See J. C. O’Neill, “How Early is the Doctrine of Creatio Ex Nihilo?” Journal of Theological Studies 53.2 (October 2002): 449–65.
Hans Schwarz, Creation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 172.
Paul Copan and William Craig, Creation Out of Nothing: A Biblical, Philosophical and Scientific Exploration (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic), 95–96.
Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis, JPS Torah Commentary (New York: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 5.
Gerhard May, Creatio Ex Nihilo: The Doctrine of “Creation Out of Nothing” in Early Christian Thought (trans. A. S. Worrall; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1994), 6–7.
You list many good sources. Another consideration for historical purposes is that the early church fathers consistently taught creatio ex nihilo: Tertullian, Novatian, Origen, and many others.
The phrase "creation ex nihilo" is open to ambiguity, but scripturally, there is no doubt that God created without the use of any preexisting matter in the case of the universe as a whole. Nothing remotely approaching the Platonic demiurge occurs in the Bible.
See https://fosterheologicalreflections.blogspot.com/2008/03/creatio-ex-nihilo.html
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Maccabees+7%3A28&version=RSV
ReplyDeleteSee J. C. O’Neill, “How Early is the Doctrine of Creatio Ex Nihilo?” Journal of Theological Studies 53.2 (October 2002): 449–65.
ReplyDeleteHans Schwarz, Creation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 172.
Paul Copan and William Craig, Creation Out of Nothing: A Biblical, Philosophical and Scientific Exploration (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic), 95–96.
Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis, JPS Torah Commentary (New York: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 5.
Gerhard May, Creatio Ex Nihilo: The Doctrine of “Creation Out of Nothing” in Early Christian Thought (trans. A. S. Worrall; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1994), 6–7.
https://publications.mi.byu.edu/publications/review/17/2/S00008-5176aad066a7c8Ostler.pdf
ReplyDeleteYou list many good sources. Another consideration for historical purposes is that the early church fathers consistently taught creatio ex nihilo: Tertullian, Novatian, Origen, and many others.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase "creation ex nihilo" is open to ambiguity, but scripturally, there is no doubt that God created without the use of any preexisting matter in the case of the universe as a whole. Nothing remotely approaching the Platonic demiurge occurs in the Bible.
See https://fosterheologicalreflections.blogspot.com/2008/03/creatio-ex-nihilo.html
https://fosterheologicalreflections.blogspot.com/2017/12/god-creating-ex-nihilo-creel-and-ryrie.html
http://undpress.nd.edu/books/P03385
As I always see it as nothing existing before. Still his holy spirit would be what his method of a creating tool was.
ReplyDeletePhilip, yes, Genesis 1:2 and Psalm 33:6 bear out that point.
ReplyDelete