Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

Is the origin of the creatio ex nihilo doctrine truly a post-biblical theological concept introduced during the Hellenistic era, as many scholars in the last hundred years wish to assert? The Tanakh itself does not speak of such an explicit philosophical idea; in fact, it appears for the first time in 2 Maccabees 7:28, in a text written in Greek and originating in the 2^nd century B.C.E. In this famous passage, a mother pleads with her son who is about to be executed for his faith, exclaiming: “I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things; (οὐκ ἐξ ὄντων ἐποίησεν - ouk ex onton epoiesen), and in the same way the human race came into existence” (NAB). That is to say, the same God that creates the universe out of nothingness also possesses the power to raise a person from the ashes and non-being of death. It seems highly unlikely that such a story would not have also been based on a common attitude that Jews subscribed to for many, many centuries, nor is it a huge conceptual leap for those already believing that God created the universe!

Another one of the oldest references to the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo comes from the Letter of Aristeas, which is believed to have been written sometime between 150-100 and 1^st century B.C.E., and records: “For it would be utterly foolish to suppose that anyone became a god in virtue of his inventions. For the inventors simply took certain objects already created and by combining them together, showed that they possessed a fresh utility: they did not themselves create the substance of the thing.” [1]

On the other hand, a different perspective appears in The Wisdom of Solomon, a work believed to have originated between the 3^rd century B.C.E. and the early 1^st century C.E. The author was very adept in Judaic and Greek thought, and expresses the biblical story of Creation in terms that appear in Plato’s Timaeus,[2] “And indeed Your all-powerful hand which created the world from formless matter . . .” (καὶ κτίσασα τὸν κόσμον ἐξ ἀμόρφου ὕλης—kai katisasa ton kosmon ex amorthou hyles). It is commonly assumed that the author was referring to Genesis 1:1; however, the author may have been referring to Genesis 1:2 and not 1:1!

From Philo of Alexandria’s writings, it is unclear whether he actually subscribes to creatio ex nihilo or not. Some argue that Philo believes that God created all things—including the pre-existing matter—from nothing.[3] Subsequently, once the creative process begins, God acts more like an Artist than an actual Creator by utilizing the raw materials that already exist. Others read Philo differently, contending that Philo does not believe in creatio ex nihilo[4], and that his theological position derives from Plato and Aristotle. As Wolfson observes, the difference in perspective may have been attributed to Philo’s listening audience. To those of a Platonic mindset, Philo “Platonizes” his doctrine; to those more traditionally oriented, he emphasizes the doctrine of creatio-ex nihilo. It may well be that Philo sees no theological or philosophical problem with either viewpoint—provided it is properly articulated. Alternatively, Philo may have personally hedged on this issue at different stages of his thinking.[5]

Alternatively, Josephus is a different matter, he substitutes the verb ἔκτισεν (ektisen = “created”) in place of the Septuagint’s ἐποίησεν (epoiēsen, “made”). With this alteration, Josephus makes it obvious to his readers that God continuously creates the world ex nihilo and has no need to form it out of preexistent matter.[6] One famous Midrash records a discussion between a Gnostic philosopher and R. Gamaliel (1^st century C.E.), who uses an intratextual approach in explaining the opening lines of the Genesis creation narrative:

• “Your God was indeed a great artist, but surely He utilized good materials that assisted Him!” Rabbi Gamaliel asked: “And what do you think they are?” He replied, “Tohu, bohu, darkness, water, wind (ruah), and the deep.” Rabbi Gamaliel exclaimed, “Woe to that man . . .” while adding, “The term creation is used by Scripture in connection with all of them. Regarding tohu and bohu is written, “I make peace and create evil” (Isa. 55: 7).[7] Concerning darkness is written, “I form the light, and create darkness” (ibid.). Concerning the creation of water, is written, “Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! (Ps. 148: 4) How so? “For He commanded, and they were created” (ibid. 5); concerning wind is written, “For lo, the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind . . . (Amos 4:13); and concerning the depths is written, “When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. (Prov. 8: 24).[8]

This pagan philosopher of the Midrash expresses a thought that is reminiscent of a comment made by a second century Neo-Pythagorean philosopher named Numenius, who sought to demonstrate how the wisdom of Pythagoras and Plato could be found in the Torah of the Jews. Numenius has been often quoted as saying, “What else is Plato but Moses speaking Attic Greek?” [9] Like the Midrash of the pagan philosopher, the story of God creating the world from pre-eternal matter seems compatible with the teachings of Plato.

One might wonder why the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo is not widely discussed in the Talmud itself, however, the rabbis were certainly familiar with much of the philosophical and Gnostic speculation concerning the universe’s cosmology, and they felt this was not a topic that ought to be discussed in public. The study of philosophy was considered to be potentially dangerous, thus it was to be avoided. The Ma’aseh Berashit (“The Work of Creation”) was not to be studied in the academies or in public.[10] Still and all, the cosmology of Genesis does find occasional expression in the Midrashic literature. Recorded in a 3^rd century Midrashic text, R. Yochananand Resh Lakish discussed the difference between a human and divine creativity.

• R. Yochanan said: When a mortal king builds a palace, after having built the lower stories he builds the upper ones; but the Holy One, blessed be He, created the upper stories and the lower stories within a single act. R. Simeon b. Lakish said: When a human being builds a ship, first he brings the beams, then the ropes; after this he procures the anchors, and then erects the masts. But the Blessed Holy One, created them [i.e., heaven and earth] and their crew, as it is written, “Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out”—we-notehem (Isa. XLII, 5); this is written we-nawtehem (“and their mariners”).[11]

Although the proof text of Resh Lakish is not at all grammatically convincing, the theological point both these Sages make is a valid one: both stress the sheer novelty in how God creates the world—with complete simultaneity in accordance with His will.

Just as the early rabbinic writings provide some evidence that they accepted the theory of creatio ex nihilo, so too, did the Early Church Fathers. The one lone exception was Justin Martyr (ca. 100-165 C.E.), who saw no conflict between Plato’s view of creation and the Genesis story. The theme of the early 2^nd century work, The Shepherd of Hermas, expresses God’s oneness as being basic to the early Church, and was undoubtedly influenced by the Shema Prayer recited by Jews twice daily: “First of all, believe that God is one, who created everything and maintained it, and who made everything to be out of what was not, who contains everything but alone is not contained.”[12]

With the rise of the Kalam school of Muslim philosophy, which developed during the late 9^th century, R. Saadia Gaon, head of the Sura Academy in Babylon, articulated Jewish philosophy in a way that was not seen since the days of Philo. According to him, the belief in creatio ex nihilo had long been accepted by the Jewish communities of his time.[13]

Notes:

[1] Letter of Aristeas, 136.

[2]According to Plato, when God “took over all that was visible, seeing that it was not in a state of rest but in a state of discordant and disorderly motion, He brought it into order out of disorder” (Timaeus 30a, trans. R.G. Bury, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1929, 9:55 Creation, for Plato, does not occur out of creatio ex nihilo, but involves the ordering of pre-existing matter. The novelty of God’s creation consists of the cosmos being endowed with reason and soul (ibid.), i.e., which produces a telos (the end of a goal-oriented process) and logos to the cosmos. Cf. Plato, Timaeus 50d and Aristotle’s Physics 191a, 10.

[3] Philo writes, “Just as the sun divides day and night, so too—according to Moses—did God divide the light from the darkness; for ‘God made a division between the light and the darkness.’ And above all, just as the sun’s rising reveals bodies that were hidden, so too does God, who created all things. Not only did He bring them all to light, but He even created what before had no existence, acting not only as their Artificer (δημιουργός - dēmiourgos), but also as their Creator (Κτίστης - Ktistēs)” (On Dreams, 1.76).

[4]Philo, The Eternity of the World 5.

[5] Philo, 304ff.

[6] Josephus, Antiquities, 1.1.1 §27.

[7] Rabbi I. Epstein explains an unarticulated theological question that motivated the Gnostic philosopher’s question in his notes to the Soncino translation, “By tohu and bohu the philosopher meant primeval matter, without form. Thereupon R. Gamaliel quoted: I make shalom (that which is whole, i.e. what contains both matter and form) and evil, i.e., that which is defective, consisting of matter only without form. Thus, that too was created. V. Husik, A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy, (New York: Macmillan, 1916, 175.) Perhaps too this is an allusion to the view that matter is a source of evil.”

[8] Gen. Rabbah 1:9.

[9] As cited in the writings of Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, i. 342; Eusebius, Praep. Evang., xi. 10; Suda, Numenius.

[10] Mishnah in Hagigah 2:1 and the Tosefta Hagigah 2:1. Rashi explains in one may not inquire beyond the extent of heaven, it follows that one may not inquire beyond the time of its existence, i.e., concerning what happened prior to the six days of Creation (BT Hagigah 11b; cf. Taror HaMor on Gen. 1:1).

[11] Gen Rabbah 12:12.

[12] C. Osiek, and H. Koester, Shepherd of Hermas: A Commentary. Hermeneia—A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999), 103.

[13] Saadia Gaon, Emunot ve-Deot, Part 1 Ch. 2.