commends God's providence, i.e., the divine wisdom, goodness, and power displayed in the direction of things to their appointed end. "[God] made the little and the great, and He hath equally care of all " (Wis. vi. 8). "[His wisdom] reacheth from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly" (Wis. viii. 1). And, in fact, if God is a wise creator He certainly gives to every creature an end corresponding to its nature; if He is a good creator He will also aid His creatures in the attainment of that end; if He is a powerful creator He will also execute the designs of His wisdom and goodness.

2. God's providence extends to the least as well as to the greatest of His creatures. For, every being has its end; and God, who preserves all things, directs them to this end. Yet rational creatures are the chief object of God's providence; for, they occupy the first place in creation; but being endowed with free will they are exposed to greater danger of missing their appointed end. "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and not one of them shall fall on the ground