“Creatio ex potentia” ‘vs’ “creatio ex nihilo”

A Multidisciplinary Contextualized Analysis of Select Passages From Genesis V2.0

[This is an excerpt from an exhaustive personal study of most of the first 9 chapters of the book of Genesis. This is a vastly expanded effort from the original version that can currently be found here downloadable for free. The purpose of this exercise is to compare a non-symbolic literal reading of the text to our current understanding of language, paleontology, and the physical sciences. Constructive discussion on the merits of this study is encouraged!]

Most interpretations of Genesis presume “creatio ex nihilo” or “creation out of nothing”. In other words, the conjuring of matter and manifestation of the volume of space itself from nothingness. As each act of creation is performed, “creatio ex nihilo” suggests that nothing existed in its place previously. That a common interpretation that Genesis 1:1 is itself a statement of creative action of God, then “creation out of nothing” seems to necessarily be the case.

Yet as we continue to verse 1:2, “The earth was formless and empty,” implies that where the earth is there is nothing tangible at this time as if the entirety of it is an intangibly large hole. Although this seems like a mellifluous way to try and explain the absence of tangible matter, this account is from a time when the concept of vacuous space was not normally considered if at all. The exposition continues, “Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.” This also implies that something imperceivable is within this “formless and empty” vacuum.

All of God’s creative actions (Bara בָּרָא) are initiated by decree occurring first in 1:3. This understanding is echoed on several occasions throughout the Bible:

• Psalm 33:6, 9, 148:5, 168:5

• Hebrews 11:3

• 2 Peter 3:5

Each of these passages emphasize that it is God’s spoken word which initiated or precedes His creative acts. In the case of 2 Peter 3:5b it is deliberately stated “an earth formed out of water and amid water by the word of God”. This suggests that the interpretation of Genesis 2,000 years ago (at least where the author of 2 Peter is concerned) was that the earth formed from the “waters” as described in Genesis 1:9, not “ex nihilo” or from nothing.

The implication is that our globe was not created in Genesis 1:1 and that the inaugural verse of the Bible is a summary headnote of the account to follow. The details of 1:2 are an exposition revealing the initial conditions within the volume of the universe. This brief setup prior to God's first action supports the interpretation that He did not make the universe from nothing, but created its contents through utilization of the materials which already existed in this space.

Alternatively, one could say that God selected or manifested the cosmic volume and filled it with the primordial energy or “waters” then used to realize His creation. This is analogous to a farmer who marks off a plot of land and supplies a sack of seeds. However, this is not the act of farming. Those elements are necessary, but they are simply potential which must be realized through intentional utilization of that potential.

For those who insist that 1:1 refers to a direct action of God, then it is He who manifested these imperceivable “waters” (supplied the seed) as well as defined the volume of the universe (marked off the plot) within which our globe will emerge. In this way, God’s definition of our space and supplying primordial energy into it could be considered preparation “ex nihilo”. However, the act of utilizing those energies within the parameters of that space, producing new things from the “waters”, is creation “ex potentia”.

The Higgs Boson theory proposes that the original contents of the universe were a state of energy that decayed into the various fundamental particles and forces that comprise the universe as we observe it now. This is reflective of an “ex nihilo” supply of the vessel and potential into this universe which I propose was “formed” (Yatsar יָצַר) or defined from what was extant. The analogy would be forming a vessel and filling with water or other ingredients from which one will “create” (Bara בָּרָא) something unique within that vessel.

This principle of “creatio ex potentia” or “creation from potential” is reflected throughout the Bible. It is consistent with not only the various “Yamim” of creation, but how God formed Adam from dust in 2:7, and constructed Eve by repurposing a part of Adam described in 2:22a. The plagues of Egypt (Exodus 7-12) and other various miracles and prophecies appearing throughout the Bible (Exodus 14:21, 1 Kings 17:8-16, 1 Kings 22:1-38, John 2:1-11 and others) do not introduce new matter or unique products from nothing, but are performed through manipulation or utilization of what already existed in that space “ex potentia”. Even if the results are improbable, they are always of the environment or leveraging the forces present.