St Francis de Sales & St Mary Magdalene

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Creator or Sustainer?

When the Church in the Creeds says that we believe in God the Creator, does this mean a sort of once and for all Creator of the world and the cosmos and the universe once and once only, like the Big Bang Theory, or does this mean something else?

A sweet little old lady in her Eighties sent in this Question because she reminded me that of all the things which had most impressed her in the learning of the Faith, it was the moment in her house when a young curate came round who was running a space blog, and who explained to her that God as Creator does not simply mean a once and for all time Creator, in the dim and distant past of the history of the universe, but that he is creating all the time, he is causing stars to pop and planets to be formed all the time. This she explained was her moment of greatest insight. And she was happy to be so informed. And so be it. I concurred with her insight, and explained to her that it is now an Article of Faith in the USA Catechism which expects all believers to believe that God is a munificent God and that he has created many worlds and many stars where intelligent life might be found. All believers are held to believe in the doctrine of the Munificence of God, in the doctrine of extra-terrestrial life in the universe. Article 51a of the said Catechism. Amen to that.