Abbey Chat: Catholic Teaching on Nature
Beirdd

Sat Nov 13 19:44:54 1999
In a recent Summerlands chat (an informal one) the subject of Catholic doctrine regarding nature ("Creation," in Catholic Church parlance) came up. I offered to post several statements of official RC doctrine on the subject, and here it is. The material is taken from the "Catechism of the Catholic Church," published by the Vatican in 1994.   Numbers refer to statements rather than pages. Quotes are usually from the Bible or Papal Encyclicals, except the last, which is from "The Canticle of Creatures" by Francis of Assisi. I will omit the citations for the sake of space. If anyone needs them, please ask.*p*--Beirdd*p*-------------------*p*337*br*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. On the subject of creation, the sacred text teaches the truths revealed by God for our salvation, permitting us to "recognize the inner nature, the value, and the ordering of the whole of creation to the praise of God."*p*338*br*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.*p*339*br*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." 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.*p*340*br*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.*p*341*br*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.*p*342*br*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 creatures and takes care of each one, even the sparrow. Nevertheless, Jesus said, "You are of more value than many sparrows," or again: "Of how much more value is a man than a sheep!"*p*343*br*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 other creatures.*p*344*br*There is a solidarity among all creatures arising from the fact that all have the same Creator and all are ordered to his glory: "May you be praised, O Lord, in all your creatures, especially brother sun, by whom you give us light for the day; he is beautiful, raidating great splendor, and offering us a symbol of you, the Most High... May you be praised, my Lord, for sister water, who is very useful and humble, precious and chaste... May you be praised, my Lord, for sister earth, our mother, who bears and feeds us, and produces the variety of fruits and dappled flowers and grasses... Praise and bless my Lord, give thanks and serve him in all humility."*p**br*