Ex nihilo is a Latin term meaning "out of nothing". It is often used in conjunction with the term creation, as in creatio ex nihilo, meaning "creation out of nothing". Due to the nature of this term, it is often used in philosophical or creationistic arguments, as many Christians, Muslims and Jews believe that God created the universe from nothing. This contrasts with "creatio ex materia," which is creation out of eternally preexistent matter, and "creatio ex deo," which is creation out of the being of God.

A number of philosophers in ancient times attained a highly developed concept of God as the supreme ruler of the world, but they failed to develop the concept of God as the absolute cause of all finite existence. Before the biblical idea of creation, myths envisioned the world as being preexisting matter acted upon by a god or gods that reworked this material into the present world. Only in the Bible and the religious thought that developed out of its world-view do we see the formulation of ex nihilo creation.^[1]

Son, look upon heaven and earth, and all that is in them: and consider that God made them out of nothing.
(2 Maccabees 7:28, 100 BC)

Arguments in favour

Some verses from the Judeo-Christian Bible often cited in support of ex nihilo creation by God are the following:

• And the earth ⁰⁷⁷⁶ was ⁰¹⁹⁶¹ without form ⁰⁸⁴¹⁴, and void ⁰⁹²²; and darkness ⁰²⁸²² [was] upon the face ⁰⁶⁴⁴⁰ of the deep ⁰⁸⁴¹⁵. And the Spirit ⁰⁷³⁰⁷ of God ⁰⁴³⁰ moved ⁰⁷³⁶³ upon ⁰⁵⁹²¹ the face ⁰⁶⁴⁴⁰ of the waters ⁰⁴³²⁵.
  Genesis 1:1-2 Verses include the Strong's Concordance numbers for word reference
• The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. 23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.
  Proverbs 8:22-24
• By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
  Psalm 33:6
• All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
  John 1:3
• even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
  Romans 4:17
• And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
  1 Corinthians 1:28
• Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
  Hebrews 11:3
• My son, have pity on me; I carried you nine months in the womb and suckled you three years.... I implore you, my child, observe heaven and earth, consider all that is in them, and acknowledge that God made them out of what did not exist, and that mankind comes into being in the same way. Do not fear this executioner, but prove yourself worthy of your brothers, and make death welcome, so that in the day of mercy I may receive you back in your brothers' company.
  2 Maccabees 7:27-29 Jerusalem Bible

Another major argument for creatio ex nihilo is the "first cause" argument, which may be summarized as:

1. Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore, the universe must have a cause.

Additional support for ex nihilo creation comes from the Summum philosophy that states before there was anything, there was nothing, and if there was nothing, then it must have been possible for nothing to be. If it is possible for nothing to be, then it must be possible for everything to be. This condition results in SUMMUM, i.e. the totality of creation.^[2]

The scientific consensus now is that the universe had a beginning and that every thing that now exists in the universe had its origin in a large explosion of energy called the 'Big Bang'

Islam

The Mu'tazili favoured this thought.

Arguments against

Some have argued that this concept cannot be deduced from the Hebrew and that the Book of Genesis, chapter 1, speaks of God "making" or "fashioning" the universe. However, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812) disputed these arguments in section II of his book titled "Tanya". Thomas Jay Oord argues that Christians should abandon the doctrine of creation ex nihilo. Oord points to the work of biblical scholars, such as Jon D. Levenson, who acknowledge that the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo is not present in Genesis. Oord speculates that God created our particular universe billions of years ago from primordial chaos. This chaos did not predate God, however, for God would have created the chaotic elements as well. Oord shows that God can create all things without creating from absolute nothingness.

A few early Jewish and Christian theologians and philosophers, including Philo, Justin, Athenagoras, Hermogenes, Clement of Alexandria, and, later, Johannes Scotus Eriugena have made statements that seem to indicate that they do not hold to the concept of the creation-out-of-nothing. Philo, for instance, postulated a pre-existent matter alongside God.

Process theologians argue that God has always been related to some “world” or another.

The doctrine may, as the quotation from Maccabees illustrate, have arisen to explain the creative action of a God who is usually referred to in male terms, a patriarchal God even. Males do not gestate living things in the way normally capable of observation, so it had to be explained in a different sense.

Critics also claim that rejecting 'creatio ex nihilo' provides the opportunity to affirm that God has everlastingly created and related with some realm of nondivine actualities or another. According to this alternative God-world theory, no nondivine thing exists without the creative activity of God, and nothing can terminate God’s necessary existence.

Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement dismissed creation ex nihilo, and introduced revelation that specifically countered this concept.^[3][4] Some Mormon sects, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, teach that matter is both eternal and infinite and that it can be neither created nor destroyed.^[5] Latter-day Saint apologists have commented on Colossians 1:16 that the "Greek text does not teach ex nihilo, but creation out of pre-existing raw materials, since the verb ktidzo 'carried an architectural connotation...as in to build or establish a city....Thus, the verb presupposes the presence of already existing material.'"^[6]

While the idea of God everlastingly relating with creatures may seem strange because of its novelty, even its opponents in Christian history – like Thomas Aquinas – admitted it as a logical possibility.

An alternative is offered by physicists Paul Steinhardt (Princeton University) and Neil Turok (Cambridge University). Their proposal is based upon the ancient idea that space and time have always existed in some form. Using developments in superstring theory, Steinhardt and Turok suggest that the Big Bang of our universe is a bridge to a pre-existing universe, and that creation undergoes an eternal succession of universes, with possibly trillions of years of evolution in each. Gravity and the transition from Big Crunch to Big Bang characterize an everlasting succession of universes.

Computer science

In some computing environments, "ex nihilo" is used to describe various techniques for creating data structures or objects. In prototype-based programming languages, an object is created "ex nihilo" if it does not use another object as its prototype.

Military organization

A unit that is raised ex nihilo is one which was created without the use of significant components from other units. Thus, when a unit that is composed entirely of personnel who had been transferred as individuals from other units it is said to have been raised ex nihilo. Alternatives to this method, which is also known as "cutting a unit from whole cloth", are expanding a skeleton (cadre) unit, assembling a large unit from components taken from other units, and the splitting of an existing unit into two or more skeleton units which are subsequently filled out with additional personnel. In German, this last-named method is called 'calving' (das Kalben). In French, it is called 'doubling' (dédoublement), but only, as the name suggests, when two new units are formed on the framework of one old one.

See also

• Natural theology
• SUMMUM
• M-theory
• Big Bang
• Nihilism
• 40th century BC
• Frederick Hart (sculptor)#Gallery

Notes

Suggested reading

• Thomas Jay Oord, Science of Love: The Wisdom of Well-Being (Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation Press, 2005), especially chapter 2.
• Jon D. Levenson, Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994; New York: Harper & Row, 1987).
• Sjoerd L. Bonting, Chaos Theology: A Revised Creation Theology [Ottawa: Novalis, 2002].
• James Edward Hutchingson, Pandemoneum Tremendum: Chaos and Mystery in the Life of God [Pilgrim, 2000].
• David Ray Griffin, "Creation out of Chaos and The Problem of Evil," in Encountering Evil: Live Options in Theodicy, 2nd ed., Stephen T. Davis, ed., [Atlanta: John Knox, 1999].
• Catherine Keller, The Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming [Routledge, 2003].
• Michael E. Lodahl "Creation out of Nothing? Or is Next to Nothing Enough?" in Thy Nature and Name is Love, Bryan Stone and Thomas Jay Oord, eds. Nashville, TN: Kingswood, 2002
• Gerd Thiessen, "The Shadow of the Gallilean" [scm, 1979].