Creatio ex nihilo is the doctrine that all matter was created out of nothing by God in an initializing act whereby the cosmos came into existence. The third-century founder of
Neoplatonism,
Plotinus, argued that the cosmos was instead an
emanation of God. Emanationism was rejected by
Jewish philosophers, as well as the
Church Fathers and
Muslim philosophers who followed.
African traditional religions African traditional religions tend to favour
creatio ex materia over
creatio ex nihilo, and it is absent in
Akan,
Acholi, and
Yoruba religions. Ghanaian philosopher
Kwasi Wiredu has argued that some religions such as those of the
Shona,
Nuer, and
Banyarwanda "affirm the notion of
creatio ex nihilo".
Ancient Near East Although
ancient Near Eastern cosmology is read as invoking a process of
creatio ex materia, occasional suggestions have been made that
creatio ex nihilo can be found at least in some texts, including the
Egyptian Memphite theology and the
Hebrew Biblical Genesis creation narrative. Hilber rejected these interpretations, viewing both as consistent with
creatio ex materia and instead suggesting that some passages in the
Book of Isaiah, the
Book of Proverbs, and the
Psalms indicate a form of
creatio ex nihilo. The cosmogonical doxologies of the
Book of Amos also present a view of creation
ex nihilo.
Bakongo spirituality In
Bakongo religion, the
Bakongo people believe that "the world in its beginning was empty; it was an
mbûngi, an empty thing, a cavity, without visible life." Mbûngi (also called
mwasi and
mpampa) was symbolized as a
circle of emptiness. The creator god
Nzambi, along with his female counterpart called
Nzambici, is believed to have created a spark of fire, called
kalûnga, and summoned it inside of
mbûngi.
Kalûnga grew and became a great force of energy inside of
mbûngi, creating a mass of fusion. When the mass grew too hot, the heated force caused the mass to break apart and hurl projectiles outside of
mbûngi. Those projectiles became individual masses that scattered about, and when the fires cooled, planets formed and life came to be. The Bakongo believe this was the process Nzambi used to create the universe, with the sun, stars, planets, etc. The Bakongo referred to this process as
luku lwalamba Nzambi, or "God created and cooked dough." Because of this,
kalûnga is seen as the origin of life, or
moyo wawo mu nza, and the Bakongo believe that life requires constant change and perpetual motion. Thus, Nzambi is also referred to as
Kalûnga, the god of change. Similarities between the Bakongo belief of kalûnga and the
Big Bang Theory have been studied. Unlike many other
traditional African spiritualities, the creation beliefs of the Bakongo are compatible with
creatio ex nihilio.
Christianity Nicene Christian theologies hold to creation
ex nihilo. The doctrine has been defended in Christian circles since early in the religion's development, receiving its first explicit articulation in the late 2nd Century by
Theophilus of Antioch in
To Autolycus. In a chapter entitled "Absurd Opinions of the Philosophers Concerning God", he writes: Theophilus's statement is nearly identical to epistle to the
Romans 4:17: Thus, there is evidence that creation
ex nihilo was being discussed in at least some Christian theological circles by the 3rd century. In late antiquity,
John Philoponus was its most prominent defender. Some theologians have proposed alternatives to
creatio ex nihilo, like the idea of God creating the universe from Godself (
ex ipse), which suggests the universe is similar to God. Others argue for creation from pre-existent matter (
ex materia), implying the world does not rely on God for existence. The notion of
creatio ex nihilo underlies some modern arguments for the existence of God among Christian and other theistic philosophers, especially as articulated in the
cosmological argument, as well as its more particular manifestation in the
Kalam cosmological argument.
Augustine of Hippo affirmed an
allegorical interpretation of the six-day account of creation in the book of Genesis. He argues that the
number 7 is significant and serves as a symbol of the perfection of God's creative work. He suggests that the first three days of creation cannot be considered perfect because the Sun was created on the fourth day. Additionally, he notes that the night of the sixth day is not mentioned in the biblical account. Augustine further contends that the notion of God
resting on the seventh day is questionable, as God is characterized as possessing all forms of wealth and is eternally unchangeable; thus, a change in state between the sixth and seventh days is deemed illogical. He emphasizes the concept of divine immutability and asserts that nothing can be added to the divine essence at any point—in relation to the unity of the
Triune God worshipped in Nicene Christianity—while recognizing the distinct
persons within the Trinity. According to
Ambrose of Milan, God's rest follows the creation of humankind because God rests in the human being, which allows for a relationship of love to be established. In this context, God's rest is understood as a realization of love for his creatures, which is further connected to the concept of redemption in Christian theology. Ambrose distinguishes a link between the 'rest of God' and the 'rest' of
Jesus on the cross.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Adherents of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not believe, as Nicene Christians do, that God created the universe
ex nihilo. Rather, to Latter-day Saints, Gods act of creation is essentially an organization of pre-existing matter, or
creatio ex materia.
Hinduism The
Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1 declares that before the world was manifested, there was only "existence" itself, one and unparalleled (
sat eva ekam eva advitīyam).
Swami Lokeshwarananda commented on this passage, saying, "something out of nothing is an absurd idea".
Islam Most scholars of
Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, hold the belief that God is the
unmoved mover and creator; he did not create the world from pre-existing matter.
Judaism One of the earliest recorded articulations of the concept of
creatio ex nihilo is in the
non-canonical Jewish text
2 Maccabees. In 2 Maccabees 7:28, the author writes: Some have argued against interpreting 2 Maccabees this way, and none of the
books of Maccabees are included in the
Jewish canon. In the first century CE,
Philo of Alexandria, a
Hellenized Jew, laid out the basic idea of
ex nihilo creation, albeit inconsistently. Philo rejected the Greek notion of an eternal universe, maintaining that God created time itself. In other places, it has been argued that he postulated pre-existent matter alongside God. Later scholars, such as
Harry Austryn Wolfson, interpreted Philo's cosmology differently, arguing that the so-called pre-existent matter was indeed created.
Saadia Gaon, a late 9th- and 10th-century
Middle Egyptian-
Palestinian rabbi,
gaon, philosopher, and
exegete, formally introduced
ex nihilo creation into
Jewish Tanakh interpretation with
the Book of Beliefs and Opinions, the first systematic theology of
Rabbinic Judaism. Today, religious Judaism asserts creation
ex nihilo, although some Jewish scholars maintain that
Genesis 1:1 allows for the pre-existence of matter to which God gives form.
Hasidism and Kabbalah Jewish philosophers of the 9th and 10th centuries adopted the concept of "yesh me-Ayin" (something from nothing), contradicting
Greek philosophers and the
Aristotelian stance that the world was created out of primordial matter and/or was
eternal.
Stoicism Stoicism, founded by
Zeno of Citium c. 300 BCE, holds the belief that creation out of nothing is impossible and that
Zeus created the world out of his own being. ==In modern science==