Necessary Existence vs. Contingent Creation

Question #7: Given the Church’s distinction between God’s necessary existence and His free creative act (cf. Lateran IV, DS 800), how do we reconcile the assertion that God’s creative act is identical to His essence with the belief that creation is contingent?

Within Catholic theology, Lateran IV (DS 800) clarifies that God’s existence is absolutely necessary–He cannot not exist–while creation remains a free, contingent act. Yet the tradition also affirms that God’s act of willing (including His creative act) is identical to His divine essence, which might appear to suggest creation itself is as necessary as God is. The resolution lies in distinguishing God’s unchanging essence from the effect of that eternal act in the created order.

1. No Composition in God:

To say that God’s “creative act” is identical to His essence is to insist there is no extra “component” in God beyond His own being. God does not “add on” a new act separate from Himself. Rather, He is so utterly simple (no parts, no unrealized potential) that His will and His essence coincide. In Thomistic language, “God’s act of willing is one with God’s being.” That identity preserves divine simplicity; it does not automatically imply that creation is thereby necessary.

2. Eternal Freedom and No Internal Necessity:

The Church affirms a real distinction: God necessarily is, but He does not necessarily will any particular creation. He could have willed otherwise or refrained altogether, without contradiction to His essence. Why? Because God’s will is self-determined, arising from no lack or compulsion. Even though His act of will is eternal and identical to His essence, it is also free–the content of that will (to create or not create) is not forced by any necessity within God.

3. Contingency Lies on Creation’s Side:

This unity of God’s act with His essence means God undergoes no division or new state when He creates. However, from the standpoint of the world, it is still wholly contingent–there was no metaphysical requirement that this specific universe exist. God’s single, eternally simple act includes a decree that could have been otherwise, had God so chosen. Thus, there is no contradiction: God’s act is one with His essence (no composition in God), while the decision it embodies need not exist by necessity.

4. Difference Between Divine Necessity and Creative Freedom:

Catholic thought thus distinguishes between the necessity of God’s being and the contingency of the created effect. God is necessary in that He cannot fail to exist. But that does not entail that creation’s existence must follow. Rather, the free choice to create remains within the scope of God’s eternal will–perfectly simple in Himself yet freely determining the outcome for the world.

In sum, God’s essence and His act of will coincide without necessitating the creation. Creation remains contingent precisely because God’s sovereign freedom is neither compelled nor changed by His own simple, necessary being.

(see #6, #8, #9, #21 for more)