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III. Creation in General
The discussion of the decrees naturally leads on to the consideration of their execution, and
this begins with the work of creation. This is not only first in order of time, but is also a logical
prius. It is the beginning and basis of all divine revelation, and consequently also the foundation
of all ethical and religious life. The doctrine of creation is not set forth in Scripture as a
philosophical solution of the problem of the world, but in its ethical and religious significance,
as a revelation of the relation of man to his God. It stresses the fact that God is the origin of all
things, and that all things belong to Him and are subject to Him. The knowledge of it is derived
from Scripture only and is accepted by faith (Heb. 11:3), though Roman Catholics maintain that
it can also be gathered from nature.
A. The Doctrine of Creation in History.
While Greek philosophy sought the explanation of the world in a dualism, which involves the
eternity of matter, or in a process of emanation, which makes the world the outward
manifestation of God, the Christian Church from the very beginning taught the doctrine of
creation ex nihilo and as a free act of God. This doctrine was accepted with singular unanimity
from the start. It is found in Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen,
and others. Theophilus was the first Church Father to stress the fact that the days of creation
were literal days. This seems to have been the view of Irenaeus and Tertullian as well, and was
in all probability the common view in the Church. Clement and Origen thought of creation as
having been accomplished in a single indivisible moment, and conceived of its description as
the work of several days merely as a literary device to describe the origin of things in the order
of their worth or of their logical connection. The idea of an eternal creation, as taught by
Origen, was commonly rejected. At the same time some of the Church Fathers expressed the
idea that God was always Creator, though the created universe began in time. During the
trinitarian controversy some of them emphasized the fact that, in distinction from the
generation of the Son, which was a necessary act of the Father, the creation of the world was a
free act of the triune God. Augustine dealt with the work of creation more in detail than others
did. He argues that creation was eternally in the will of God, and therefore brought no change
in Him. There was no time before creation, since the world was brought into being with time
rather than in time. The question what God did in the many ages before creation is based on a
misconception of eternity. While the Church in general still seems to have held that the world
was created in six ordinary days, Augustine suggested a somewhat different view. He strongly
defended the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo, but distinguished two moments of creation: the
production of matter and spirits out of nothing, and the organization of the material universe.
He found it difficult to say what kind of days the days of Genesis were, but was evidently