A very common attribute of gods in religious traditions around the world is that of creation â€" our universe, our world, and indeed our very selves often owe their existence to creative acts of the gods. In the Western traditions of philosophical theism, the existence of everything is owed to a single creative act by a single perfect God.
The concept of God as Creator is not without its problems and controversies, however. One of the most fundamental involves the exact nature of how the creative act occurred. The most common is idea that God created everything ex nihilo â€" out of nothing. This expresses the important idea that God did not operate on pre-existing matter and is not an agent among other agents. Instead, God is the absolute origin of all that exists â€" all matter, all energy, and all organization.
God as the origin of everything is also used to explain the notion of God’s absolute mastery over all of existence. Because everything was created by God, then God has authority over it all. To use Paul’s analogy, “But who are you, a man, to answer back to God? Will what is moulded say to its moulder, “Why have you made me thus?“ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for beauty and another for menial use?“ (Romans 9:20-21, RSV)
Creation ex nihilo is not the only way to understand God’s action of creation. Although a bit less common, there is also the idea that creation occurred ex deo, or out of the very substance of God. Under this view, everything that exists owes its existence not only to the creative action of God, but also to the very substance of God because all that is was derived from God by God. One modern expression of the doctrine of creation ex deo can be found in process theism, according to which the universe can be conceived as something akin to God’s “body.†This means that God and our material reality are not wholly distinct: God quite literally shares in our existence through our experiences of it. As we grow and develop, so does God.
Both of these conceptions of creation have advantages and disadvantages. Creation ex nihilo maintains an absolute distinction between Creator and Created, often an important feature of philosophical theism. Many feel that such a distinction actually compromises God’s perfection, however. For them, perfection entails the idea that there can be nothing truly outside of God, even though there might be appear to be such a separation from our limited and flawed perspectives.
Creation ex nihilo also allows for the idea that all of existence is absolutely dependent on God while God is absolutely independent of our existence. This helps emphasize the radically different natures of God and the universe. Creation ex deo may allow for such a relationship, but as can be seen with process theism it also allows for a mutually interdependent relationship between God and the universe.
Whichever mode of creation one opts to argue for, it is also common to insist that God is not only the creator of all that exists, but also the sustainer of all that exists. What this means is that, from moment to moment, all that exists only does so because God wills it to exist. Should God stop willing the existence of anything or everything, then that existence would instantly end.
Thus, while philosophical theism has traditionally insisted on an absolute distinction between God and Creation in the act of creation, the distinction becomes very blurred when it comes to God’s role as Sustainer â€" perhaps one reason why creation ex deo has remained a viable alternative to creation ex nihilo.
Is the notion of God as Creator and Sustainer of the universe coherent and meaningful? Perhaps, but because there is no single or obvious way to understand the act of creation or the relationship between God and the universe, any theist asserting “creator†and/or “sustainer†as attributes of God should be expected to explain what is meant by those terms and why.
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