God As Cause
Definition
The doctrine that God created the world out of nothing, not from preexisting or coeternal matter. It is grounded in Scripture, especially 2 Maccabees 7:28, and in the patristic distinction between divine generation and divine creation.
Episodes
Related Concepts
- Creation Ex Nihilo
Biblical References
- Genesis 1:1 — In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- Psalm 135:6 — *He does whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the ocean depths. *
- John 1:3 — *All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. *
- Colossians 1:16 — *for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him. *
- Acts 15:18 — *known from long ago. *
- Hebrews 11:3 — By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible.