II. The Visible World
337 God himself created the visible world in all
its richness, diversity and order. Scripture presents
the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession
of six days of divine "work", concluded
by the "rest" of the seventh day. (Genesis 1:1-2, 4) On
the subject of creation, the sacred text teaches
the truths revealed by God for our salvation (cf. Vatican II, Dei Verbum 11.), permitting
us to "recognize the inner nature, the value
and the ordering of the whole of creation to the
praise of God." (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 36 § 2)
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 existent beings,
all of nature, and all human history are rooted
in this primordial event, the very genesis by which
the world was constituted and time begun. (cf. St. Augustine, De Genesi adv. Man. 1,2,4: PL 34,175.)
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 that it was good." "By the very
nature of creation, material being is endowed with
its own stability, truth and excellence, its own
order and laws." (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes 36 § 1) Each of the various creatures,
willed in its own being, reflects in its own way
a ray of God's infinite wisdom and goodness. Man
must therefore respect the particular goodness
of every creature, to avoid any disordered use
of things which would be in contempt of the Creator
and would bring disastrous consequences for human
beings and their environment.
340 God wills the interdependence of creatures.
The sun and the moon, the cedar and the little
flower, the eagle and the sparrow: the spectacle
of their countless diversities and inequalities
tells us that no creature is self-sufficient. Creatures
exist only in dependence on each other, to complete
each other, in the service of each other.
341 The beauty of the universe: The order and
harmony of the created world results from the diversity
of beings and from the relationships which exist
among them. Man discovers them progressively as
the laws of nature. They call forth the admiration
of scholars. The beauty of creation reflects the
infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire
the respect and submission of man's intellect and
will.
and under: The duties of parents
2224 The home is the
natural environment for initiating
a human being into solidarity and communal
responsibilities. Parents should teach children
to avoid the compromising and degrading influences
which threaten human societies. |
