Sunday, October 1, 2023

Nathan J. Chambers: Creation ex nihilo necessitates that the act of creation is instantaneous

 

 

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)