A question about the Christian theory of creation

[aneeshm]

According to the Christian theory of creation , God created everything . I seek a clarification on this point . There are two theories which I have come up with :

a) There was some matter , or some formless thing , which existed before god did , and that god only gave the formless the form of the current creation

or that

b) There was nothing before God , and God himself in the beginning was without form , only a potentiality . Then God decided to make the potential the real , and then proceeded to transform himself , or his potential , into matter , and thus creation ( i.e. , that because something cannot come from nothing , God could not create matter from nothing , and thus had to create it out of himself )




Which of these is the correct one , according to Christianity ?

[KrazyHorse]

Uh...I think you are radically misinformed about the level of dogmatic accord among Christians.

[Asher]

It's true because you can't prove otherwise, and you can't prove otherwise because it's true.

[Jon Miller]

Re: A question about the Christian theory of creation

Originally posted by aneeshm
According to the Christian theory of creation , God created everything . I seek a clarification on this point . There are two theories which I have come up with :

a) There was some matter , or some formless thing , which existed before god did , and that god only gave the formless the form of the current creation

or that

b) There was nothing before God , and God himself in the beginning was without form , only a potentiality . Then God decided to make the potential the real , and then proceeded to transform himself , or his potential , into matter , and thus creation ( i.e. , that because something cannot come from nothing , God could not create matter from nothing , and thus had to create it out of himself )




Which of these is the correct one , according to Christianity ?

In fundamentalist Christianity, people who follow both ideas exist. (as well as others not in your post)

JM

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Uh...I think you are radically misinformed about the level of dogmatic accord among Christians.

I'd have thought that something so fundamental , and yet so trivial , would be something Christians of different sects could agree on .

[Jon Miller]

it is not even different sects...

I know different SDAs who favor one or the other

JM

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by aneeshm


I'd have thought that something so fundamental , and yet so trivial , would be something Christians of different sects could agree on .

http://www.answers.com/fundamental&r=67

fundamental
adj

Definition: basic, important
Antonyms: additional, advanced, auxiliary, extra, minor, secondary, subordinate, trivial, unimportant

[Jon Miller]

Overall, it isn't that important to Christianity.

Jon Miller

[KrazyHorse]

Almost all Christians will agree on certain broad fundamentals:

1) God created the Universe
2) Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of a Messiah in the Old Testament
3) Jesus suffered and died so that we might live forever
4) Jesus rose from the dead, and ascended bodily into heaven 40 days later
5) Jesus will return at the end of time, when he will judge the quick and the dead

Everything else is pretty much up in the air.

[Asher]

Jesus was a homosexual.

[KrazyHorse]

Most Christians believe that Jesus was both divine and human. Some believe he was wholly divine and that he merely appeared as a man. Some believe he was wholly human, and that he relied on God (God the Father in the Trinitarian view) for his miracles, for his resurrection and for his ascension.

From there on, Christian dogma is even further divided...

[DaShi]

UR in 3, 2, 1...

The Holy Trinity assumes that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all the same. However, that fits with the both divine and human aspect in that the divine part was God and the human part was Christ. Thus, Jesus could talk to God without looking any more crazy.

[KrazyHorse]

That's what I said.

People who believe that Jesus was wholly human obviously cannot also be trinitarians. I was just using the parlance of the trinitarians to emphasise that in the wholly-human view Jesus relied on the power of "God" as distinct from Jesus.

[DaShi]

Ah, I see. Jes jes.

[trev]

Majority opinion of evangelical christians is that God always existed as a person and that he created the universe out of nothing, as a first step without form, ie created matter first, then formed a functioning universe from that matter with life and light.