In the first place we must distinguish between creation and preservation. When we make an object we do not need to exert any continuous activity to keep it from going back to nothingness. This notion we readily apply to creation and thus conceive of creation when once there, able to stand by its own power. But the Absolute nature of God demands that creation cannot exist for one moment without God. Nor is God’s continued preservation of the creature merely a negative activity existing in his preventing