In light of the parallel between Rev 4:11b and Daniel 4:37 (LXX; Dan 4:35 in Theod.), Gregory Beale noted that:
ἦσαν καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν (“they were and they were created”)
has been interpreted to mean that creation existed in the mind of God before he
actually began to create, or the two verbs could be synonymous (a hendiadys),
stressing the fact that God created “all things.” It may be best to view the
first verb as referring to the ongoing preservation of the created order and
the second to the inception of creation: “they continually exist and have come
into being.” The meanings of the verbs themselves and not merely their tenses
show this difference of nuance. (G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation: A
Commentary on the Greek Text [New International Greek Testament Commentary; Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans,1999], 335)
For a Latter-day Saint interpretation of this verse, consider the following:
thou hast created all things/you created all things:
The
scriptures make it clear that God’s creative acts are not the creation of
things ex nihilo (out of nothing) but rather the organization of eternally existing
physical matter, spirit matter, and intelligence all in accordance with
eternally existing laws (See D&C 93:29, 33; 131:7–8; Abr. 3:18, 24). The Greek
word translated “create” (κτίζω, ktizō) means “to found, build,
produce.”
for thy pleasure they are and were created/by
your will they came into existence and were created: The
last phrase of this verse is difficult to translate. It appears that John
wrote, καὶ διὰ τὸ θέλημά σου ἦσαν καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν (kai dia to thelēlma sou ēsan
kai ektisthēsan), literally, “and according to your will they were and were
created.” The problem is how can something exist before it was created. To
solve the problem, ancient scribes have created a number of variants. (Some
scribes add οὐκ (ouk, “not”) before ἦσαν (ēsan, “were”) while others replace ἦσαν
with εἰσίν (eisin, “are”).) For example, some scribes inserted an οὐκ (ouk),
“not,” before ἦσαν (ēsan), “were,” thus allowing the text to read, “they
were not and were created.” This reading gave force to the idea of creation ex
nihilo, but it has very little manuscript support and can, therefore, be
rejected as the original reading. One scholar, taking the words as they stand,
argued, “This unusual phrase suggests that all things which are, existed first
in the eternal will of God and through his will came into actual being at his
appointed time.” The best way to understand John’s intent seems to be to take the
kai as epexegetical so that the last verb acts to specify the action of
the first. In this way it would read, “they came into existence and were
created,” as in the Rendition. (Richard D. Draper and Michael D. Rhodes, The
Revelation of John the Apostle [BYU New Testament Commentary Series; Provo,
Utah: BYU Studies, 2013], 143-44)
So creation ex nihilo
(or ex materia) is not in view in this particular text: as
with Col 1:15-20, it is about how God “created” and continues to uphold
creation.
Contrary to one bald-face liar who has attempted to use this text to
support the doctrine of creation out of nothing, Blake Ostler (who has written a scholarly
work on the topic) noted that:
Ortner's reliance on Rev 4:11 is just eisegesis without
actual support from the text. The verb ēsan (ἦσαν) cannot be read to support
creation of nothing because it is not within the semantic filed of the verb at
all. The suggestion that it is linked to the ego eimi statements is truly
ridiculous -- in the verb form used it has nothing to do with such claims of
divine being or existence at all. The verb ἐποίησεν means "to construct or
build" using materials and in no way "connotes" or refers to
creating without materials. His argument is simply not a good argument.
The attempted defense of
this dogma was so bad, one former Latter-day Saint even wrote this article against
it, noting (correctly) that the Bible does not teach it: one gets the doctrine
from external sources (in the case of Catholicism, the dogmatic decree of the Fourth
Lateran Council [1215]).
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