Creation from Nothing – “Maker of All That Is”
Again it is helpful to remember the Jewish background of
Christianity. Though Christian responses to contemporary Judaism were sometimes
less than congenial[1],
and though as far as we know (in contrast to the writers of the New Testament)
all of the Apostolic Fathers were Greek, the church never lost sight of its
roots in the law and prophets. Christian doctrine did become increasingly
distinct from Judaism as it continued to develop in the centuries following its
birth.[2] Nevertheless, the religion
remained monotheistic and continued to affirm that the Almighty God created
everything out of nothing.
The oldest of Christian writings are found in the New Testament.
They declare that God “created all things by Jesus Christ” (Eph 3:9)[3]. Peter calls the Lord a “faithful
Creator” (1 Pet 4:19). Heavenly worship is described by John as including the
confession “You created all things” (Rev 4:11). There is no hint in the New
Testament of any competing Christian belief regarding creation. Gnostic views
ascribing the work of material creation to a lesser and evil deity only
developed later.[4]
Ante-Nicene Christians continued to affirm, in unmistakable terms,
that God created everything from nothing. Take Irenaeus’ statement (c 180) for
instance: “While men, indeed, cannot
make anything out of nothing, but only out of matter already existing, yet God
is in this point preeminently superior to men, that He Himself called into
being the substance of His creation, when previously it had no existence.”[5] Clement of Rome (writer of
I Clement) knows God as “Creator and
Lord of all.” [6] Hermas says that God not only created everything, He “brought all things
from non-existence into being.”[7] Here again, witnesses
could be multiplied.[8]
[1]
See Epistle of Barnabas
[2] Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian
Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol. 1: The Emergence of
the Catholic Tradition (University Of Chicago Press, 1975), 11–27.
[3]
See also John 1:3
[4] González, A History of Christian
Thought, 126–41. Craig A. Evans, Fabricating Jesus: How
Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels (Expanded.; IVP Books, 2006)
[5] Irenaeus
Ag. Heresies 2,10,4 ANF II p. 370; see also Iren Frag. VI ANF II p.569
[6] I Clement, XXXIII, ANF I p. 13
[7] Shepherd of Hermas Book Second Commandment First, ANF II p. 20
[8] Theophilus
of Antioch Theophilus to Autolycus 2,4
ANF II p. 90 “all things God has made out of things that were not into things
that are”; Tertullian ANF III p. 493; Tatian ANF II p. 66
[1]
See Epistle of Barnabas
[2] Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian
Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol. 1: The Emergence of
the Catholic Tradition (University Of Chicago Press, 1975), 11–27.
[3]
See also John 1:3
[4] Craig A. Evans, Fabricating Jesus: How
Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels (Expanded.; IVP Books, 2006)
[5] Irenaeus
Ag. Heresies 2,10,4 ANF II p. 370; see also Iren Frag. VI ANF II p.569
[6] I Clement, XXXIII, ANF I p. 13
[7] Shepherd of Hermas, Book Second Commandment First,
ANF II p. 20
[8] Theophilus
of Antioch Theophilus to Autolycus 2,4
ANF II p. 90 “all things God has made out of things that were not into things
that are”; Tertullian ANF III p. 493; Tatian ANF II p. 66
Amen
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