Genesis 1:12 3
The Beginning
In the beginning God created the heav
ens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was
formless and empt y, darkness was over
the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of
God was hovering over the waters.
1
3 And God said, “Let t here be light,” and
there was light. 4 God saw that the light
was good, and he sepa rated the light
from the darkness. 5 G od c alled the
light “day,” and the darkness he c alled
“night.” And t here was even ing, and
there was morning — the first day.
6 And God said, “Let t here be a v
ault be
tween the waters to separate water from
water.” 7 So God made the vault and sep
CREATION
ERA 1
arated the water under the v
ault from
the water above it. And it was so. 8 God
c alled the v
ault “sky.” And t here was
evening, and there was morning — the
second day.
9 And God said, “Let the water under the
sky be gathered to one place, and let dry
g round appear.” And it was so. 10 God
called the dry g
round “land,” and the
gathered waters he called “seas.” And
God saw that it was good.
11 T hen God said, “Let the land pro
duce veget ation: seed-bearing plants
and t rees on the land that bear f ruit
with seed in it, according to t heir var
ious k inds.” And it was so. 12 T he land
produced veget at ion: plants beari ng
CREATION OF EVERYTHING
OUT OF NOTHING
Genesis 1:1
SYNOPSIS
The Christian doctrine of creatio ex nihilo (to use its Latin expression) states that God cre-
ated all that existed out of nothing; the Lord did not simply rework material was already
there. This means that God is utterly transcendent, distinct from, and sovereign over His
entire creation.
STATEMENT OF THE DOCTRINE
God (see article, p. 768) alone is eternal. There was nothing before there was God. God did
not form the universe from preexistent matter but brought into existence all that was (see
article “The Creation Event,” p. 5). Thus, everything in the universe is under His control and
is dependent upon Him for its continuing existence. This doctrine is captured in the open-
ing words of the ancient Nicene Creed, 1 “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.”
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION
Atheists have always proclaimed the self-sufficiency of the material world, but even some
thinkers who believe in a deity have relegated their god to manipulating already-existing
material at hand. This was the approach of Plato in his dialogue the Timaeus, 2 and Lucretius
in his poem On the Nature of Things. 3 Their perspective influenced some early Christian
philosophers, but by the second century AD, thanks to the writing of Theophilus of Antioch,
Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian, the Church clarified the doctrine of creation ex nihilo.
Finally, in the fourth century, Augustine, writing in Confessions, firmly secured this doctrine
in the Church. 4
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DOCTRINE
Throughout the centuries secular philosophers have reasoned that, if God used unformed
matter to create the universe, then matter must be coeternal with God (as the Greeks be-
lieved) or even identical with God (as pantheism teaches). Against these errors, the doctrine
of creatio ex nihilo maintains the rule of God over everything and the utter dependence of
everything upon His continuing indulgence. So miracles are an integral part of God’s work
in the world, and nothing can threaten His plans. Thus, without the slightest hindrance,
the Lord superintends history according to His perfect purposes.