The Work of the Trinity

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Simplified

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Three Truths (290)

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen 1:1). This sentence shows three truths. First, God gave a beginning to all that exists. Second, he alone is Creator. Third, everything depends on God.

The Work of Three Persons (291-292)

John's Gospel says that all things were made through God's Word "and without him nothing was made" (1:1-3). The Church also confesses the Holy Spirit's creative action. He is "the giver of life." The Old Testament suggests and the New Testament reveals this creative activity of both the Son and the Spirit.

This creative cooperation of the three Persons is confirmed by the Church's rule of faith. "He made all things by himself, that is, by his Word and by his Wisdom, by the Son and the Spirit" who are "the Father's hands" (St. Irenaeus).

Manifesting and Communicating the Glory (293-294)

The world was made for the glory of God, "not to increase it but to show it forth and communicate it" (St. Bonaventure). Love is the only reason God created. "God created to manifest his goodness" (First Vatican Council).

God's glory is the communicating of his goodness to us. "The glory of God is man fully alive" and man's life is the "vision of God" (St. Irenaeus). Creation exists "so God can bring about his own glory and our happiness."

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