Creation Ex Nihilo: A doctrine created out of nothing?

[natitude]

Traditional Christianity holds to a doctrine formally declared in the Fourth Lateran Council which states: “We firmly believe and simply confess that there is only one true God, ... creator of all things invisible and visible, spiritual and corporeal; who by his almighty power at the beginning of time created from nothing (de nihilo condidit) both spiritual and corporeal creatures.” (“Constitutions,” Fourth Lateran Council, in Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. Norman P. Tanner (London:Sheed & Ward, 1990), 1:230.)

The problem with this doctrine is that it cannot be found in the Bible. For one, the word "create" as used in the Bible refers to fashioning something out of existing matter. As noted scholar Stanley Jaki has said:

I begin with a caution: we must protect against the unwarranted assumption that the very use of the word “create” means “creation out of absolute nothing.” The caution which is in order about taking the [Hebrew] verb bara in the sense of creation out of nothing is no less needed in reference to the [English] word creation. Nothing is more natural, and unadvised, at the same time, than to use the word as if it has always denoted creation out of nothing. In its basic etymological origin the word creation meant the purely natural process of growing or of making something to grow. This should be obvious by a mere recall of the [Latin] verb crescere. The crescent moon [derived from crescere] is not creating but merely growing. The expression ex nihilo or de nihilo had to be fastened, from around 200 A.D. on, by Christian theologians on the verb creare to convey unmistakably a process, strict creation, which only God can perform. Only through the long-standing use of those very Latin expressions, creare ex nihilo and creatio ex nihilo, could the English words to create and creation take on the meaning which excludes pre-existing matter. Stanley L. Jaki, Genesis 1 Through the Ages (Royal Oak, Mich.: Real View Books, 1998), 5-6.


It is easy to trace a shift in the teachings of the Early Church fathers on this. Note that Justin Martyr taught that the Earth was created out of existing matter.

And we have been taught that He in the beginning did of His goodness, for man's sake, create all things out of unformed matter; and if men by their works show themselves worthy of this His design, they are deemed worthy, and so we have received--of reigning in company with Him, being delivered from corruption and suffering. (First Apology X [ANF: 1:165])

Not to long after we see a shift in early Christian thinking as noted by James Hubler:

Creatio ex nihilo appeared suddenly in the latter half of the second century c.e. Not only did creatio ex nihilo lack precedent, it stood in firm opposition to all the philosophical schools of the Greco-Roman world. As we have seen, the doctrine was not forced upon the Christian community by their revealed tradition, either in Biblical texts or the Early Jewish interpretation of them. As we will also see it was not a position attested in the New Testament doctrine or even sub-apostolic writings. It was a position taken by the apologists of the late second century, Tatian and Theophilus, and developed by various ecclesiastical writers thereafter, by Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen. Creatio ex nihilo represents an innovation in the interpretive traditions of revelation and cannot be explained merely as a continuation of tradition. (James N. Hubler, "Creatio ex Nihilo: Matter, Creation, and the Body in Classical and Christian Philosophy through Aquinas" (PhD diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1995), 102)

Peter Hayman concurs:

“Nearly all recent studies on the origin of the doctrine of creation ex nihilo have come to the conclusion that this doctrine is not native to Judaism, is nowhere attested in the Hebrew Bible, and probably arose in Christianity in the second century C. E. in the course of its fierce battle with Gnosticism.” (Peter Hayman, “Monotheism – A misused word in Jewish Studies?”)

Given the overwhelming evidence of the meaning of "creation" in the Bible, shouldn't Bible-based Christian denominations be teaching that divine creation is "ex-materia" (from previously existing matter), instead of "ex-nihilo" (from nothing)?

 

[BobRyan]

Given the overwhelming evidence of the meaning of "creation" in the Bible, shouldn't Bible-based Christian denominations be teaching that divine creation is "ex-materia" (from previously existing matter), instead of "ex-nihilo" (from nothing)?

In the case of animals : God formed animals from the dust

Gen 1:
24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kind: livestock and crawling things and animals of the earth according to their kind”; and it was so. 25 God made the animals of the earth

Gen 2:19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

=========================

In the case of the universe and Sun and moon - there is no "formed out of something else" statement.

In the beginning -
Gen 1:1 does not say "from something else"

Gen 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Gen 1: Day 4
14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and they shall serve as signs and for seasons, and for days and years; 15 and they shall serve as lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night -- the stars also. 17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

Ps 33:
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And by the breath of His mouth all their lights.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He puts the depths in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
9 For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood firm.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Traditional Christianity holds to a doctrine formally declared in the Fourth Lateran Council which states: “We firmly believe and simply confess that there is only one true God, ... creator of all things invisible and visible, spiritual and corporeal; who by his almighty power at the beginning of time created from nothing (de nihilo condidit) both spiritual and corporeal creatures.” (“Constitutions,” Fourth Lateran Council, in Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. Norman P. Tanner (London:Sheed & Ward, 1990), 1:230.)

The problem with this doctrine is that it cannot be found in the Bible. For one, the word "create" as used in the Bible refers to fashioning something out of existing matter. As noted scholar Stanley Jaki has said:

I begin with a caution: we must protect against the unwarranted assumption that the very use of the word “create” means “creation out of absolute nothing.” The caution which is in order about taking the [Hebrew] verb bara in the sense of creation out of nothing is no less needed in reference to the [English] word creation. Nothing is more natural, and unadvised, at the same time, than to use the word as if it has always denoted creation out of nothing. In its basic etymological origin the word creation meant the purely natural process of growing or of making something to grow. This should be obvious by a mere recall of the [Latin] verb crescere. The crescent moon [derived from crescere] is not creating but merely growing. The expression ex nihilo or de nihilo had to be fastened, from around 200 A.D. on, by Christian theologians on the verb creare to convey unmistakably a process, strict creation, which only God can perform. Only through the long-standing use of those very Latin expressions, creare ex nihilo and creatio ex nihilo, could the English words to create and creation take on the meaning which excludes pre-existing matter. Stanley L. Jaki, Genesis 1 Through the Ages (Royal Oak, Mich.: Real View Books, 1998), 5-6.


It is easy to trace a shift in the teachings of the Early Church fathers on this. Note that Justin Martyr taught that the Earth was created out of existing matter.

And we have been taught that He in the beginning did of His goodness, for man's sake, create all things out of unformed matter; and if men by their works show themselves worthy of this His design, they are deemed worthy, and so we have received--of reigning in company with Him, being delivered from corruption and suffering. (First Apology X [ANF: 1:165])

Not to long after we see a shift in early Christian thinking as noted by James Hubler:

Creatio ex nihilo appeared suddenly in the latter half of the second century c.e. Not only did creatio ex nihilo lack precedent, it stood in firm opposition to all the philosophical schools of the Greco-Roman world. As we have seen, the doctrine was not forced upon the Christian community by their revealed tradition, either in Biblical texts or the Early Jewish interpretation of them. As we will also see it was not a position attested in the New Testament doctrine or even sub-apostolic writings. It was a position taken by the apologists of the late second century, Tatian and Theophilus, and developed by various ecclesiastical writers thereafter, by Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen. Creatio ex nihilo represents an innovation in the interpretive traditions of revelation and cannot be explained merely as a continuation of tradition. (James N. Hubler, "Creatio ex Nihilo: Matter, Creation, and the Body in Classical and Christian Philosophy through Aquinas" (PhD diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1995), 102)

Peter Hayman concurs:

“Nearly all recent studies on the origin of the doctrine of creation ex nihilo have come to the conclusion that this doctrine is not native to Judaism, is nowhere attested in the Hebrew Bible, and probably arose in Christianity in the second century C. E. in the course of its fierce battle with Gnosticism.” (Peter Hayman, “Monotheism – A misused word in Jewish Studies?”)

Given the overwhelming evidence of the meaning of "creation" in the Bible, shouldn't Bible-based Christian denominations be teaching that divine creation is "ex-materia" (from previously existing matter), instead of "ex-nihilo" (from nothing)?

The question then arises, where did the previously existing matter come from?

 

[disciple Clint]

Traditional Christianity holds to a doctrine formally declared in the Fourth Lateran Council which states: “We firmly believe and simply confess that there is only one true God, ... creator of all things invisible and visible, spiritual and corporeal; who by his almighty power at the beginning of time created from nothing (de nihilo condidit) both spiritual and corporeal creatures.” (“Constitutions,” Fourth Lateran Council, in Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. Norman P. Tanner (London:Sheed & Ward, 1990), 1:230.)

The problem with this doctrine is that it cannot be found in the Bible. For one, the word "create" as used in the Bible refers to fashioning something out of existing matter. As noted scholar Stanley Jaki has said:

I begin with a caution: we must protect against the unwarranted assumption that the very use of the word “create” means “creation out of absolute nothing.” The caution which is in order about taking the [Hebrew] verb bara in the sense of creation out of nothing is no less needed in reference to the [English] word creation. Nothing is more natural, and unadvised, at the same time, than to use the word as if it has always denoted creation out of nothing. In its basic etymological origin the word creation meant the purely natural process of growing or of making something to grow. This should be obvious by a mere recall of the [Latin] verb crescere. The crescent moon [derived from crescere] is not creating but merely growing. The expression ex nihilo or de nihilo had to be fastened, from around 200 A.D. on, by Christian theologians on the verb creare to convey unmistakably a process, strict creation, which only God can perform. Only through the long-standing use of those very Latin expressions, creare ex nihilo and creatio ex nihilo, could the English words to create and creation take on the meaning which excludes pre-existing matter. Stanley L. Jaki, Genesis 1 Through the Ages (Royal Oak, Mich.: Real View Books, 1998), 5-6.


It is easy to trace a shift in the teachings of the Early Church fathers on this. Note that Justin Martyr taught that the Earth was created out of existing matter.

And we have been taught that He in the beginning did of His goodness, for man's sake, create all things out of unformed matter; and if men by their works show themselves worthy of this His design, they are deemed worthy, and so we have received--of reigning in company with Him, being delivered from corruption and suffering. (First Apology X [ANF: 1:165])

Not to long after we see a shift in early Christian thinking as noted by James Hubler:

Creatio ex nihilo appeared suddenly in the latter half of the second century c.e. Not only did creatio ex nihilo lack precedent, it stood in firm opposition to all the philosophical schools of the Greco-Roman world. As we have seen, the doctrine was not forced upon the Christian community by their revealed tradition, either in Biblical texts or the Early Jewish interpretation of them. As we will also see it was not a position attested in the New Testament doctrine or even sub-apostolic writings. It was a position taken by the apologists of the late second century, Tatian and Theophilus, and developed by various ecclesiastical writers thereafter, by Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen. Creatio ex nihilo represents an innovation in the interpretive traditions of revelation and cannot be explained merely as a continuation of tradition. (James N. Hubler, "Creatio ex Nihilo: Matter, Creation, and the Body in Classical and Christian Philosophy through Aquinas" (PhD diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1995), 102)

Peter Hayman concurs:

“Nearly all recent studies on the origin of the doctrine of creation ex nihilo have come to the conclusion that this doctrine is not native to Judaism, is nowhere attested in the Hebrew Bible, and probably arose in Christianity in the second century C. E. in the course of its fierce battle with Gnosticism.” (Peter Hayman, “Monotheism – A misused word in Jewish Studies?”)

Given the overwhelming evidence of the meaning of "creation" in the Bible, shouldn't Bible-based Christian denominations be teaching that divine creation is "ex-materia" (from previously existing matter), instead of "ex-nihilo" (from nothing)?

The simple question is what was the first cause. You can do all the mental gymnastics but it comes down to something or some one is the first cause and who or what ever that is requires no cause. For me that would be God.

 

[natitude]

In the case of the universe and Sun and moon - there is no "formed out of something else" statement.

In the beginning -
Gen 1:1 does not say "from something else"

Gen 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

2 Points:
1. Since we know that "create" mean "fashioning something out of existing matter", Genesis 1:1 could realistically be written as "In the beginning God fashioned out of existing matter the heavens and the earth".

2. 2 Peter 3:5 nicely fills in a detail left out of Genesis 1:1

But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.

 

[natitude]

The question then arises, where did the previously existing matter come from?

That's a good question, but is it the right question? 2 Corinthians 4:18 (see below) speaks of unseen things which are eternal.

The simple question is what was the first cause. You can do all the mental gymnastics but it comes down to something or some one is the first cause and who or what ever that is requires no cause. For me that would be God.

Can there be a "first cause" for the unseen eternal things referenced in 2 Corinthians 4:18? They have existed forever.

2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

 

[Aussie Pete]

That's a good question, but is it the right question? 2 Corinthians 4:18 (see below) speaks of unseen things which are eternal.



Can there be a "first cause" for the unseen eternal things referenced in 2 Corinthians 4:18? They have existed forever.

2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

The question then becomes, what are the things which are not seen? My understanding is that they are spiritual, not material.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

The question then arises, where did the previously existing matter come from?

The church father in context, "
Chapter 10. How God is to be served
But we have received by tradition that God does not need the material offerings which men can give, seeing, indeed, that He Himself is the provider of all things. And we have been taught, and are convinced, and do believe, that He accepts those only who imitate the excellences which reside in Him, temperance, and justice, and philanthropy, and as many virtues as are peculiar to a God who is called by no proper name. And we have been taught that He in the beginning did of His goodness, for man's sake, create all things out of unformed matter; and if men by their works show themselves worthy of this His design, they are deemed worthy, and so we have received — of reigning in company with Him, being delivered from corruption and suffering. For as in the beginning He created us when we were not, so do we consider that, in like manner, those who choose what is pleasing to Him are, on account of their choice, deemed worthy of incorruption and of fellowship with Him. For the coming into being at first was not in our own power; and in order that we may follow those things which please Him, choosing them by means of the rational faculties He has Himself endowed us with, He both persuades us and leads us to faith. And we think it for the advantage of all men that they are not restrained from learning these things, but are even urged thereto. For the restraint which human laws could not effect, the Word, inasmuch as He is divine, would have effected, had not the wicked demons, taking as their ally the lust of wickedness which is in every man, and which draws variously to all manner of vice, scattered many false and profane accusations, none of which attach to us."

...

Chapter 59. Plato's obligation to Moses
And that you may learn that it was from our teachers — we mean the account given through the prophets— that Plato borrowed his statement that God, having altered matter which was shapeless, made the world, hear the very words spoken through Moses, who, as above shown, was the first prophet, and of greater antiquity than the Greek writers; and through whom the Spirit of prophecy, signifying how and from what materials God at first formed the world, spoke thus: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unfurnished, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God moved over the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and it was so. So that both Plato and they who agree with him, and we ourselves, have learned, and you also can be convinced, that by the word of God the whole world was made out of the substance spoken of before by Moses. And that which the poets call Erebus, we know was spoken of formerly by Moses. Deuteronomy 32:22"

CHURCH FATHERS: The First Apology (St. Justin Martyr)

The disorganized matter was created on day one.

"And here it were well to ask them also this question , for a still clearer refutation of their heresy — Wherefore, when all things are creatures, and all are brought into consistence from nothing, and the Son Himself, according to you, is creature and work, and once was not, wherefore has He made 'all things through Him' alone, 'and without Him was made not one thing John 1:3?'" CHURCH FATHERS: Discourse II Against the Arians (Athanasius)

"
The Shepherd of Hermas (Book II)
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Commandment 1
On Faith in God.

First of all, believe that there is one God who created and finished all things, and made all things out of nothing. He alone is able to contain the whole, but Himself cannot be contained. Have faith therefore in Him, and fear Him; and fearing Him, exercise self-control. Keep these commands, and you will cast away from you all wickedness, and put on the strength of righteousness, and live to God, if you keep this commandment."
CHURCH FATHERS: The Shepherd of Hermas, Book II

Shepherd of Hermas predates your quote.

Hermas
“And as I prayed, the heavens were opened, and I saw the woman whom I had desired saluting me from the sky, and saying, ‘Hail, Hermas!’ And looking up to her, I said, ‘Lady, what are you doing here?’ And she answered me, ‘I have been taken up here to accuse you of your sins before the Lord.’ ‘Lady,’ said I, ‘are you to be the subject of my accusation?’ ‘No,’ said she, ‘but hear the words which I am going to speak to you. God, who dwells in the heavens, and made out of nothing the things that exist, and multiplied and increased them on account of his holy Church, is angry with you for having sinned against me.’” (The Shepherd 1:1:1 [A.D. 80]).

“Believe first of all that God is one, that he created all things and set them in order and brought out of nonexistence into existence everything that is, and that he contains all things while he himself is uncontained” (ibid., 2:1:1).

Aristides
“Let us proceed, then, O king, to the elements themselves, so that we may demonstrate concerning them that they are not gods, but corruptible and changeable things, produced out of the nonexistent by him that is truly God, who is incorruptible and unchangeable and invisible, but who sees all things and changes them and alters them as he wills” (Apology 4 [A.D. 140]).

Theophilus of Antioch
“Furthermore, inasmuch as God is uncreated, he is also unchangeable; so also, if matter were uncreated, it would be unchangeable and equal to God. That which is created is alterable and changeable, while that which is uncreated is unalterable and unchangeable. What great thing were it, if God made the world out of existing matter? Even a human artist, when he obtains material from someone, makes of it whatever he pleases. But the power of God is made evident in this, that he makes whatever he pleases out of what does not exist, and the giving of life and movement belongs to none other but to God alone” (To Autolycus 2:4 [A.D. 181]).

“And first, they [the prophets of God] taught us with one consent that God made all things out of nothing; for nothing was co-eternal with God: but he being his own place, and wanting nothing, and existing before the ages, willed to make man by whom he might be known; for him [man], therefore, he prepared the world. For he that is created is also needy; but he that is uncreated stands in need of nothing” (ibid., 2:10).

Irenaeus
“Men, indeed, are not able to make something from nothing, but only from existing material. God, however, is greater than men first of all in this: that when nothing existed beforehand, he called into existence the very material for his creation” (Against Heresies 2:10:4 [A.D. 189]).

Tertullian
“The object of our worship is the one God, who, by the Word of his command, by the reason of his plan, and by the strength of his power, has brought forth from nothing for the glory of his majesty this whole construction of elements, bodies, and spirits; whence also the Greeks have bestowed upon the world the name Cosmos” (Apology 17:1 [A.D. 197]).

“There is, however, a rule of faith; and so that we may acknowledge at this point what it is we defend, it is this precisely that we believe: There is one only God and none other besides him, the creator of the world who brought forth all things out of nothing through his Word, first of all sent forth” (The Demurrer Against the Heretics 13:1 [A.D. 200]).

“He is the unique God for this reason alone, that he is the sole God, and he is the sole God for this reason alone, that nothing existed along with him. So too he must be the first, because all else is after him. All else is after him because all else is from him and from him because they are created out of nothing” (Against Hermogenes 17:1 [A.D. 203]).

Hippolytus
“Then shall the righteous answer . . . You are the ever-living One. You are without beginning, like the Father, and co-eternal with the Spirit. You are he who made all things out of nothing’” (Discourse on the End of the World 43 [A.D. 217]).

“On the first day God made what he made out of nothing. But on the other days he did not make out of nothing, but out of what he had made on the first day, by molding it according to his pleasure” (Fragment from The Six Days Work [A.D. 217]).

What the Early Church Believed: Creation out of Nothing

The Scriptural teaching on God and the relation of the universe to Him unmistakably affirms creation. God alone is declared to be underived, self-existent (Exodus 3:14), and in comparison with Him all things else are as nothing (Wisdom 11:23; Isaiah 40:17). God is said to be the beginning and end of all things (Isaiah 48:12; Revelation 1:8); all things else are from Him, and by Him, and in Him (Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16). God is the absolute and independent sovereign (Psalm 49:12 and Isaiah 44:24; Hebrews 1:10).
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Creation

 

[Daniel Marsh]

• Psalms 33:6 (RSV) By the word of the LORD [i.e., not by existing matter] the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
• Isaiah 44:24 . . . “I am the LORD, who made all things . . . “
• Wisdom 1:14 For he created all things that they might exist, . . .
• John 1:3 all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
• Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. . . .
• 1 Corinthians 8:6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
• Ephesians 3:9 . . . God who created all things;
• Colossians 1:16 for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities — all things were created through him and for him.
• Hebrews 2:10 . . . he, for whom and by whom all things exist . . .
• 2 Peter 3:5 . . . by the word of God [i.e., not by existing matter] heavens existed long ago . . .
• Revelation 4:11 “. . . our Lord and God, . . . didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created.”

Creation Ex Nihilo is in the Bible

 

[Daniel Marsh]

One Jewish source from over a century before the time of the New Testament declares:

“I beg you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed,” (2 Maccabees 7:28-29).

An early Jewish Midrash also preserves a conversation between a gentile philosopher and the first-century Jewish sage, Gamaliel, in which Gamaliel refutes the idea that God was merely an artist working with existing material.

The universe from nothing: Did God create ex-nihilo? | carm.org

 

[Daniel Marsh]

The universe from nothing: Did God create ex-nihilo? | carm.org

The historical testimony
It is worth noting how those who believed these Scriptures in the ancient world understood their meaning. This is only a sampling, and there are many more examples beyond these. One Jewish source from over a century before the time of the New Testament declares:

“I beg you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed,” (2 Maccabees 7:28-29).

An early Jewish Midrash also preserves a conversation between a gentile philosopher and the first-century Jewish sage, Gamaliel, in which Gamaliel refutes the idea that God was merely an artist working with existing material. Gamaliel walks through a variety of biblical texts to argue that each of the supposed pre-existing materials was itself a creation of God, thus showing that God brought into existence even the substance from which creation is made.1 Even if this conversation were a fable that never actually occurred, it would be a very ancient fable that testifies to a Jewish understanding that the Old Testament Scriptures affirm creation out of nothing.

A Christian writer named Aristides, very early in the second century, wrote:

“Let us proceed then, O King, to the elements themselves that we may show in regard to them that they are not gods, but perishable and mutable, produced out of that which did not exist at the command of the true God, who is indestructible and immutable and invisible,” (Apology of Aristides Chapter 4).

And around the mid-second century, a Christian leader named Hermas wrote:

“God, who dwells in the heavens and made out of nothing the things that exist” (Shepherd of Hermas, Book 1, Chapter 1).

In the latter half of the second century, Irenaeus wrote of God’s creation of the universe:

“While men, indeed, cannot make anything out of nothing, but only out of matter already existing, yet God is in this point pre-eminently superior to men, that He Himself called into being the substance of His creation when previously it had no existence,” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 2, Chapter 10, Section 4).

Other second-century Christian leaders concurred in passages such as:

“The case stands thus: we can see that the whole structure of the world, and the whole creation, has been produced from matter, and the matter itself brought into existence by God” (Tatian, Address to the Greeks, Chapter 12).

“For the heavens are His work, the earth is His creation, the sea is His handiwork; man is His formation and His image; sun, moon, and stars are His elements, made for signs, and seasons, and days, and years, that they may serve and be slaves to man; and all things God has made out of things that were not into things that are, in order that through His works His greatness may be known and understood,” (Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus, Book 1, Chapter 4).

Tertullian, a leading figure in Latin Christianity in the later second and early third centuries, professes that the church held it to be a “rule of faith,” or an essential Christian doctrine, that “nothing except God was uncreated.”2 He elsewhere defines this “rule of faith”:

“There is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word,” (Tertullian, The Prescription Against Heresies, Chapter 13).

And further explains:

“The conclusion of the whole is this: I find that there was nothing made, except out of nothing; because that which I find was made, I know did not once exist. Whatever was made out of something, has its origin in something made: for instance, out of the ground was made the grass, and the fruit, and the cattle, and the form of man himself; so from the waters were produced the animals which swim and fly. The original fabrics out of which such creatures were produced I may call their materials, but then even these were created by God,” (Tertullian, Against Hermogenes, Chapter 33).

The earliest Christians clearly understood the Scriptures to teach that God created even the very substance, essence, and material of the world from nothing. He brought it into existence by the power of His Word.

 

[public hermit]

It is easy to trace a shift in the teachings of the Early Church fathers on this. Note that Justin Martyr taught that the Earth was created out of existing matter.

And we have been taught that He in the beginning did of His goodness, for man's sake, create all things out of unformed matter; and if men by their works show themselves worthy of this His design, they are deemed worthy, and so we have received--of reigning in company with Him, being delivered from corruption and suffering. (First Apology X [ANF: 1:165]

Augustine believed the same thing, and yet asserted creation ex nihilo. It was a common belief that God first created prime matter (formless matter) from which everything is fashioned. Of course, this prime matter is a logical first and not temporal.

Augustine: Confessions

Then we have...
"I beg you my child, to look at the heaven and earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. And in the same way the human race came into being." 2 Maccabees 7:28

That may not be considered scripture by some, but that statement comes from (approx.) the 2nd century BC. The idea was in the air long before it was explicated.

In general, I think creation ex nihilo is implied in the scriptures. But even if it is granted that it's a concept come lately, that doesn't somehow guarantee it's wrong. Just imagine if the criterion for truth was that it was known in antiquity. We would presently be way off the mark!

 

[Aussie Pete]

The church father in context, "
Chapter 10. How God is to be served
But we have received by tradition that God does not need the material offerings which men can give, seeing, indeed, that He Himself is the provider of all things. And we have been taught, and are convinced, and do believe, that He accepts those only who imitate the excellences which reside in Him, temperance, and justice, and philanthropy, and as many virtues as are peculiar to a God who is called by no proper name. And we have been taught that He in the beginning did of His goodness, for man's sake, create all things out of unformed matter; and if men by their works show themselves worthy of this His design, they are deemed worthy, and so we have received — of reigning in company with Him, being delivered from corruption and suffering. For as in the beginning He created us when we were not, so do we consider that, in like manner, those who choose what is pleasing to Him are, on account of their choice, deemed worthy of incorruption and of fellowship with Him. For the coming into being at first was not in our own power; and in order that we may follow those things which please Him, choosing them by means of the rational faculties He has Himself endowed us with, He both persuades us and leads us to faith. And we think it for the advantage of all men that they are not restrained from learning these things, but are even urged thereto. For the restraint which human laws could not effect, the Word, inasmuch as He is divine, would have effected, had not the wicked demons, taking as their ally the lust of wickedness which is in every man, and which draws variously to all manner of vice, scattered many false and profane accusations, none of which attach to us."

...

Chapter 59. Plato's obligation to Moses
And that you may learn that it was from our teachers — we mean the account given through the prophets— that Plato borrowed his statement that God, having altered matter which was shapeless, made the world, hear the very words spoken through Moses, who, as above shown, was the first prophet, and of greater antiquity than the Greek writers; and through whom the Spirit of prophecy, signifying how and from what materials God at first formed the world, spoke thus: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unfurnished, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God moved over the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and it was so. So that both Plato and they who agree with him, and we ourselves, have learned, and you also can be convinced, that by the word of God the whole world was made out of the substance spoken of before by Moses. And that which the poets call Erebus, we know was spoken of formerly by Moses. Deuteronomy 32:22"

CHURCH FATHERS: The First Apology (St. Justin Martyr)

The disorganized matter was created on day one.

"And here it were well to ask them also this question , for a still clearer refutation of their heresy — Wherefore, when all things are creatures, and all are brought into consistence from nothing, and the Son Himself, according to you, is creature and work, and once was not, wherefore has He made 'all things through Him' alone, 'and without Him was made not one thing John 1:3?'" CHURCH FATHERS: Discourse II Against the Arians (Athanasius)

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The Shepherd of Hermas (Book II)
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Commandment 1
On Faith in God.

First of all, believe that there is one God who created and finished all things, and made all things out of nothing. He alone is able to contain the whole, but Himself cannot be contained. Have faith therefore in Him, and fear Him; and fearing Him, exercise self-control. Keep these commands, and you will cast away from you all wickedness, and put on the strength of righteousness, and live to God, if you keep this commandment."
CHURCH FATHERS: The Shepherd of Hermas, Book II

Shepherd of Hermas predates your quote.

Hermas
“And as I prayed, the heavens were opened, and I saw the woman whom I had desired saluting me from the sky, and saying, ‘Hail, Hermas!’ And looking up to her, I said, ‘Lady, what are you doing here?’ And she answered me, ‘I have been taken up here to accuse you of your sins before the Lord.’ ‘Lady,’ said I, ‘are you to be the subject of my accusation?’ ‘No,’ said she, ‘but hear the words which I am going to speak to you. God, who dwells in the heavens, and made out of nothing the things that exist, and multiplied and increased them on account of his holy Church, is angry with you for having sinned against me.’” (The Shepherd 1:1:1 [A.D. 80]).

“Believe first of all that God is one, that he created all things and set them in order and brought out of nonexistence into existence everything that is, and that he contains all things while he himself is uncontained” (ibid., 2:1:1).

Aristides
“Let us proceed, then, O king, to the elements themselves, so that we may demonstrate concerning them that they are not gods, but corruptible and changeable things, produced out of the nonexistent by him that is truly God, who is incorruptible and unchangeable and invisible, but who sees all things and changes them and alters them as he wills” (Apology 4 [A.D. 140]).

Theophilus of Antioch
“Furthermore, inasmuch as God is uncreated, he is also unchangeable; so also, if matter were uncreated, it would be unchangeable and equal to God. That which is created is alterable and changeable, while that which is uncreated is unalterable and unchangeable. What great thing were it, if God made the world out of existing matter? Even a human artist, when he obtains material from someone, makes of it whatever he pleases. But the power of God is made evident in this, that he makes whatever he pleases out of what does not exist, and the giving of life and movement belongs to none other but to God alone” (To Autolycus 2:4 [A.D. 181]).

“And first, they [the prophets of God] taught us with one consent that God made all things out of nothing; for nothing was co-eternal with God: but he being his own place, and wanting nothing, and existing before the ages, willed to make man by whom he might be known; for him [man], therefore, he prepared the world. For he that is created is also needy; but he that is uncreated stands in need of nothing” (ibid., 2:10).

Irenaeus
“Men, indeed, are not able to make something from nothing, but only from existing material. God, however, is greater than men first of all in this: that when nothing existed beforehand, he called into existence the very material for his creation” (Against Heresies 2:10:4 [A.D. 189]).

Tertullian
“The object of our worship is the one God, who, by the Word of his command, by the reason of his plan, and by the strength of his power, has brought forth from nothing for the glory of his majesty this whole construction of elements, bodies, and spirits; whence also the Greeks have bestowed upon the world the name Cosmos” (Apology 17:1 [A.D. 197]).

“There is, however, a rule of faith; and so that we may acknowledge at this point what it is we defend, it is this precisely that we believe: There is one only God and none other besides him, the creator of the world who brought forth all things out of nothing through his Word, first of all sent forth” (The Demurrer Against the Heretics 13:1 [A.D. 200]).

“He is the unique God for this reason alone, that he is the sole God, and he is the sole God for this reason alone, that nothing existed along with him. So too he must be the first, because all else is after him. All else is after him because all else is from him and from him because they are created out of nothing” (Against Hermogenes 17:1 [A.D. 203]).

Hippolytus
“Then shall the righteous answer . . . You are the ever-living One. You are without beginning, like the Father, and co-eternal with the Spirit. You are he who made all things out of nothing’” (Discourse on the End of the World 43 [A.D. 217]).

“On the first day God made what he made out of nothing. But on the other days he did not make out of nothing, but out of what he had made on the first day, by molding it according to his pleasure” (Fragment from The Six Days Work [A.D. 217]).

What the Early Church Believed: Creation out of Nothing

The Scriptural teaching on God and the relation of the universe to Him unmistakably affirms creation. God alone is declared to be underived, self-existent (Exodus 3:14), and in comparison with Him all things else are as nothing (Wisdom 11:23; Isaiah 40:17). God is said to be the beginning and end of all things (Isaiah 48:12; Revelation 1:8); all things else are from Him, and by Him, and in Him (Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16). God is the absolute and independent sovereign (Psalm 49:12 and Isaiah 44:24; Hebrews 1:10).
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Creation

I agree. What I don't understand is how Catholicism went from God being Creator to evolution.

 

[hedrick]

In general, I think creation ex nihilo is implied in the scriptures. But even if it is granted that it's a concept come lately, that doesn't somehow guarantee it's wrong. Just imagine if the criterion for truth was that it was known in antiquity. We would presently be way off the mark!

It doesn't mean it's wrong, but if true it would mean that it's not revealed in Scripture. That perhaps matters more to Protestants than Catholics.

 

[hedrick]

I agree. What I don't understand is how Catholicism went from God being Creator to evolution.

Catholics have generally followed scientific knowledge, though at times with some delay.

 

[public hermit]

It doesn't mean it's wrong, but if true it would mean that it's not revealed in Scripture

Don't Protestants believe other things not explicitly revealed in the scriptures, but implied nonetheless, e.g. the orthodox formulations of the Trinity and Incarnation?

I don't know how much we can blame the Greeks for creation ex nihilo. They tended to see the cosmos as an emanation from the divine. It is the biblical picture of God as Creator, from the beginning, the prompts the intuition. The Greek tendency to scrutinize a claim perhaps helped move the intuition, along with the metaphysical structure. But, it seems a unique perspective among Abrahamic religions.

To be clear, I am incredulous about claims to find the origin of ex nihilo in Neo-Platonism. There was a lot of cross pollinating between Christians and Neo-Platonists in the early centuries. Alexandria being a prime area of mutual influence.

 

[natitude]

The question then becomes, what are the things which are not seen? My understanding is that they are spiritual, not material.

What are you thoughts on Colossians 1:16? It identifies invisible things that are clearly material.

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

 

[Aussie Pete]

What are you thoughts on Colossians 1:16? It identifies invisible things that are clearly material.

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

Sure. As I've said before, where did the invisible come from? And they are only invisible to us, not to God. Yes, I'd agree that Hebrews states that God spoke creation into what we can see from what we cannot see. Perhaps the idea of dark matter is correct after all. Nevertheless, the material has to come from somewhere, visible or not.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Catholics have generally followed scientific knowledge, though at times with some delay.

I find little scientific about evolution. And the Catholic argument as to how an evolved creature could become in the image of God and sin makes no sense to me.

 

[natitude]

The Shepherd of Hermas (Book II)
Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

Commandment 1
On Faith in God.

First of all, believe that there is one God who created and finished all things, and made all things out of nothing. He alone is able to contain the whole, but Himself cannot be contained. Have faith therefore in Him, and fear Him; and fearing Him, exercise self-control. Keep these commands, and you will cast away from you all wickedness, and put on the strength of righteousness, and live to God, if you keep this commandment."
CHURCH FATHERS: The Shepherd of Hermas, Book II

Shepherd of Hermas predates your quote.

Edwin Hatch notes that Hermas adopts the technical language for creation from relative non-being ek tou me ontos which makes it fairly clear that God created what is from potential being, not from absolute nothing or ex nihilo. (Hatch, The Influence of Greek Ideas on Christianity, 197)