Ken Pulliam Answers Two Important Questions in Genesis

3 comments:

Breckmin said...

There are many Christians who reject creation ex nihilo.

Nothing comes from nothing - and
yet even nothing is something.

creation ex Deo comes to us via many different nomenclatures.
"ex nihilo" is a poor one.

The Blogger Formerly Known As Lvka said...

I can't make excuses for Justin Martyr, Athenagoras of Athens, or Clement of Alexandria, but they all have one thing in common: Hellenism. They are deeply permeated by it; hence their heretical view. (The same for the Wisdom of Solomon and Philo of Alexandria: strong hellenistic influence).

But the "untainted" Jewish and Christian theology (2nd Maccabees, Saint Paul, and the whole rest of Church Fathers) maintain that the world (everything) was indeed made by God out of nothing (including space, as well as time itself [since the Hebrew olam as well as the Greek aionos have the same double meaning: world and age]).

But you are right though that "the Big Bang" per se is not in the Bible (i.e., explosion of matter, space, and time).

Loren said...

I don't think that creation out of nothing is really supported by the Bible. I think that both Genesis creation stories are consistent with the premise that God created the Universe from pre-existing, formless matter.

Furthermore, is anyone willing to bet on when Christian apologists will start to claim that Goddidit is consistent with an eternal Universe that God's acts of creation must be understood as some timeless processes.