2 - Augustine and creation

• Bible

  • Starts with Genesis, which says the universe was 'formless and void' at the beginning
• Creation ex nihilo

  Creation from nothing
• Creatio ex nihilo

  • It teaches that God creates all the universe from nothing
  • It shows that God did not use any pre-existent material to create the universe because nothing existed before God made it
• Creatio ex nihilo

  • It reveals that God is omnipotent (all-powerful) since He created the whole universe using only His words
  • It reveals that God is eternal, He has existed before the universe was created and will be there long after it
  • It reveals that God is transcendent, meaning He is above and beyond time and space
• According to Saint Augustine, the Bible makes it clear that there was nothing before God created everything, and God brought everything into existence through His words
• Saint Augustine uses the phrase "creatio ex nihilo" to summarize his beliefs about creation in Genesis 1, which means "creation from nothing"
• Saint Augustine: 'Out of nothing you created heaven and earth'
• God created 'The heavens and the earth'