_A Summary of the Christian Faith by Henry Eyster Jacobs, D.D., LL.D Copyright, 1905, BY THE BOARD OF PUBLICATION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA. Chapter IV. Pages 57-67 -------------------- CHAPTER IV. CREATION. 1. _What is the relation of this chapter to what precedes_? We come now to the more specific treatment of God in relation to what is not God. This, of necessity, has been --------------------End of Page 57-------------------- anticipated, to an extent, in considering the Divine Attri- butes. But what has been only incidentally mentioned, is now to be more fully examined. Recurring to the exter- nal activities of God (_Opera ad extra_) defined at the close of preceding chapter (Q. 62, 63), we may say that all that remains for us in this treatise, is to treat of the three themes, Creation, Redemption and Sanctification. 2. _What is Creation_? The act by which God brought into being that which had no pre-existence, except in His thought. Heb. 11:33--"By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen, hath not been made out of things which appear." 3. _Whence do we derive our knowledge of this act_? Solely from Revelation. It is a pure, not a mixed doc- trine. The heathen cosmogonies and modern scientific heathenism, with many divergent theories, some in a pan- theistic, others in a dualistic, and still others in a purely materialistic way, exclude the free activity and will of a sole Eternal, Omnipotent, Supreme Being. The New Testament references of which Heb. 11:3 is central, pre- suppose the detailed description with which Holy Scrip- ture opens in Gen. 1. 4. _What is the purpose and scope of the Mosaic ac- count_? It has a religious and not a scientific end. Its aim is not so much to record a detailed cosmogony in opposition to the many elaborate hypotheses which had preceded, as to solemnly affirm the supremacy and omnipotent activity of God, and the goal of all creation in Man, as its summit, toward which each successive creative act was an ad- vance. 5. _Who created the world_? The Triune God. _Father_. 1 Cor. 8:6--"God the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him." --------------------End of Page 58-------------------- _Son_. 1 Cor. 8:6--"One Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things." Col. 1:15,16--"Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him are all things created in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or princi- palities or powers, all things have been created through him and unto him." John 1:3--"All things were made by him." _Holy Ghost_. Ps. 104:30--"Thou sendest forth thy Spirit; they are created." Ps. 33:6--"All the host of them by the breath of his mouth." Gen. 1:2--"The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." 6. _But does not the Apostles' Creed ascribe this work in an especial sense to the Father_? Yes, according to the order of the Persons of the Trin- ity, and because what the Father has of Himself, the Son and Holy Ghost have of the Father. 7. _Are Father, Son and Holy Ghost, then, associated causes of creation_? There is but one Creator. The three Persons are one God, and one cause and Author of creation. 8. _Whence came God's purpose to create_? All the external works of God proceed from His free will, and not from His natural will or any inner necessity, as to the immanent or personal works. 9. _Does "create" always mean "to produce from nothing_? Theologians distinguish between "immediate" and "me- diate creation." The former is the proper sense of the term; in the latter sense, it refers to the producing of something from pre-existing material, as in Gen. 1:11, the coming forth of grass and trees from the earth; and yet even here there is that which calls for an immediate creative act of God, for grass and trees could never be produced by mere matter. Man's soul was created im- mediately, and his body mediately. In Ps. 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart," the word refers to a change of prop- erties or renewal. It is with immediate creation that we have to do here. --------------------End of Page 59-------------------- 10. _When creation is defined as "to produce from nothing," what is meant by "nothing"_? Absolute non-existence. Not "a relative nothing," as from matter without form and void. 11. Could the world have been created from eternity_? No. For eternity is an attribute of God alone. As- cribe eternity to a creature, and you ascribe infinity, for eternity is infinite duration. 12. _Was there time before the creation_? With the creation, time began. For time implies suc- cession, and, as before the creation, God alone existed and God is immutable, there was no succession. 13. _How was the world created_? Not by the thought, but by the word of God. Ps. 33:6--"By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made." 9: "He spake and it was done; he commanded and it stood fast." Gen. 1:3--"God said: Let there be light, and there was light." John 1:1-3 shows that this was none else than the Personal Word of God, or Second Person of the Trinity, expressing and revealing the thought and purpose of God. 14. _What was the product of creation_? Heaven and earth. By the former is meant not only the visible heavens and their stars, planets, comets, me- teors, etc., but the entire superterrestrial world of spirits (2 Cor. 12:2; Rev. 4:1). By the latter, also all that earth contains. The physical insignificance of the earth is compensated by its destiny as the abode of the incarnate God, and the theatre of Redemption. 15. _What was the purpose of Creation_? The manifestation of the perfections of God, as the ultimate end; the highest welfare of man as the subor- dinate. 16. _What perfections_? The glory of His goodness, wisdom and power. Ps. 19:1,2--"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge." Ps. 104; Ps. 106:4-9; 148; Rev. 4:11. Ps. 8:1,3--"O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, who hast set thy glory upon the heavens. When I consider thy heavens --------------------End of Page 60-------------------- the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him?" These attributes are specifically mentioned: Goodness, Ps. 145:9,10; Wisdom, Ps. 104:24; Power, Is. 40:26; Rom. 1:20. 17. _Show that the highest welfare of man was the subordinate end_? Ps. 8:4, 6--"What is man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of man that thou visitest him? Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet." 18. _But does not the Epistle to the Hebrews (Chap. 2:7) declare that this refers to Christ_? Yes, as the Son of man, the ideal or representative Man, through whom the dominion over creation, lost by the fall, is more than restored. 1 Cor. 3:21--"For all things are yours." 19. _Where else is the same doctrine taught_? Gen. 1:26--"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth." Ps. 115:7--"The earth hath he given to the children of men." 20. _But does not the New Testament go still further_? Yes, by declaring that all creatures, even angels, exist for the sake of men. Heb. 1:14--"Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation." 1 Cor. 3:22--"The world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours." Rom. 8:28--"We know that to them that love God, all things work to- gether for good." 21. _Does this, however, depend upon the Order of Creation_? No; but of Redemption, in which the superiority of Man appears in that the Son of God personally united Himself to a human nature, thus distinguishing it above all creatures. Nevertheless God had this exalted destiny of the human race and the Plan of Redemption in view from the beginning. It was no afterthought; for God has no afterthoughts. 22. _But is not the difficulty greater in regarding the lowest of creatures subservient to man's highest welfare_? --------------------End of Page 61-------------------- Yes, for, to natural reason, some seem absolutely use- les, and other harmful. In answer to this, we need only cite a passage from Augustine: "If an unskilled person were to enter the shop of a mechanic, he would see many instruments of whose use he would be ignorant, and if very unintelligent they would seem superfluous. Or if an incautious person were to fall into a furnace, or were to wound himself with some steel instrument, he would re- gard many things harmful, whose use the artisan well knows, and therefore laughs at the folly and unadvised words of the critic. Nevertheless men are so silly, that while they do not venture to blame such a mechanic with respect to tools of which they are ignorant, but when they see them believe them necessary and adapted to some use; nevertheless in this world, whose Maker and Admin- istrator is God, they attempt to criticize many things, the causes for which they do not see, and in regard to the works and tools of the Almighty Workman want to seem to know that of which they are ignorant." 23. _For what various uses of man are creatures in- tended_? Some are for the nourishment of the bodily life. Gen. 1:29--"Behold I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food." Prov. 27:26--"The lambs are for thy clothing." Others for man's thankful delight and pleasure. 1 Tim. 6:17--"Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy." Ps. 145:16-- "Thou openest thy hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing." 1 Tim. 4:4--"Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be re- jected if it be received with thanksgiving." Some are remedies. E.g. Oil, James 5:17; Oil and wine, Luke 10:34; Figs, 2 Kings 20:7. Others are preventives of disease, and preservatives of health. Ps. 103:5--"Who satisfieth thy desire with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." Some aid man in his life and appointed work on earth. --------------------End of Page 62-------------------- Gen. 1:15--"Lights in the firmament of heaven, to give light upon the earth." Ps. 78:53--"The sea overwhelmed their enemies." Acts 14:17--"He gave from heaven rain and fruitful seasons." Amos 6:12--"Will one plow there with oxen?" Others are for example and imitation. Matt. 6:26--"Behold the _fowls_ of the air." Prov. 6:6--"Go to the _ant_, thou sluggard." Is. 40:31--"They shall mount up with wings as _eagles_." Matt. 10:27--"My _sheep_ hear my voice and I know them." 1 Cor. 15:41--"One _star_ differeth from another star in glory." Ps. 125:1,2--"They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion. As the _mountains_ are round about Jerusalem." Ps. 1:3--"Like a _tree_ planted by the streams of water." 24. _What proof of this can be found outside of Rev- elation_? Man's progress in civilization is determined by the pro- gress made in the application of the objects and forces of the natural world to his use. Objects regarded useless for centuries are estimated at a high value when their proper use has been discovered. Illustrations are found in the modern application of steam, light (Photography), electricity, radium and other results of Physics, Chem- istry, Astronomy and Meteorology, and in the constant advance of discovery and the cultivation of regions pre- viously unknown, or regarded irreclaimable. The light- ning is used to flash man's words around the globe, and even the most irresistible floods of water are diverted to commercial ends and to carry men from place to place. Niagara is harnessed. All is in virtue of the divine com- mand, "Replenish the earth and subdue it." 25. _In what did Creation end_? First of all in God's admiring contemplation of the result. Gen. 1:31--"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good." Nothing that God has created is in itself evil; it can become such only by its use in another sphere than that for which God designed it. --------------------End of Page 63-------------------- 26. _What is Optimism_? The theory that the world as it came from God is the very best that was possible. 27. _How must this theory be qualified_? By the circumstance that the original creation was only preparatory to still higher stages of perfection at- tainable only in the New Heavens and the New Earth. The goodness of the creature as it came from God's hands was that of the acorn not of the oak, that of the new-born child, and not that of the fully developed man. So would it have been even if sin had not entered. But through Redemption, as we shall hereafter see, it attains a yet higher grade. 28. _What accompanied God's admiring contemplation of Creation_? Gen. 2:2--"He rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." This is made prominent by the frequent references to it, as in Heb. 4:4; Ex. 20:11; 31:17. 29. _Does this mean a cessation of God's activity_? No. For this would be in contradiction to His life, and we read 1 John 5:17--"And Jesus answered, My Father worketh even until now, and I work." The reference is to a change of work. Creation ceases. God's activity is henceforth in the sphere of Providence, and, except where the new Order of Re- demption intervenes, through second causes. God's rest is, therefore, only a change in His mode of work. He no longer creates, but sustains and concurs with things created, yet so as not to exclude, when He so wishes, His miraculous activity. 30. _What can be said of an alleged conflict between Science and Revelation on this article_? Between true Science and Revelation, there can be no conflict, for the true in the natural, and the true in the --------------------End of Page 64-------------------- supernatural, cannot be contradictory. But when the facts of the natural world are elevated to the position of a standard by which the supernatural is to be decided, Science passes beyond its own limits, and ceases to be true science (see Chapter I, 32). When, on the other hand, some theologians push incidental allusions to na- tural events in the language and according to the popular conceptions of the age in which a book of Holy Scripture is written, to the position of an integral part of Revelation itself, they also sometimes imagine a conflict of Science with Revelation, where no such conflict exists. 31. _Explain this more fully_. Where sceptical scientists and some well-meaning champions of Revelation agree in maintaining that it is an important part of Holy Scripture, that the earth does not move, and hold that the Ptolemaic System of the Uni- verse is essential to believe in Revelation, they should be reminded that the language of every day life that "the sun rises" and "sets," is not an untruth, but only de- scribes a real fact from the standpoint of the ordinary spectator, although not from that of astronomical obser- vation. The most common facts in nature would be unintelligible to all except those technically educated, if they were always described in scientific terminology; and if so stated, would have been without meaning in the age when the Holy Scriptures were written. 32. _What other caution must be observed_? The rash acceptance of scientific hypotheses as though they were final. The theories of one generation of learned men in regard to the natural world, are ridiculed by their successors in the next. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the Biblical account of Creation was attacked because it taught the unity of the human race, while only a few decades later, the same account was criticised be- cause of its antagonism to the Darwinian theory of evo- --------------------End of Page 65-------------------- lution of all forms of life from a common source. One generation attacks the Biblical account of creation because it teaches that light existed before the sun was created; a later generation learnedly treats of the luminous effects produced by electricity generated from the friction of an assumed "star dust." 33. _To what should this lead_? To modesty in pressing the claims of "science" as well as to moderation on the part of students of Scripture in regarding any thoroughly established fact as capable of affecting the truth of Revelation. 34. _State some of the useless controversies that have been waged_? Such, for instance, as to whether the "day" of the Bib- lical account of Creation, be the natural day of twenty- four hours, as we measure time, or a long period, ac- cording to 2 Peter 3:8, "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years." Another is as to whether Gen. 1:7 teaches as an article of faith that there is an immense reservoir somewhere above the clouds. Kindred to this is the question as to whether the world was created in the spring or the autumn. It would be just as pertinent for New Testament students to enter into learned discus- sions concerning the words that introduce the Sermon on the Mount as given by Luke (Chapt. 6:20), "He lifted up his eyes on his disciples," instead of treating of the dis- course of the Master. Various theories might be sug- gested as to how it were possible and how impossible for one "to lift up" his own eyes. Intense literalists could insist that "to lift" must mean to apply one's hands to an object, and that any other conception is heretical; and sceptics might urge the same as an argument for the re- jection of the entire record. It is so easy to be diverted by accidentals, and to overlook the essentials of Holy Scripture. --------------------End of Page 66-------------------- 35. _What method has been used to explain some ap- parent difficulties_? The suggestion of Augustine by which the first verse of Genesis refers to an original creation which had fallen into chaos before the events described in the succeeding verses occurred. Then, some urge, the description pro- ceeds as the events would have appeared to one who had been present as day after day recorded something new. But all this, and all other hypotheses are speculative, and their extended consideration only withdraws atten- tion from what is the actual purport of the account taken as a whole, to which we have referred in Q. 4. 36. _Does the occurrence of similar accounts in an- ient Oriental literature, deciphered from inscriptions on tablets or otherwise preserved in any way affect the value and force of the Mosaic account_"? No. For the Mosaic account gives the history of creation its true religious value, and places it in proper relations to the history of the preparation of Redemption for mankind. The Christian should ever consider it from the standpoint of the fullness of the revelation he has re- ceived in Christ. --------------------End of Chapter on Page 67-------------------- This text was converted to ascii format for Project Wittenberg by William Alan Larson and is in the public domain. You may freely distribute, copy or print this text. Please direct any comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary. E-mail: smithre@mail.ctsfw.edu Surface Mail: 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA Phone: (260) 452-2123 Fax: (260) 452-2126