The Act of
Creation is Instantaneous—A further
implication of creation ex nihilo is that it “enacts the divine counsel
instantaneously and without effort.” This language of instantaneity is
especially prominent in the early church. Basil, for example, claims that “at
the will of God the world arose in less than an instant.” (Hexameron,
1.6) Similarly, Ambrose: “He who in a momentary exercise of his will completed
such a majestic work employed no art or skill so that those things which were
not were so quickly brought into existence.” (Hexameron, 1.13) Webster
concludes that “creation is thus more like an inner act of willing than an
external act of craftsmanship.” The apparent function of this sort of language
is to further deny that any change or motion is involved in creation or that
creation involved any “protracted toil” or opposition to God.
At the same time,
however, this way of describing creation ex nihilo is problematic. Although God
may not wrestle with opposing forces, the narratives of Gen 1-2 depict God
acting like a craftsman, working on things as part of a process that extends
through time. To overcome these sorts of problems, Charles Hodge, for example,
standing in the tradition of Aquinas, distinguishes between “immediate and
mediate creation,” while other theologians distinguish “creation” proper from
the subsequent work of “ornamentation.” (Nathan J. Chambers, Reconsidering
Creation Ex Nihilo in Genesis 1 [Journal of Theological Interpretation
Supplement 19; University Park, Pa.: Eisenbrauns, 2020], 63-64, emphasis in bold added)
