1 Clement. Clement, bishop of
Rome, shared the same worldview as Philo of an eternal fabric or constitution
of the world from which the world was created. Clement stated: “Thou . . .
didst make manifest the everlasting fabric of the world. Thou, Lord, didst
create the earth.” The terms used here by Clement are significant. He asserts
that God did “make manifest” (ἐϕανεροποίησας) the “everlasting fabric of the
world” (Σὺ τὴν ἀέναον τοῦ κόσμου σύστασιν). He is referring to an eternal
substrate that underlies God’s creative activity. Clement is important because
he is at the very center of the Christian church as it was then developing. His
view assumed that God had created from an eternally existing substrate,
creating by “making manifest” what already existed in some form. The lack of
argumentation or further elucidation indicates that Clement was not attempting
to establish a philosophical position; he was merely maintaining a generally
accepted one. However, the fact that such a view was assumed is even more
significant than if Clement had argued for it. If he had presented an argument
for this view, then we could assume that it was either a contested doctrine or
a new view. But because he acknowledged it as obvious, it appears to have been
a generally accepted belief in the early Christian church. (Blake Ostler, “Out
of Nothing: A History of Creation Ex Nihilo in Early Christian Thought,” FARMS
Review 17, no. 2 [2005]: 293-94)
To Support this Blog:
Email for Amazon Gift card: ScripturalMormonism@gmail.com
Email for Logos.com Gift Card: IrishLDS87@gmail.com
