"DID GOD CREATE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH
...... OUT OF NOTHING OR OUT OF PRE-EXISTENT MATTER?
BACKGROUND
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
(Genesis 1:1)
The Bible teaches
in Genesis 1:1 (with Hebrew 11:3) that God created everything out of nothing,
"ex- nihilo" (a creation from nothing). The Hebrew word (bara, word
#1254 in Strong) that is translated "created" in Genesis 1:1 is only used
for creations by God. In summary it means a creation out of nothing. God
spoke, and what was not, was.
OUT OF NOTHING?
As I have
little Hebrew language capabilities I must rely on what linguistic experts
in the field say about the Hebrew word "bara" that is translated "created"
in Genesis 1:1. One Bible dictionary had the following to say.
Theologically, bara is one of the most significant. The action
involved with the word is the first activity of biblical history. It
is used exclusively to refer to God's creative work; it refers to creating
things "ex nihilo", or out of nothing." ("The Complete Biblical Library,
The Old Testament, Hebrew-English Dictionary", word # 1282, page 578,)
Another source has,
TO CREATE bara, "to create, make." This verb is of profound
theological significance, since it has only god as its subject. Only God
can "create" in the sense implied by "bara." The verb expresses creation
out of nothing.... (An expository Dictionary of Biblical
Words, by W. E. Vine..., page 51, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
A Hebrew-Greek study Bible say,
1254 Bara; to create, form, make, produce; to cut, to cut down; to
engrave, to carve. The word occurs in the very first verse of the Bible
(Gen. 1:1). Bara emphasizes the initiation of the object, not manipulating
it after original creation. The word as used in the Qal [?] refers only
to an activity which can be performed by God. Entirely new productions
are associated with bara.....The word bara also possesses the meaning
of "bringing into existence"...... (The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible,
Spiros Zodhiates, Compiler and Editor, page 1583, Baker Book House, 1984-1985)
A publication by Adam Clarke (born 1762), in the late 18th century,
in speaking about "created" has,
Created] Caused existence where previously to this moment there was
no being. The rabbins, who are legitimate judges in a case of verbal criticism
on their own language are unanimous in asserting that the word "bara"
expresses the commencement of the existence of a thing, or egression [sic]
from nonentity to entity.....The supposition that God formed all things
out of pre-existing, eternal nature, is certainly absurd....." (Clarke's
Commentary - The Holy Bible...., by Adam Clarke, Vol 1, page 29, footnote)
Another old publication from the 13th century, by Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman
(1195-1270) had this to say about the creation of God,
Now listen to the correct
and clear explanation of the verse in its simplicity, The Holy One,
blessed be He, created all things from absolute non-existence. Now
we have no expression in the sacred language for bringing forth something
from nothing other than the word "bara" (created). Everything that exists
under the sun or above was not made from non-existence at the outset. Instead
He brought forth from total and absolute nothing a very thin substance
devoid of corporeality but having a power of potency, fit to assume form
and to proceed from potentiality into reality. This was the primary matter
created by G-d; it is called by Greeks hyly (matter). After the hyly, He
did not create anything, but He formed and made things with it, and from
this hyly. He brought everything into existence.....
The purport of the verses is thus: In
the beginning G-d created the heavens from nought, and He created the
earth from nought....
...it was because it is equal in importance to the commandments,
constituting, as it does, a testimony to Creation ex nihilo.
In Hebrew, chiddush (new), thus implying
that G-d created a new world out an absolute void. (Ramban (Nachmanides),
Commentary on the Torah, Genesis, pages 23, 27, 332, footnote 162, Shilo
Publishing House, Inc, NY, 1971).
Two modern Bible commentaries have,
The OT and the NT, in their doctrine of creation, recognize no
eternal matter before creation. We cannot say that the origin of matter
is excluded from the Genesis account of creation, and this quite apart
from the use bara as admitting of material and means of creation. But is
seems unwise to build such an interpretation upon passages of Genesis that
can afford only an exigetically insecure basis. The NT seems to favor
the derivation of matter from nonexistent - that is to say, the time-world
were due to the effluent divine word or originative will, rather than
to being built out of God's own invisible essence. So the best exegesis
interprets Heb. 11:3 (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol
1, page 801, William B. Eerdmans Pub., Grand Rapids, MI, 1989)
The words in Heb. 11:3 "what is seen was made out of things which do
not appear", taken with Gn. 1:1, "in the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth", indicate that the worlds were not made of pre-existent
material, but out of nothing by the divine Word, in the sense that
prior to the divine creative fiat there was no other kind of existence.
This Creatio ex nihilo has important theological implications, for among
other things it precludes the idea that matter is eternal.....
(The New Bible Dictionary, page 245, Inter-Varsity Press, Leicester, England,
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, Wheaton, IL).
Hebrews 11:3 has,
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the
word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which
do appear. (Hebrews 11:3)
The bottom line summary of all the above references is that God created
from things which did not appear, He created from nothing.
THE TEACHINGS OF THE MORMON CHURCH
The Mormon Church's teachings are significantly different.
Latter-day Saints have, in addition to the biblical Genesis,
two modern restorations of ancient scriptural accounts of the Creation...This
understanding differs from both scientific and traditional Christian accounts
in that it affirms God's purpose and role, while recognizing creation as
organization of preexisting materials, and not as an ex- nihilo event (creation
from nothing). (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, p. 340)
In other words the
Mormon God used pre-existing matter in his creation, much as a carpenter
uses wood to make shelves. This teaching came from Joseph Smith. Was he
the first to teach this concept? No, he was not. Philosophers, some well
before Joseph Smith, taught the same idea. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Paul
Holbach (1723-1789) and Count Buffoon (1707-1788) are three of them (In
Search of Adam, by Herbert Wendt, pages 106-109, 140-141).
Bearing on this thought is the teachings of the Mormon church
that God the Father has a body of flesh and bones (Doctrine and Covenants
130:22). He has not always been God, he was once a man, born of woman,
that progressed until he became God (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
page 345; Achieving a Celestial Marriage, page 129-132, a teaching manual
published by the Mormon church). He has a father and this father has a
father etc etc. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 373; Search
These Commandments, Melchizedek Priesthood Personal Study Guide, page 152
Copyright 1984 by Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints). This god is finite, he had a beginning and he had
to rely on previously existing matter for his creation.
THE ETERNAL OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD
The Bible teaches
that God is omnipotent and eternal. He is all powerful (Rev 19:6; Luke
1:37). In addition the God of the Bible has always existed, as God (Ps
90:3, 93:2, 103:17; Deut 33:27; Malachi 3:6).
CONCLUSIONS
If God
did not (and does not) have the power to create out of nothing the materials
for the creation (as taught by the Mormon church), then he is not omnipotent.
He is limited by the matter that allegedly already existed, matter that
was co-eternal with him. Because he is limited in his capabilities he is
not all powerful. This idea is also supported by the idea that this god
also had a beginning, he was once a man that progressed to become a god.
Thus we see that the god of Mormonism is a god of limited capabilities.
John Farkas,
Berean Christian Ministries; P.O. Box 1091; Webster, NY 14580;
E-mail: bcmmin@frontiernet.net
Web page: http://www.frontiernet.net/~bcmmin
art/creat, 2-15-98