The Preservation of the World

a) Meaning of Preservation

We have already used the word creature many times. A creature is a created thing. It is anything real that is not God. The world and all things in it are creatures. Creatures, not being God, are contingent; they depend for their production upon their causes and ultimately upon the First Efficient Cause, which is God. Now, the dependence of creatures not only affects their production, the origin of their existence ; it also affects the maintenance of their existence. Creatures have not in themselves a sufficient reason for their existence, and this is true of every moment of that existence, and not only of the moment when they begin to exist. The maintenance of creatures in existence is what we mean by the preservation of the world. The existence of all creatures depends upon God, the Creator and Preserver, in such a way that they could not last even for a moment, but would lapse into nothingness if the divine power did not hold them in existence. This exercise of God’s power we call Preservation or Conservation. We use the word preservation in several different but related senses. We speak of preserving health, of preserving virtue, of preserving foodstuffs. In these expressions we refer to the influence that creatures may exercise one upon another. Thus health (a creature) is preserved by the creatures called proper food, clothing, shelter, light, air, exercise, etc. Thus virtue (a creature) is preserved by the creatures called striving after good, avoidance of evil, use of grace, prayer, watchfulness, etc. Thus the creatures called foodstuffs are preserved by the creatures called fire (in cooking), salt, ice, etc. In our present study, however, we speak of preservation in existence, and we say that things in the world are preserved in existence even when they undergo continual accidental and substantial changes. We speak of that preservation which keeps creatures from annihilation or reduction to nothingness. If foodstuffs be not preserved, they decay ; but they are not annihilated; they are preserved as existent things, even if they are no longer suitable for use as food. Therefore, the fact of accidental and substantial change in bodily creatures does not affect our acceptance of the term preservation. In reference to bodies, preservation means that no quantity of matter perishes—a truth which physical science establishes. In reference to spirits (souls of men) we mean that they continue in existence without substantial change.

b) The Fact of Preservation

As an infinite power is required to give existence (create), so the same power is required to preserve creatures to whom existence has been given. The proof of this assertion lies in the fact that creatures, in origin and continuance, are essentially dependent upon the First Cause. We state the proof in two ways: 1. The dependence of the world (of all creatures) on the Creator is an essential dependence. It is like the dependence of heat upon fire, of daylight upon the sun; it is not like the dependence of a statue upon the sculptor who made it. If heat is to be maintained, the fire must be kept up. If daylight is not to cease, the sun must not disappear. A statue may endure a thousand years after its sculptor is dead; but the sculptor only gave the statue accidental being, inasmuch as he merely shaped and arranged a thing which had its existence as a thing independently of him, and the shaping inheres in that thing. We repeat: the dependence of the world on the Creator is an essential, not an accidental, dependence. Now, an essential dependence means that the very essence of the dependent thing must cease if the active force upon which the thing depends ceases to be exercised. Thus the essence of the world must cease to exist if its dependence upon the Creator be not maintained. In other words, unless preserved by the power that gave it existence, the world must lapse into non-existence. Hence, preservation of the world is a fact. 2. The Creator freely chooses to give the world existence. But existence is not a thing that the world can take and keep of itself; for, after creation, it would then be self-existent; and self-existence requires an infinite subject and the world is finite. Hence, God, freely choosing to give the world existence, must freely choose to continue to give existence, else existence must cease. God’s free choice to maintain the world in existence is preservation or conservation. The very fact that the world is here is proof that it is maintained here. Hence, preservation is a fact. The dependence of the world upon the infinite power of God is like the dependence of a stone which a boy holds suspended upon a cord. The boy may will to hold the stone clear of the ground; he may hold it up for a long time; but the stone never becomes capable of sustaining itself in the air, no matter how long it is held. The moment the boy chooses to let go the cord, the stone falls to the ground. Similarly, the world is held out of nothingness by the power of the Creator, and it can remain out of nothingness only so long as the Creator freely chooses to hold it there. As a fact, God, being infinitely wise, does not create in order utterly to destroy. He does not annihilate His creatures. But the point for recognition and remembrance here is this: the world and all creatures, bodily and spiritual, would inevitably lapse into nothingness if God did not maintain them continuously in existence.

Summary of the Article

In this very brief Article we have defined preservation or conservation as an act by which God holds the created world out of nothingness, maintains it in existence, positively acts to keep it from annihilation. We have proved the fact that the continuance of contingent things in existence requires the action of the Necessary Being. The fact of divine preservation ought to stir us to admiration for the wondrous power of God, and to humble thankfulness and love toward Him who has such a care of us that He does not forget or neglect us for a single instant—no, not even when we turn against Him and insult Him by sin!