MISCONCEPTIONS OF THBORT. 219 



the Christian idea of God, a Being eternal, spiritual 

 in substance, and distinct from the world in reality 

 and essence, but also the Christian and the only true 

 idea of creation. 



Having briefly adverted to some of the principal 

 philosophical doctrines which exclude creation in 

 the Christian and Scriptural sense, and having given 

 a hasty glance at some of the more widely-spread 

 errors respecting the nature of the Creator and His 

 creatures, we are now prepared to consider the 

 teachings of Catholic philosophy and theology as 

 to creation, and as to the origin and nature of the 

 material universe. 

 -? 



Dogma of Creation. ^A\\ ))^ -fj\3. 



Creation, in its strictest sense, is the production, 

 by God, of something from nothing. The universe 

 and all it contains was called into existence ex nihilo, 

 by an act of the Creator, which was not only super- 

 natural, but also absolute and free. It was, there- 

 fore, in no wise formed from preexisting material, 

 for none existed, nor by any emanation from the 

 Divine substance. God alone is necessary and 

 eternal ; the world of matter and the world of spirit, 

 outside of God, are contingent, and have their exist- 

 ence in time. But, notwithstanding that the nature 

 of the world of created things is finite, and entirely 

 different from the Divine nature, which alone is in- 

 finite and necessary, nevertheless, all the creatures 

 of God have a real existence, although limited in 

 its duration and dependent entirely on Divine 

 Providence for its continuance. 



