48. Did God create the world because He needed it?
No; God is infinitely rich and happy in Himself, and: needs nothing besides Himself.
'Thou art my God, for Thou hast no need of my goods' (Ps. XV. 2).
49. If God needs nothing besides Himself, why did He create other beings?
He created them because He is infinitely good, and desired to impart His goodness also to other beings.
'We are, because God is good' (St. Augustine). 'God was not impelled to create by any other cause than a desire to communicate to creatures the riches of His bounty' (Cat. of the Counc. of Trent).
50. Did, then, God create the world for His creatures?
No; God created the world for Himself — that is, for His glory — but, nevertheless, for the good of His creatures.
'The Lord hath made all things for Himself (Prov. lxxvi. 4). 'And every one that calleth upon my name, I have created him for my glory, I have formed him, and made him' (Isai. xliii. 7).
51. What does God still do, that the world which He has created may not return into its original nothing?
He preserves and governs it.
52. How does God preserve the world?
By the same power of His will with which He created the world He causes it also to continue, in the manner He pleases, and as long as He pleases.
'How could anything endure, if Thou wouldst not?' (Wisd. xi. 26.).
53. How does God govern the world?
He takes care of all things,1 orders all things, and, in His wisdom and goodness, directs all things to the end for which He has created the world.2
1 'God made the little and the great, and He hath equally care of all' (Wisd. vi. 8). 2 'But the very hairs of your head are all numbered' (Matt. x. 30). 'She [the wisdom of God] reacheth therefore from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things
