Encourse Wiki

Dogmatic Theology — Topic 6

Properties3
tagstopic
courseDogmatic Theology
unitTopic 6

19 min read

Dogmatic Theology — Topic 6

Ancient teachings on creation: Dualism

In this lesson we will be looking at God’s role in creation from a dogmatic point of view. Much will have to do with refuting false ideas and teachings that tried to pervert the truth of these matters throughout the history of the Church.

Dualism

One ancient teaching about the creation of the world is dualism. The name “dualism” comes from the Latin word “dualis.” A classic example of the dualistic view of creation is found in ancient Greek philosophy. There creation is thought of as the result of action of the Godhead upon matter, which had coexisted eternally along with (or opposed to) the Godhead, i.e. two dissimilar natures are acknowledged as equally eternal and without cause. The dualistic doctrine of creation in ancient philosophy was most thoroughly developed by Plato and Aristotle.

Plato describes creation in the following manner: on the one hand, there is a higher unchanging world of divine ideas; below this level resides the Demiurge or Creator (δημιουργός). The Demiurge literally refers to the one who makes things for people, a craftsman. The idea of creativity is absent from the name itself. The Demiurge is the creator of the lower gods, the world soul, the universe and man. The Demiurge is not omnipotent. He does not create everything he wants, nor does he create of his own free will; he has to overcome the resistance of inert matter. He creates the cosmos out of matter that is coeternal with himself. This matter is formless and endowed with eternal, chaotic motion. The Demiurge, contemplating the primordial images contained in the divine ideas, cultivates matter in accordance with these paradigms. Things arising as a result of this activity are shadows, imperfect copies of the eternal divine ideas, in a certain sense they are “not fully real.”

Aristotle’s doctrine is based on the distinction between formless matter and the forms in which it exists. These forms, according to Aristotle, represent a hierarchical structure, which is crowned by the highest, pure, absolute form. Aristotle called this form, the form of forms, the first mover, or god.

In contrast to Greek philosophy, in Eastern teachings, such as Persian and Syriac which are also marked by dualistic views, the underlying origins of the universe are thought of as two balanced and opposing forces: good and evil. The ancient Iranian religion Zoroastrianism can serve as an example, in which the entire world history is seen as a struggle of two warring principles: light and darkness.

Similar ideas were reproduced by the Gnostics in the first centuries of the Christian era. Most notably, the notorious Gnostic Marcion (c. 160) using such ideas made the distinction between the evil god of the Old Testament, whom he identified as the Demiurge, and the Son of God revealed in the New Testament, being the highest divine eon. For this reason Marcion denied that the Old Testament was Divinely inspired.

Angelic Life

God Himself is the only thing/being that exists outside of time and space. Angels are created beings and therefore have limitations, and are to a certain extent subject to the categories of existence, time and space. On the one hand, it is clear from Scripture that in relation to the properties of space and time angels have incomparably greater freedom than human beings. In particular, they can move with great speed, as they are not held, as St. John Damascene says, “neither by walls, nor doors, nor laws, nor seals, and abide in places comprehensible only to the mind. By nature, angels do not have a form like bodies and therefore do not have a three dimensional form, although they often appear to man in the formed of a man. On the other hand, angels are not omnipresent: being spiritually present where they are commanded to be, they cannot act both here and there at the same time. When they are in heaven, they are not on earth; when God sends them to earth, they do not remain in heaven. The dwelling place of the angels is variously called in Scripture, for example, the heaven of heavens ([1 Kings 8:27](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1-Kings- Chapter-8/#::text=But%20will%20God%20indeed%20dwell%20on%20the%20earth%3F%20behold%2C%20the%20heaven%20and%20heaven%20of%20heavens%20cannot%20contain%20thee%3B%20how%20much%20less%20this%20house%20that%20I%20have%20builded%3F)) or the third heaven ([2 Cor. 12:2](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/2-Corinthians- Chapter-12/#::text=I%20knew%20a%20man%20in%20Christ%20above%20fourteen%20years%20ago%2C%20(whether%20in%20the%20body%2C%20I%20cannot%20tell%3B%20or%20whether%20out%20of%20the%20body%2C%20I%20cannot%20tell%3A%20God%20knoweth%3B)%20such%20an%20one%20caught%20up%20to%2)). What these places are Scripture does not specify.

The fallen angels retained their angelic nature, and as a consequence, they have many properties and abilities of holy angels. In particular, they have extensive knowledge, considerable power and strength. The apostle James says that they believe in God and tremble ([James 2:19](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/James- Chapter-2/#:~:text=Thou%20believest%20that%20there%20is%20one%20God%3B%20thou%20doest%20well%3A%20the%20devils%20also%20believe%2C%20and%20tremble.)). The will of fallen spirits is directed only toward evil, although they formally retain freedom: of many evils they can choose which one they will commit, but they are not able to choose between good and evil anymore. All the Holy Fathers expressly state that after the devil had seduced man, repentance for evil spirits is impossible. The doctrine of universal salvation was condemned at the Council of Constantinople in 543 and at the Fifth Ecumenical Council.

Angels and the Angelic world

The creation of the material world was preceded by the creation of the spiritual world, the angelic world. The Holy Scriptures do not give an exact indication of the time of the creation of the angels. In the teachings of the Holy Father one can find at least three opinions about the origin of angels.

According to the first, angels were created before the material world. This opinion is the most widespread and was thus included in the Catechisms. It was espoused by the Irenaeus of Lugdunum, Eusebius of Caesarea, Athanasius the Great, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and Epiphanius of Cyprus. Other Fathers, such as Theodoretus of Cyrus, believed that angels were created at the same time as the visible world was created. Angels, as created beings, need space for their existence; consequently, before the creation of the world with space and time, the angels could not have existed. Some of the Fathers, in particular Augustine, believed that angels were created on the first day along with the light, and that is why angels are called secondary lights.

There is the opinion based on progressivist views, that since the world evolves in an evolutionary way, from simple to complex, angels being more perfect than man, that therefore angels must have come after man. This is a false assumption, inasmuch that in [Job 38:4-7](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Job- Chapter-38/#:~:text=Where%20wast%20thou,shouted%20for%20joy%3F) says that God founded the earth in the general rejoicing of heaven, when all the sons of God cried out for joy. The sons of God in this case are angels, and the founding of the earth belongs to the third day of creation. Thus the angels were already in existence by this time.

Thus, unequivocally we can only say that the angels were created no later than the 3rd day of creation, and therefore could not have been created together with man or after him. Other than this the question of when exactly the creation of angels took place belongs to the realm of theological opinion. We know very little about angels with certainty, and the “study of Angels” in Dogmatic Theology aims not so much to impart affirmative knowledge about angels as as it is to dispel false views about them.

False teachings about angels

One false opinion about angels is the denial of their existence. In the Christian world the existence of angels is denied only by extreme Protestants, the rest of Christian denominations acknowledge their existence. It is impossible to deny what Scripture states so plainly about angels, so opponents of the existence of angels have to openly misinterpret the biblical texts to justify their beliefs.

It is sometimes claimed that angels represent the personification of elements and forces of nature. However, in the Holy Scriptures angels have pronounced personal features, and therefore it is impossible to seriously claim that the ancient Jews understood the angels in this way.

The question of praying to and veneration of angels is of essential importance. The Council of Laodicea (IV c.) condemned as heretical the worship of angels as creators and rulers of the world, but affirmed as appropriate the veneration of angels as servants of the Most Holy Trinity, i.e. as beings close to God and beneficent toward man.

God as the cause of creation “ex nihilo”

Orthodox dogmatic theology teaches that God is the Originator, or Cause, of the world’s existence. This means that the world, as the sum total of all finite existence in space and time, has the cause of its being in God and did not arise by itself, with no purpose by accident or chance.

There is an abundance of evidence in Scripture demonstrating that the world was created by God ([Gen. 1:1](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Genesis- Chapter-1/); [Ps. 135:6](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Psalms- Chapter-135/#::text=Whatsoever%20the%20LORD%20pleased%2C%20that%20did%20he%20in%20heaven%2C%20and%20in%20earth%2C%20in%20the%20seas%2C%20and%20all%20deep%20places.); [Jn. 1:3](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/John- Chapter-1/#::text=All%20things%20were%20made%20by%20him%3B%20and%20without%20him%20was%20not%20any%20thing%20made%20that%20was%20made.); Col. 1:16). At the same time, the idea of creation “out of nothing” (ex nihilo) is not explicitly presented in Scripture. Creation out of nothing is spoken of directly in the Bible only once, and that in a non-canonical book: look upon the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, and consider that God made them of things that were not ([οὐκ ἐξ ὄντων ἐποίησεν](https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/bible/lxx-a- accents/2-maccabees/7/#:~:text=%CE%BF%E1%BD%90%CE%BA%20%E1%BC%90%CE%BE%20%E1%BD%84%CE%BD%CF%84%CF%89%CE%BD%20%E1%BC%90%CF%80%CE%BF%E1%BD%B7%CE%B7%CF%83%CE%B5%CE%BD)) (2 Mac. 7: 28). Nevertheless, from the very beginning of Christianity (judging from the works of the Holy Fathers of the II-III centuries) the Church unequivocally spoke in favor of the idea of creation from nothing; any deviation from this doctrinal truth was considered by the Church a heresy. This is due to the Christian doctrine of the God Trinity. Christian dogmatics makes a clear distinction between the eternal birth of the Son and the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit as acts of the Divine nature whereas the creation of the world as an act of the Divine will. St. Athanasius the Great was especially emphatic about this in his polemics with the heresy of Arius. St. Cyril of Alexandria, like St. Athanasius, says that creation belongs to the will, activity and energy, while giving birth to the nature.

Yet the question arises, if God is the absolute fullness of being, if He embraces everything and encapsulates everything in Himself, how can something different from God arise alongside God? St. John of Damascus teaches that “all things are far apart from God, not in place but in nature.”[1] The nature of the Divine and the created are so different from one another, that there can be no struggle for the possession of space between them (a poor analogy could be made here, how a solid substance and electromagnetic waves can exist in the same space without interfering with one another).

[1] [John Damascene. An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. Ch. 13.](https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ioann_Damaskin/an-exact-exposition-of-the- orthodox- faith/#:~:text=All%20things%20are%20far%20apart%20from%20God%2C%20not%20in%20place%20but%20in%20nature)

  • Ancient teachings on creation: Dualism
    • Pantheism
    • Materialism
    • God as the cause of creation “ex nihilo”
    • Objections to the doctrine of the creation of the world out of nothing
    • The eternal plan of creation and its relation to created time
    • Why did God create the world?
    • The purpose of creation
    • Angels and the Angelic world
    • False teachings about angels
    • The number of the angelic hosts
    • Angelic Life

Materialism

![](https://www.history.com/.image/t_share/MTcwOTI1NjI4MzM2MzgzMTIw/human- evolution-promo-gettyimages-122223741.jpg)Marxism considered the teachings of the ancient Greek philosophers Leucippus and Democritus, called “atomists,” as the predecessor of its philosophy of materialism. However in materialism matter, consisting of a multitude of atoms with emptiness between them, is eternal. Living things emerged from non-living things according to the laws of nature without any creator or rational purpose. The materialism of the New Age and its further development is now openly associated with atheism, particularly with the denial of Christianity. As one materialist astronomer said: “I have no need of that hypothesis (of God).”

Objections to the doctrine of the creation of the world out of nothing

The first objection to the doctrine of creation from nothing is expressed in the ancient Latin proverb ex nihilo nihil fit , nothing can come from nothing. However, this ancient philosophical axiom simply means that nothing arises without a cause. Christian doctrine does not say that the world arose without cause. The world has a cause of its existence, an absolute cause in fact, in the person of God Himself.

The second objection points at the imperfection of the world. If God created the world of His own free will, out of nothing, with no power restricting His creative action, then why is there evil in the world? The Christian teaching on theodicy (the “vindication of God”) demonstrates that God is not the creator of evil.

There are two reasons for the evil that exists in the world. First, the world, as a created thing, is limited and passing, i.e., it does not possess the fullness of perfection. Second, there are free, sentient beings in the world, and freedom combined with limitation implies the possibility of abuse. The abuse of freedom by rational beings is the cause of evil in the world.

The third objection is characteristic of positivists. Positivism insists on the possibility of repetition of experience, and recognizes as true only that which can be experimentally verified and reproduced. Obviously, the requirement of verification by experience can extend only to phenomena of the natural order, i.e., to phenomena determined by natural regularity. The creation of the world is, speaking in the traditional Christian language, a miracle, not conditioned by any necessity or by any natural law. Rather the demand for miracles as proof of God’s creative action is absurd, especially in the context of trying to disprove such a miracle occurred.

Pantheism

![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/NGC_4414_\(NASA- med).jpg/1200px-NGC_4414_(NASA-med).jpg)The essence of pantheism is the identification of the world with or as God. Pantheism either dissolves God into nature or, conversely, the world into God. There are many various types of pantheism.

The most common pantheistic doctrine is that of emanation (outpouring/overflowing). It was most developed in Neoplatonism. Plotinus presents this doctrine as follows: the basis of being is a certain super- substantial “One,” which Plotinus identifies as the supreme good. The One is incomprehensible for the intellect, inexpressible in words, but is perceived in ecstasy. Only in ecstatic rapture, having come out of oneself, can one come into experiential contact with the One. But this experience of encountering the One remains inexpressible and cannot be conveyed through words or ideas.

The One from the overabundance of its fullness, like a cup overflowing at the edge, flows beyond itself and generates Intellect with its inherent ideas and the World Soul. The latter is thought of as the mediator between Intellect and the physical cosmos. The World Soul produces things in the created world according to the patterns of the ideas contained in the Mind. Most Eastern mythologies/religions (e.g. Hinduism, Brahmanism, Taoism, etc.) are pantheistic doctrines based on the theory of emanation.

The pantheistic doctrine of immanation is less common. According to immanation the world is a variety of manifestations in time and space of a single, eternal and absolute Divine substance. An example of such doctrine is the very influential philosophical system of B. Spinoza (XVII c.).

A third type of pantheistic doctrine views the world as the self-development of a certain divine principle (it has many different names, such as, “the absolute idea”). Through the process of development this divine principle passes from lower forms to higher ones. An example of this can be seen in classic German philosophy (Schelling and Hegel).

The incompatibility of dualistic and pantheistic doctrines with Divine Revelation is found primarily in the fact that, first, they presuppose an imperfect Creator, denying Him absoluteness, the possession of all the fullness of being and perfection. Secondly, they introduce into the Divine life the concept of necessity, which God Himself is not able to control. Third, these doctrines, especially pantheism, cannot resolve the problem of evil and human freedom. Finally, these teachings devalue the very significance of the creative act of God.

The eternal plan of creation and its relation to created time

The world did not appear by chance, but in accordance with the God’s Divine plan (oeconomy). Consequently, logic compels us to recognize that this plan is eternal, because the idea of creating the world could not have arisen suddenly in God. Scripture supports this conclusion: ([Acts 15:18](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Acts- Chapter-15/#::text=Known%20unto%20God%20are%20all%20his%20works%20from%20the%20beginning%20of%20the%20world.); [Hebrews 11:3](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Hebrews- Chapter-11/#::text=Through%20faith%20we%20understand%20that%20the%20worlds%20were%20framed%20by%20the%20word%20of%20God%2C%20so%20that%20things%20which%20are%20seen%20were%20not%20made%20of%20things%20which%20do%20appear.)).

Still, the declaration of God’s eternal divine plan proposes the following question: how do creation and time, being one of the universal forms of the existence of created matter, relate to one another? To answer this question correctly, it must be formulated properly. If we say that God creates in eternity, then we have to admit that creation is coeternal with the Creator. This view was expressed by Origen and was rejected by the Church.

If we say that God creates in time a number of ambiguities arise. It must be admitted that: 1) God Himself exists in time and therefore is not eternal; 2) time is coeternal with God, which is absurd; 3) there were two creations, first time was created, and then in time God created the whole world, which is also absurd.

Therefore, it is proper to say that God created the world not in eternity nor in time, but in conjunction with time. Time has a beginning, but time will also have an end. [Rev. 10:6](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation- Chapter-10/#:~:text=And%20sware%20by%20him%20that%20liveth%20for%20ever%20and%20ever%2C%20who%20created%20heaven%2C%20and%20the%20things%20that%20therein%20are%2C%20and%20the%20earth%2C%20and%20the%20things%20that%20therein%20are%2C%20and%20the%20sea%2C%20and%20the%2) states that the world will reach a point where time will no longer exist, when creation will be joined to eternity. However, this created eternity, which has a beginning, should not be identified with the eternity of God. The created eternity in which the world will exist is proportionate to time.

The number of the angelic hosts

In Scripture there are multiple instances where a total amount of angels is indicated. For example, the prophet Daniel ([Dan. 7:10](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Daniel- Chapter-7/#:~:text=A%20fiery%20stream%20issued%20and%20came%20forth%20from%20before%20him%3A%20thousand%20thousands%20ministered%20unto%20him%2C%20and%20ten%20thousand%20times%20ten%20thousand%20stood%20before%20him%3A%20the%20judgment%20was%20set%2C%20and%20the%20b)) speaks of thousands of thousands, i.e., millions, and myriads of myriads, i.e., hundreds of millions of angels. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke of twelve legions of angels.

It is widely believed that the number of angels is infinite, although Scripture does not state this anywhere. Scripture names large, but still finite numbers, so it is impossible to state unequivocally that the number of angels is infinite. Whether or not this number is constant we cannot say; we can only say that the number of angels does not decrease. Even fallen angels do not stop existing. We do not definitively know the number of fallen spirits, just like we do not know how their number and the number of holy angels compare to one another. However there is one passage that the Holy Fathers comment on (e.g. Andrew of Caesarea, Caesarius of Arles, Victorinus of Petovium, etc.), that alludes to one third of the angels falling from Heaven ([Rev. 12:4](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation- Chapter-12/#:~:text=And%20his%20tail%20drew%20the%20third%20part%20of%20the%20stars%20of%20heaven%2C%20and%20did%20cast%20them%20to%20the%20earth%3A%20and%20the%20dragon%20stood%20before%20the%20woman%20which%20was%20ready%20to%20be%20delivered%2C%20for%20to%20devour)).

The purpose of creation

If on the one hand the question of the reason for creation cannot be answered exhaustively, rather we can only point to God’s goodness as the impetus for the creation of the world, then on the other hand Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition more concretely define the purpose of creation: the filling of creation with blessedness ([Psalm 103:28](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Psalms- Chapter-104/#::text=That%20thou%20givest%20them%20they%20gather%3A%20thou%20openest%20thine%20hand%2C%20they%20are%20filled%20with%20good.)). God gives man abundant gifts for him to enjoy ([1 Tim. 6:17](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1-Timothy- Chapter-6/#::text=Charge%20them%20that%20are%20rich%20in%20this%20world%2C%20that%20they%20be%20not%20highminded%2C%20nor%20trust%20in%20uncertain%20riches%2C%20but%20in%20the%20living%20God%2C%20who%20giveth%20us%20richly%20all%20things%20to%20enjoy%3B)).

According to Divine Revelation, the world created by God is perfect. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good (Gen. 1:31). These words “very good” are an eternal characteristic of creation. The world, with all the forces and laws that are inherent in it, entirely fulfills the purposes and tasks for which it was created. Even after the Fall, the world retains its value in the eyes of God, and this characteristic remains valid. Scripture says that the world after the fall lies in evil, but the world itself is not evil because all creation is good by nature, even if the manner of life of the creature has changed and come into conflict with the original purpose of the Creator. Nevertheless, in saying that the world in which we exist is perfect and good (in its God-created form), Christianity does not hold that this world is currently in a state of perfection. If it truly was, no moral progress would be possible in this world, and thus the moral perfection to which man is called would be impossible. Furthermore, the Savior’s redemptive sacrifice itself, which has as its goal the perfection of man and, through him, of the whole world, would be meaningless.

The apostle Peter says that Christians await a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness will dwell ([2 Pet. 3:13](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/2-Peter- Chapter-3/#:~:text=Nevertheless%20we%2C%20according%20to%20his%20promise%2C%20look%20for%20new%20heavens%20and%20a%20new%20earth%2C%20wherein%20dwelleth%20righteousness.)). In other words, according to the promise of God, the present state of the world will be replaced by a new, more perfect state.

Why did God create the world?

Often when speaking of the catalyst for God’s desire to create the world the Holy Fathers point to God’s goodness, and even to some excess of that goodness. It is evident, however, that God could not be in need of any object on which to pour out His love. The goodness and love of God do not constitute a compulsory cause, but are a voluntary motivation, in accordance with which God creates the world. Whereas causality, as a form of determination, presupposes action by necessity; the concept of necessity is inapplicable to the life of the Divine.

God in Creation

Graph View

Backlinks