Geisler, Norman

Systematic
Theology II
Vol. 2
Chapters 18 and
19
Systematic Theology II
Chapter Eighteen
“Alternative Views on
Creation”
pp. 423-440
Alterative Views on Creation
• There are three primary alternatives:
1.Materialism
2.Pantheism
3.Theistic
 Materialism
• Two basic subdivisions of
materialism:
1.Platonism: God created out of
preexisting matter.
2.Atheism: There is no god, matter is
eternal.
 Pantheism
• Absolute Pantheism claims that only
mind (or spirit) exists, not matter.
What we call matter is only an illusion,
like a dream or mirage: It appears to
exist, but it really does not exist.

• This is much like the dream world that

existed in the movie The Matrix.
 Pantheism
• Non-Absolute Pantheism holds a more
flexible and elastic view of reality. According to
this thinking, there are many things in the
world, but they all spring from the essence of
the One (God).
• The word was not made out of nothing (ex
nihilo), or out of something preexisting (ex
materia)—it was made out of God (ex Deo).
 Pantheism
Summary of Pantheistic View of
Origin:
• There is no absolute distinction between
Creator and Creation.
• There is an eternal relation between
Creator and Creation.
• The World is of the same “stuff” as God.
• Human Beings are God.
 Theism
• In contrast to both materialism and
pantheism, there is the Judeo-
Christian view that God created all
that is, out of nothing (ex nihilo).
• According to this position, God is
above and beyond the world, not
merely in it, and certainly no of it.
God created the world and manifests
Himself in it (Ps. 19:1).
 Important Elements of the
Theistic View of Creation
• There is an absolute difference
between Creator and Creation.
• Creation had a Beginning, God does
not.
• The “Nothing” out of which God
created was “absolute nothing.”
• Creation out of Nothing is not
creation by Nothing.
 Source of Creation
• The source of creation is a theistic
God: He alone can create something
from nothing.
• Not only did God create, but only
God can create. This is in distinction
to “recreate” or “reduplicate” which
uses existing elements to produce
something.
 The Content of Creation
• God created everything that exists:
He created “the heaven and the
earth” and “every living thing” (Gen.
1:1, 20-27, KJV)
• All things are from God, but they are
not of God. In other words, God did
not pull out pieces or essence from
Himself and create. He created out of
absolute nothing.
 The Method of Creation
• God is the source of creation, and His
Word is the means. God created by
His unlimited power and by His will.
He was not compelled by anything to
create. Creation came from nothing
more than His own desire or will to
create and by necessity.
 The Time of Creation
• God created “in the beginning.” God
is eternal, but the world is not. The
universe came to be, but God always
was (actually, is).
• Both time and space were created
with the universe.
 The Purpose of Creation
• If God created freely, then we can ask,
Why did He create, rather than not
create?
• Augustine’s answer was “because it is
good.”
• Aquinas concurred, saying, “God
brings things into existence in order
that his goodness may be
communicated and manifested.”
 Be familiar with the
following table
CATEGORY THEISM MATERIALISM PANTHEISM
Source of Creator beyond No Creator Creator within
Creation nature nature
Method of Out of nothing Out of something Out of God
Creation (ex nihilo) (ex materia) (ex Dio)

Duration of Temporal Eternal Eternal

Creation
Relation of Creator and No real Creator No real Creator
Creation and creation (really
Creature different)
God’s Control Unlimited Limited or Limited
nonexistent
Systematic Theology II
Chapter Nineteen
“The Origin of Material
Creation”
pp. 441-474
 The Biblical Basis for
Creation
The word create (bara) is used in
connection with three great events in
Genesis 1: the creation of matter (v.
1), living things (1:21), and human
beings (1:27).
 The Creation of Matter
• Gen. 1:1 “In the beginning God
created the heavens and the
earth.”
• This verse describes the origin of all
things, and creation is the foundation
for everything else that follows. It is
a reference to creation from nothing
(ex nihilo).
 The Origin of Matter
All of this was created by God “in the beginning.”
And “through him all things were made” (Jn. 1:3).
God created “all things . . . Visible and invisible”
(Col. 1:16). He created “heavens and earth.” He
creation includes the “land,” the “seas” (Gen.
1:10), and all plants and animals (vv. 6-26). It
includes also the human body that was made
“from the dust of the ground” (Gen. 2:7). This is a
real material universe, and it was created by God.
 The Origin of Matter
• Matter was created from Nothing
• Matter was created by God, Not out
of God
 The Nature of Matter
• Material Creation is Contingent: That is
to say, even though the world exists, it
could nevertheless not exist; it is, but it
might not be.
• Material Creation is Finite, only God is
infinite.
• Material Creation is Spatial and
Temporal, restricted to space and time.
• Material Creation is Good.
Creation of Living Things
• God not only created matter (Gen.
1:1), but He also created “every
living thing that moves” (Gen. 1:21
NKJV)
Creation of Living Things
• The Origin of Live: All life exists because God wills
it to exist (Acts 17:25)
• The Nature of Life:
1.There is unity of all life.
2.There is diversity of all life.
3.All life was created to multiply.
4.There is stability in life, created to continue.
5.Humankind was given dominance over all life.
 Creation of Humankind
• The Origin of Humankind
“The Lord God formed the man from
the dust of the ground and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, and
the man became a living being”
(Gen. 2:7)
 The Nature of
Humankind
• Human dignity: Humankind is a
special creation of God.
• Human sanctity: Human life is
sacred. Murder is, as it were, killing
God in effigy.
 The Image and Likeness
of God
• Image includes intellectual likeness to God
• Image includes moral likeness to God
• Image includes volitional likeness to God
• Image includes the body: not that God has a
body, but that the human body communicates
something about the image of God. We are like
God, but God is not like us in all respects.
 Baseless Arguments for
Racism
Be prepared to refute the following errant
arguments which are used to support racist
positions:
•The Mark of Cain
•The Command not to Intermarry with
other Nations
•God Desired nations to be separate
(See Geisler, pp. 454-455)
 The Basis for Ethnic
Intermarriage
First,
First all ethnic groups are from the same race—the human
race.
Second,
Second the New Testament specifically repeats that we are
all “from one blood” (Acts 17:26, NKJV)
Third,
Third there are biblically approved cases of ethnic
intermarriage (such as Ruth’s and Rahab’s)
Fourth,
Fourth when Moses married an Ethiopian and was criticized,
God intervened and judged those who disapproved.
Fifth,
Fifth and finally, the scriptural commands applicable to
marriage are to marry “in the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:39, NKJV),
someone with whom one is not “unequally yoked together”
(meaning, not an unbeliever—2 Cor. 6:14, NKJV).
 The Purpose of
Humankind
The twofold purpose of
humankind is to honor
the Creator and to
enjoy His creation.
The Debate on Creation and
Evolution
Young-Earth Creationists insist that
creation occurred in 144 hours—six
successive twenty-four hour days with the
text of Genesis 1 understood as literal.
Old-Earth Creationists allow for millions
(even billions) of years with the text in
Genesis understood as symbolic.
Theistic Evolutionists believe God used
evolution as His means for producing the
various forms of physical life on this
planet, including human life.
 Conclusion
According to Geisler (p. 473) The essentials
of Creationism that are consistent with the
Christian faith include the following:
1.There is a theistic God.
2.Creation of the universe was ex nihilo
3.Every living thing was created by God.
4.Adam and Eve were a direct and special
creation of God.
5.The Genesis account of creation is
historical, not mythological.