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Re: A question about the Christian theory of creation
The belief in the existance of "uncreated" matter is considered heretic in most Christian currents. There has been a famous dispute between Tertullian ("God created out of nothing") and Hermogenes ("God used preexisting matter), which ended with a victory for Tertullian. This position seems to be a rather "hard-coded" part within Christianity, while the other view is related to gnosticism (there's some Borges short story on the issue IIRC). However, that doesn't mean there's no Christians who believe in it.
Also, the dogma of "nihil ex nihilo" would, according to some Christian opinions, limit God's omnipotence. Personally, I find this reasoning rather lame, but it exists nonetheless.
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 ?
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 ?
Also, the dogma of "nihil ex nihilo" would, according to some Christian opinions, limit God's omnipotence. Personally, I find this reasoning rather lame, but it exists nonetheless.
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