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The term ‘salvation history’ is here used in a non–technical manner. It simply means, ‘History
from beginning to end. Events chronicled as they happened, all being understood, in the
ultimate, to refer to God’s purpose of salvation for man and His universe.’ In other words,
anyone reading the Scriptures from beginning to end – especially if he were to read them many
times, and with increasing knowledge – would understand that history, as the Bible tells it, is
simply the acts of God, and these are all with a view to fulfilling God’s purposes of salvation.

Much of history, of course, does not seem immediately or directly related to salvation. That is
only because we take a specialized or particularistic view of salvation. As we shall see, God’s
intention, before the foundation of the world, was that it should climax just as He wished, and
so nothing happens in a careless, loose or haphazard fashion, although, of course it often
appears to be this way.

The term ‘Salvation History’ is used by some scholars in a technical manner. They mean by this
term either, (a) The history of salvation takes place in a supra–historical sphere, which cannot
be researched after a secular manner. (In fact, it is accessible only to faith. It is the opposite to
objective historicity.) Or, (b) God’s salvation is connected with real historical events which have
been witnessed, and which can be interpreted, once given the key that history relates to
revelation and salvation. Faith is still needed to understand and interpret the events which
stretch from before creation to the ultimate new creation, when history as we know it will
have been sealed off. That history has a beginning and an end, is of course indicated Biblically,
but is only acceptable to faith.

CREATION’S DESTINY (302-305)

God did not make creation "complete from the beginning," but willed "a state of journeying." God
always guides all creation toward its ultimate perfection by Divine Providence. "By his providence
God protects and governs all things which he has made" (First Vatican Council). God's care for
every creature (from least to greatest) is concrete and immediate. God does "whatever he
pleases" (Ps 115:3). Christ opens and no one shuts, shuts and no one opens" (Rev 3:7). "The
purpose of the Lord will be established" (Prov 19:21).

Scripture, in attributing actions to God without mentioning any other causes, is not using a
"primitive mode of speech" but is professing a faith in God's lordship over all history. Jesus tells us
not to be anxious: "Your heavenly Father knows what you need. Seek first his kingdom and all
these things shall be yours as well" (Mt 6:31-33).

The Creation story is described in the first two chapters of Genesis: "Let us make mankind in our
image, in our likeness..." (Genesis 1:26). For Catholics, this is very important and many take it to
mean that God has given humans a special role and status. Genesis is the first book of the Bible.
The first two chapters deal with creation: Genesis 1 describes the creation of the earth, while
Genesis 2 focuses on the creation of the first humans, Adam and Eve.

In Genesis 1, Christians find the story of how God created the world. It says:
 God is the only creator.
 God existed before he created the world.
 The world was well planned and is sustained by God.
 God blessed creation; all creation is holy.
 God created everything in Heaven and on Earth in six days.
 On the seventh day, God rested.

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For Catholics, rather than being a literal explanation for the origin of life, Genesis 1 teaches key
information about God’s nature. God made the world how he wanted it to be, and he
is omnipotent.
“God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31

Creation also highlights God’s transcendence. Christians believe he is above and beyond the
universe and human understanding.

CREATION OF HUMANS

Further Readings: Read Genesis 1-2.

Christians believe that the first two humans were called Adam and Eve. According to Christian
belief, God created humans in his image. This does not mean that humans physically have the same
appearance as God. Instead, they have certain characteristics that they share with God, such as
being loving. For Christians, this shows how important all humans are to God and explains their
special relationship with him. It is also a reminder to them that humans should try to behave like
God, showing love and being forgiving.

“Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed life into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living thing.” Genesis 2:7

STEWARDSHIP AND DOMINION

Christians believe that the world is a gift from God and that he placed humans in a position of
stewardship and dominion over his creation. This suggests that humans have been given the
power to rule over all other creatures. But this power also suggests that humans should look after
the world.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Holy Scripture begins with these solemn
words. The profession of faith takes them up when it confesses that God the Father almighty is
"Creator of heaven and earth" (Apostles' Creed), "of all that is, seen and unseen" (Nicene Creed).
We shall speak first of the Creator, then of creation and finally of the fall into sin from which Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, came to raise us up again.

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THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON CREATION

280 Creation is the foundation of "all God's saving plans," the "beginning of the history of salvation"
that culminates in Christ. Conversely, the mystery of Christ casts conclusive light on the mystery
of creation and reveals the end for which "in the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth": from the beginning, God envisaged the glory of the new creation in Christ.

281 And so the readings* of the Easter Vigil, the celebration of the new creation in Christ, begin
with the creation account; likewise in the Byzantine liturgy, the account of creation always
constitutes the first reading at the vigils of the great feasts of the Lord. According to ancient
witnesses the instruction of catechumens for Baptism followed the same itinerary.

*With your Bible, please read the readings of the Easter Vigil Service.

READINGS ON EASTER VIGIL

FIRST READING:
Gen. 1: 1-2: 2

SECOND READING:
Gen. 22:1-18

THIRD READING:
Ex. 14:15-15:1

FOURTH READING:
Is. 54: 5-14

FIFTH READING:
Is. 55: 1-11

SIXTH READING:
Bar. 3:9-15, 32-4:4

SEVENTH READING:
Ez. 36:16-17, 18-28

I. CATECHESIS ON CREATION

282 Catechesis on creation is of major importance. It concerns the very foundations of human and
Christian life: for it makes explicit the response of the Christian faith to the basic question that
men of all times have asked themselves: "Where do we come from?" "Where are we going?"
"What is our origin?" "What is our end?" "Where does everything that exists come from and where
is it going?" The two questions, the first about the origin and the second about the end, are
inseparable. They are decisive for the meaning and orientation of our life and actions.

283 The question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific
studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos,
the development of life-forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us to even
greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his
works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers. With Solomon
they can say: "It is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of
the world and the activity of the elements. . . for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me."

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284 The great interest accorded to these studies is strongly stimulated by a question of another
order, which goes beyond the proper domain of the natural sciences. It is not only a question of
knowing when and how the universe arose physically, or when man appeared, but rather of
discovering the meaning of such an origin: is the universe governed by chance, blind fate,
anonymous necessity, or by a transcendent, intelligent and good Being called "God"?

And if the world does come from God's wisdom and goodness, why is there evil? Where does it
come from? Who is responsible for it? Is there any liberation from it?

285 Since the beginning the Christian faith has been challenged by responses to the question of
origins that differ from its own. Ancient religions and cultures produced many myths concerning
origins.

Some philosophers have said that everything is God, that the world is God, or that the development
of the world is the development of God (Pantheism). Others have said that the world is a necessary
emanation arising from God and returning to him.

Still others have affirmed the existence of two eternal principles, Good and Evil, Light and
Darkness, locked, in permanent conflict (Dualism, Manichaeism). According to some of these
conceptions, the world (at least the physical world) is evil, the product of a fall, and is thus to be
rejected or left behind (Gnosticism). Some admit that the world was made by God, but as by a
watch-maker who, once he has made a watch, abandons it to itself (Deism). Finally, others reject
any transcendent origin for the world, but see it as merely the interplay of matter that has always
existed (Materialism). All these attempts bear witness to the permanence and universality of the
question of origins. This inquiry is distinctively human.

286 Human intelligence is surely already capable of finding a response to the question of origins.
The existence of God the Creator can be known with certainty through his works, by the light of
human reason, even if this knowledge is often obscured and disfigured by error. This is why faith
comes to confirm and enlighten reason in the correct understanding of this truth: "By faith we
understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of
things which do not appear."

287 The truth about creation is so important for all of human life that God in his tenderness
wanted to reveal to his People everything that is salutary to know on the subject. Beyond the
natural knowledge that every man can have of the Creator, God progressively revealed to Israel
the mystery of creation.

He who chose the patriarchs, who brought Israel out of Egypt, and who by choosing Israel created
and formed it, this same God reveals himself as the One to whom belong all the peoples of the
earth, and the whole earth itself; he is the One who alone "made heaven and earth".

288 Thus the revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging of the covenant
of the one God with his People. Creation is revealed as the first step towards this covenant, the
first and universal witness to God's all-powerful love. And so, the truth of creation is also expressed
with growing vigor in the message of the prophets, the prayer of the psalms and the liturgy, and
in the wisdom sayings of the Chosen People.

289 Among all the Scriptural texts about creation, the first three chapters of Genesis occupy a
unique place. From a literary standpoint these texts may have had diverse sources. The inspired
authors have placed them at the beginning of Scripture to express in their solemn language the
truths of creation - its origin and its end in God, its order and goodness, the vocation of man, and
finally the drama of sin and the hope of salvation.

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Read in the light of Christ, within the unity of Sacred Scripture and in the living Tradition of the
Church, these texts remain the principal source for catechesis on the mysteries of the "beginning":
creation, fall, and promise of salvation.

CREATION: WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY

290 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth": three things are affirmed in these
first words of Scripture: the eternal God gave a beginning to all that exists outside of himself; he
alone is Creator (the verb "create" - Hebrew bara - always has God for its subject). The totality of
what exists (expressed by the formula "the heavens and the earth") depends on the One who gives
it being.

291 "In the beginning was the Word. . . and the Word was God. . . all things were made through
him, and without him was not anything made that was made." The New Testament reveals that
God created everything by the eternal Word, his beloved Son. In him "all things were created, in
heaven and on earth... all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together." The Church's faith likewise confesses the creative action of
the Holy Spirit, the "giver of life", "the Creator Spirit" (Veni, Creator Spiritus), the "source of every
good".

292 The Old Testament suggests and the New Covenant reveals the creative action of the Son and
the Spirit, inseparably one with that of the Father. This creative co-operation is clearly affirmed in
the Church's rule of faith: "There exists but one God. . . he is the Father, God, the Creator, the
author, the giver of order. He made all things by himself, that is, by his Word and by his Wisdom",
"by the Son and the Spirit" who, so to speak, are "his hands”. Creation is the common work of the
Holy Trinity.

III. "THE WORLD WAS CREATED FOR THE GLORY OF GOD"

293 Scripture and Tradition never cease to teach and celebrate this fundamental truth: "The world
was made for the glory of God." St. Bonaventure explains that God created all things "not to
increase his glory, but to show it forth and to communicate it", for God has no other reason for
creating than his love and goodness: "Creatures came into existence when the key of love opened
his hand."

The First Vatican Council explains:

This one, true God, of his own goodness and "almighty power", not for increasing his own
beatitude, nor for attaining his perfection, but in order to manifest this perfection through the
benefits which he bestows on creatures, with absolute freedom of counsel "and from the beginning
of time, made out of nothing both orders of creatures, the spiritual and the corporeal..."

294 The glory of God consists in the realization of this manifestation and communication of his
goodness, for which the world was created. God made us "to be his sons through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace", for "the glory of God is
man fully alive; moreover man's life is the vision of God: if God's revelation through creation has
already obtained life for all the beings that dwell on earth, how much more will the Word's
manifestation of the Father obtain life for those who see God."

The ultimate purpose of creation is that God "who is the creator of all things may at last become
"all in all", thus simultaneously assuring his own glory and our beatitude."

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GOD CARRIES OUT HIS PLAN: DIVINE PROVIDENCE

302 Creation has its own goodness and proper perfection, but it did not spring forth complete
from the hands of the Creator. The universe was created "in a state of journeying" (in statu viae)
toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained, to which God has destined it. We call "divine
providence" the dispositions by which God guides his creation toward this perfection:

By his providence God protects and governs all things which he has made, "reaching mightily from
one end of the earth to the other, and ordering all things well". For "all are open and laid bare to
his eyes", even those things which are yet to come into existence through the free action of
creatures.

Creatio Ex Nihilo (Creation from nothing)

This refers to the view that the universe, the whole of space-time, is created by a free act of God
out of nothing, and not either out of some preexisting material or out of the divine substance
itself.

The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and
immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history.
The sacred books powerfully affirm God's absolute sovereignty over the course of events: "Our
God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases." And so it is with Christ, "who opens and no
one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens". As the book of Proverbs states: "Many are the plans
in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established."

And so we see the Holy Spirit, the principal author of Sacred Scripture, often attributing actions to
God without mentioning any secondary causes. This is not a "primitive mode of speech", but a
profound way of recalling God's primacy and absolute Lordship over history and the world, and so
of educating his people to trust in him. The prayer of the Psalms is the great school of this trust.

Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father who takes care of
his children's smallest needs: "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What
shall we drink?". . . Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom
and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well."

ONGOING CREATION

After the sixth day, God did not stop creating…it continues in the present. The Holy Spirit is God’s
creative power giving existence to all reality and life to all living things now. God is the source of
every life. Everything depends on him for continued existence and activity. However, many
Filipinos have distorted this virtue of dependence with the “bahala na” attitude. It implies extreme
dependence on God, indicating that God, the Creator, does everything independent of the
person’s actions.

Filipinos must discard excessive, sometimes superstitious expectations that God will somehow
resolve all problems without the cooperation, sacrifice and concerted effort on their part.

Doctrine

The doctrine of creation asserts the Christian truth that God created everything, not because he
needed the world but simply out of his desire to share his infinite love. Everything that God created
was good, and he gave man and woman dominion over all creation so that empowered by the
Spirit thay may share in the creative work of God in Jesus Christ.

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Morals

Each one has been endowed by God with talents and gifts, and called to develop these gifts to the
fullest, and use them not only for one’s personal good but even more, for the good of others.
Creation calls for authentic free moral action by participating in the life of God.

As persons, we need to become aware of the dignity proper to every human being. What makes
us distinct from all other creatures is the intrinsic dignity that God shares with us. We must respect
and promote the dignity of every human being. Essentially, this means recognizing the abiding
presence of God in each person.

Providence and secondary causes

306 God is the sovereign master of his plan. But to carry it out he also makes use of his creatures'
co-operation. This use is not a sign of weakness, but rather a token of almighty God's greatness
and goodness. For God grants his creatures not only their existence, but also the dignity of acting
on their own, of being causes and principles for each other, and thus of co-operating in the
accomplishment of his plan.

To human beings God even gives the power of freely sharing in his providence by entrusting them
with the responsibility of "subduing" the earth and having dominion over it. God thus enables men
to be intelligent and free causes in order to complete the work of creation, to perfect its harmony
for their own good and that of their neighbors. Though often unconscious collaborators with God's
will, they can also enter deliberately into the divine plan by their actions, their prayers and their
sufferings. They then fully become "God's fellow workers" and co-workers for his kingdom.

The teaching of the Old Testament on Providence is assumed by Our Lord, who draws therefrom
practical lessons both in regard to confidence in God (Matthew 6:25-33; 7:7-11; 10:28-31; Mark
11:22-4; Luke 11:9-13; John 16:26, 27) and in regard to the forgiveness of our enemies (Matthew
5:39-45; Luke 6:27-38); while in St. Paul it becomes the basis of a definite and systematic theology.

To the Athenians in the Areopagus Paul declares:

- that God made the universe and is its supreme Lord (Acts 17:24);
- that He sustains the universe in its existence, giving life and breath to all things (verse 25),
and hence, as the source whence they all proceed, must Himself lack nothing nor stand in
need of any human service;
- that He has directed the growth of nations and their distribution (verse 26), and
- this to the end that they should seek Him (verse 27) in Whom we live and move and have
our being, and whose offspring we are (verse 28).

The truth that God is at work in all the actions of his creatures is inseparable from faith in God the
Creator. God is the first cause who operates in and through secondary causes: "For God is at work
in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Far from diminishing the creature's dignity,
this truth enhances it. Drawn from nothingness by God's power, wisdom and goodness, it can do
nothing if it is cut off from its origin, for "without a Creator the creature vanishes." Still less can a
creature attain its ultimate end without the help of God's grace.

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GLOSSARY
i. Pantheism - the view that the world is either identical to God, or an expression of God’s
nature. It comes from ‘pan’ meaning all, and ‘theism,’ which means belief in God. So
according to pantheism, “God is everything and everything is God.”
ii. Manichaeism - a dualistic religious system with Christian, Gnostic, and pagan elements,
founded in Persia in the 3rd century by Manes (c.216–c.276).
iii. Gnostics/Gnosticism - refers to awareness, experience, and knowledge of the presence
of God. It also frequently refers to self-awareness, as one realizes and recognizes the
divine spark within their mortal shell.
iv. Deism - is a form of Monotheism in which it is believed that one God exists, but that
this God does not intervene in the world, or interfere with human life and the laws of
the universe. It posits a non-interventionist creator who permits the universe to run
itself according to natural laws.
v. Materialism - also called physicalism, in philosophy, the view that all facts (including
facts about the human mind and will and the course of human history) are causally
dependent upon physical processes, or even reducible to them.

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VATICAN CITY, FEB. 27, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave
today before praying the midday Angelus together with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

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ON TRUST IN DIVINE PROVIDENCE

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Echoing in today’s liturgy is one of the most touching messages of Sacred Scripture. The Holy
Spirit has given it through the writing of the so-called “second Isaiah,” who to console Jerusalem,
disheartened by misfortunes, expresses himself thus: “Can a woman forget her sucking child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will
not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15). This invitation to trust in the unfailing love of God is supported as
much by the thought-provoking page of Matthew’s Gospel, in which Jesus exhorts his disciples to
trust in the providence of the heavenly Father, who feeds the birds of the air and clothes the
lilies of the field, and knows every need of ours (cf. 6:24-34). This is how the Master expresses
himself: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink’ or
‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows
that you need them all.”

Given the situation of so many people, close and far off, who live in misery, this discourse of
Jesus might not seem very realistic, if not evasive. In reality, the Lord wants us to understand
clearly that we cannot serve two masters: God and wealth. Whoever believes in God, the Father
full of love for his children, puts in the first place the search for the Kingdom, for his will. And this
is, in fact, the contrary of fatalism or of a naive irenicism. Faith in providence, in fact, does not
dispense us from the exhausting struggle for a dignified life, but it frees us from anxiety about
things and from the fear of tomorrow. It is clear that this teaching of Jesus, although remaining
always true and valid for all, is practiced in different ways in keeping with the different vocations:
A Franciscan brother can follow it in a more radical way, whereas a father of a family must keep
in mind his duties towards his wife and children. In every case, however, the Christian is
distinguished by his absolute trust in the heavenly Father, as it was for Jesus. It is precisely the
relationship with God the Father that gives meaning to the whole of Christ’s life, to his words, to
his gestures of salvation, to his passion, death and resurrection. Jesus has demonstrated to us
what it means to live with our feet firmly planted on the earth, attentive to the concrete
situations of our neighbor, and at the same time having our heart always in Heaven, immersed in
God’s mercy.

Dear Friends, in the light of the Word of God this Sunday, I invite you to invoke the Virgin Mary
with the title Mother of Divine Providence. To her we entrust our life, the path of the Church,
the events of history. In particular, we invoke her intercession so that we will all learn to live in
keeping with a simpler and sober style, in our daily industry and in respect of creation, which
God has entrusted to our care.

[Translation by ZENIT]
© Copyright 2011 — Libreria Editrice Vaticana