God as Creator

1989 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 99-118
Author(s):  
Keith Ward
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Theoretical Interest ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Conceptual Problems ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The Universe

‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth’ (Genesis 1.1). For millions of Jews, Christians and Muslims this has been a fundamental article of belief. Nor is it unknown in the classical Indian traditions. The Upanishads, taken by the orthodox to be ‘heard’, not invented, and to be verbally inerrant, state: ‘He desired: “May I become many, may I procreate” … He created (or emanated) this whole universe’ (Taittiriya Upanishad, 6). The belief that everything in the universe is brought into being by an act of will or desire on the part of one uniquely uncreated being is widespread and fundamental in religion. Historians of religion generally suppose that it is a rather late belief in the Biblical tradition, having developed from an earlier stage at which Jahweh was one tribal deity among others. By the time of the major prophets, however, the notion was firmly established that there is only one God, creator of everything other than himself. Christian theologians always seem to have had a great interest in conceptual problems, and the idea of creation has proved a very fruitful one for generating philosophical puzzles. Those puzzles are still of great theoretical interest, and I shall consider some of them with reference to the work of Augustine and, to a lesser extent Thomas Aquinas. Their views have been so influential that they may fairly be called ‘classical’, in Christian theology.

scholarly journals Studi Kritik Teori Penciptaan Dalam Kejadian 1:1-2 (Suatu Kajian terhadap Argumentasi Teori Celah)

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-78
Author(s):  
Djonly J. R. Rosang
Keyword(s):  
The Earth ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Creatio Ex Nihilo ◽  
Ex Nihilo ◽  
Biblical Perspective ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Philosophic Perspective

The creation of the universe, according to the Holy Bible has actually done as said in Genesis 1-2. However, there are some people who are still struggling in order to search for the reason to question the process of how is this universe actually began, so that they will look for scientific consideration to find the “theoretical justification” over the biblical truth. This writing aims to give an answer to the gap theory in Genesis 1:1-2. The author, through the study Genesis 1:1-2, the result of this study concluded as follows. First, there is no exegesis background that is strong enough for gap theory to give an assumption that there was an unmeasurably period of time or age in the creation of the universe. Second, a biblical statement, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth ... for in six days the LORD made heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1; Ex. 20:11) is an ultimate fact of God’s power and majesty in creating the earth from nothing to existence with His Word (creatio ex Nihilo). Third, the doctrine of world’s creation must be the foundation of faith that is tested in the authority of God’s words (2 Tim. 3:16) and the entire creation of God which become the medium of scientifical activity in the history of humanity must be according to the biblical perspective. Fourth, The statement of Genesis 1:1 appears to be refutation toward various scientific theories and human’s philosophic perspective that are opposite the biblical truth (Gen. 1-2, Ps. 33:4-9).Pernyataan Alkitab tentang penciptaan alam semesta sebenarnya sudah tuntas sebagaimana dikemukakan dalam Kejadian 1-2. Namun ada saja orang yang berusaha mencari alasan untuk mempertanyakan proses terjadinya alam semesta ini, sehingga mencoba mencari pertimbangan ilmiah untuk menemukan “pembenaran teoritis” atas kebenaran Alkitab. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk memberi jawab terhadap teori celah (gap theory) dalam Kejadian 1:1-2, melalui studi biblika penulis mengemukakan argumentasi paham teori celah, dalam kajian metode induktif terhadap studi teks Kejadian 1:1-2. Hasil studi ini disimpulkan bahwa: Pertama, bahwa tidak ada dasar eksegesis yang kuat bagi teori celah untuk memberi ruang bagi asumsi adanya rentang waktu periode atau zaman yang tak terukur dalam proses penciptaan semesta. Kedua, pernyataan Alkitab, “Pada mulanya Allah menciptakan langit dan bumi ... dalam waktu enam hari lamanya” (Kej. 1:1, Kel. 20:11) adalah suatu fakta Alkitab yang tak terbantahkan sebagai tindakan kemahakuasaan dan keagungan Allah menciptakan dunia dari yang tidak ada menjadi ada dengan firman-Nya (creatio ex nihilo). Ketiga, doktrin penciptaan harus menjadi landasan iman Kristen yang  diuji dalam otoritas Firman Allah yang berkuasa (2 Tim. 3:16) serta dunia ciptaan Allah dan segala isinya menjadi arena kegiatan ilmiah dalam lintasan sejarah manusia haruslah berdasarkan perspektif Alkitab. Keempat,  pernyataan penciptaan Kejadian 1:1 merupakan sanggahan terhadap berbagai teori ilmu pengetahuan dan pandangan filsafat manusia yang bertentangan dengan kebenaran Alkitab (Kej. 1-2, Mzm. 33:4-9).

The Setting

2019 ◽  
pp. 6-32
Author(s):  
Margaret C. Jacob
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
New Science ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Intellectual Challenge

This chapter discusses the concept of space during the Enlightenment. Between 1500 and 1700, Westerners discovered two new worlds: one in the heavens, the other on earth. These discoveries coincided with and helped further a vast expansion of commerce that brought yet more peoples and places into the Western orbit. Celestial and terrestrial space were reconfigured. Christianity had to rise to the intellectual challenge presented by the new spatial reality. The findings of the new science displaced the earth from the center of the universe and thereby raised doubts about all traditional explanations. The discovery of new continents and peoples had an even more immediate effect. The Greek and Roman authorities long revered in Europe had not the slightest inkling of the existence of the Americas. Western peoples could no longer rely on the coherence and order long provided by Christian theology. In this way, the new spatial realities provided the setting wherein enlightened ideas first emerged.

scholarly journals The Study Of Theological Sin And The Meaning Of Transformation Based On Romans 12:1-2

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-76
Author(s):  
Tony Andrean ◽  
David Ming
Keyword(s):  
Human Mind ◽  
Additional Insight ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Real Change ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Further Development ◽  
The Universe

"In the beginning He created the heavens and the earth, the earth was formless and empty; pitch darkness covered the great oceans, and the Spirit of God drifted over the surface of the earth '(Genesis 1: 1). chaotic "or" irregular. "(Warren Baker, Study OId Testament. AMG publisher, 1994: 2-3G.). Then in the process of creating humans for maintain the universe, but man falls into sin so that his mind or intellect is dominated by sin. What is produced by the mind ruled by sin? The Scriptures state the following: first, the human character is in vain (Romans 1:21). Second, it is not fair for anyone to be wise (Romans 3.11). Third, the human mind becomes evil (Ephesians 5: 4, the human mind is hostile to God and results in evil deeds 1.21) In further development, the universe is not getting better, it's actually getting more and more damaged. Natural disasters occur everywhere, economic conditions are chaotic, laws are violated by the leaders themselves, society is socially hostile to each other, crime is everywhere. With the chaotic event, humans crave a real change and share of activities carried out to realize these desires, among others, with the current plasticity, the transformation movement. The author conducted this research and the results are expected to provide information and additional insight for parties related to the problem of understanding the doctrine of existence and the meaning of sin, thus understanding the meaning of transformation based on the Bible to be changed to not sin anymore. The expected benefit is to provide correct knowledge to the congregation and God's servants regarding the effects of sin in their lives. Especially in service, how they anticipate sin and experience transformation changes in their lives. Thus it can remind every believer to remain faithful and abstain from every action that brings sin

The Unbearable Truth or How the World Changed and Nearly Left Anthropology Behind

1984 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 4-4
Author(s):  
Kirk Gray
Keyword(s):  
The Earth ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The Universe

IN THE BEGINNING … the earth was without form and void, with darkness over the face of knowledge of those who could neither read nor write, and a mighty wind called Anthropology swept over the surface of the waters of knowledge and understanding. Anthropology said let there be light on cultures not well understood by mere man and soon there was light. And Anthropology saw that the light was good, and we separated light from darkness. For a long while the light shone brightly, illuminating the corridors and halls and libraries of our learning. The sons and daughters of Anthropology were spread across the universe recording, documenting, theorizing.

‘A pinch of unseen, unguarded dust’: The World and Self in Thomas Hardy's Poems

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-66
Author(s):  
Monika Szuba
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
Phenomenological Philosophy ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The World ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Recurrent Theme ◽  
Body Subject

The essay discusses selected poems from Thomas Hardy's vast body of poetry, focusing on representations of the self and the world. Employing Maurice Merleau-Ponty's concepts such as the body-subject, wild being, flesh, and reversibility, the essay offers an analysis of Hardy's poems in the light of phenomenological philosophy. It argues that far from demonstrating ‘cosmic indifference’, Hardy's poetry offers a sympathetic vision of interrelations governing the universe. The attunement with voices of the Earth foregrounded in the poems enables the self's entanglement in the flesh of the world, a chiasmatic intertwining of beings inserted between the leaves of the world. The relation of the self with the world is established through the act of perception, mainly visual and aural, when the body becomes intertwined with the world, thus resulting in a powerful welding. Such moments of vision are brief and elusive, which enhances a sense of transitoriness, and, yet, they are also timeless as the self becomes immersed in the experience. As time is a recurrent theme in Hardy's poetry, this essay discusses it in the context of dwelling, the provisionality of which is demonstrated in the prevalent sense of temporality, marked by seasons and birdsong, which underline the rhythms of the world.

An Interview with the Physicist that Her Head in the Universe and Both Feet on the Earth

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adib Rifqi Setiawan
Keyword(s):  
Standard Model ◽  
Particle Physics ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Additional Dimension ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Standard Model ◽  
The Universe

Put simply, Lisa Randall’s job is to figure out how the universe works, and what it’s made of. Her contributions to theoretical particle physics include two models of space-time that bear her name. The first Randall–Sundrum model addressed a problem with the Standard Model of the universe, and the second concerned the possibility of a warped additional dimension of space. In this work, we caught up with Randall to talk about why she chose a career in physics, where she finds inspiration, and what advice she’d offer budding physicists. This article has been edited for clarity. My favourite quote in this interview is, “Figure out what you enjoy, what your talents are, and what you’re most curious to learn about.” If you insterest in her work, you can contact her on Twitter @lirarandall.

An Interview with the Physicist that Her Head in the Universe and Both Feet on the Earth

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adib Rifqi Setiawan
Keyword(s):  
Standard Model ◽  
Particle Physics ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Additional Dimension ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Standard Model ◽  
The Universe

Put simply, Lisa Randall’s job is to figure out how the universe works, and what it’s made of. Her contributions to theoretical particle physics include two models of space-time that bear her name. The first Randall–Sundrum model addressed a problem with the Standard Model of the universe, and the second concerned the possibility of a warped additional dimension of space. In this work, we caught up with Randall to talk about why she chose a career in physics, where she finds inspiration, and what advice she’d offer budding physicists. This article has been edited for clarity. My favourite quote in this interview is, “Figure out what you enjoy, what your talents are, and what you’re most curious to learn about.” If you insterest in her work, you can contact her on Twitter @lirarandall.

A Rapture of the Nerds? A Comparison between Transhumanist Eschatology and Christian Parousia

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-367
Author(s):  
Roberto Paura
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Point Theory ◽  
The Body ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Species ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Universe

Transhumanism is one of the main “ideologies of the future” that has emerged in recent decades. Its program for the enhancement of the human species during this century pursues the ultimate goal of immortality, through the creation of human brain emulations. Therefore, transhumanism offers its fol- lowers an explicit eschatology, a vision of the ultimate future of our civilization that in some cases coincides with the ultimate future of the universe, as in Frank Tipler’s Omega Point theory. The essay aims to analyze the points of comparison and opposition between transhumanist and Christian eschatologies, in particular considering the “incarnationist” view of Parousia. After an introduction concern- ing the problems posed by new scientific and cosmological theories to traditional Christian eschatology, causing the debate between “incarnationists” and “escha- tologists,” the article analyzes the transhumanist idea of mind-uploading through the possibility of making emulations of the human brain and perfect simulations of the reality we live in. In the last section the problems raised by these theories are analyzed from the point of Christian theology, in particular the proposal of a transhuman species through the emulation of the body and mind of human beings. The possibility of a transhumanist eschatology in line with the incarnationist view of Parousia is refused.

Much Ado about (Practically) Nothing

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Energy Source ◽  
Atomic Nucleus ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
Rare Gases ◽  
Important Work ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Life On Mars ◽  
The Universe

There are eight columns in the Periodic Table. The eighth column is comprised of the rare gases, so-called because they are the rarest elements on earth. They are also called the inert or noble gases because, like nobility, they do no work. They are colorless, odorless, invisible gases which do not react with anything, and were thought to be unimportant until the early 1960s. Starting in that era, David Fisher has spent roughly fifty years doing research on these gases, publishing nearly a hundred papers in the scientific journals, applying them to problems in geophysics and cosmochemistry, and learning how other scientists have utilized them to change our ideas about the universe, the sun, and our own planet. Much Ado about (Practically) Nothing will cover this spectrum of ideas, interspersed with the author's own work which will serve to introduce each gas and the important work others have done with them. The rare gases have participated in a wide range of scientific advances-even revolutions-but no book has ever recorded the entire story. Fisher will range from the intricacies of the atomic nucleus and the tiniest of elementary particles, the neutrino, to the energy source of the stars; from the age of the earth to its future energies; from life on Mars to cancer here on earth. A whole panoply that has never before been told as an entity.

The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Zachhuber
Keyword(s):  
Subsequent Development ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Eastern Christianity ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Full Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Problems ◽  
Philosophical Project ◽  
First Time

It has rarely been recognized that the Christian writers of the first millennium pursued an ambitious and exciting philosophical project alongside their engagement in the doctrinal controversies of their age. This book offers for the first time a full analysis of this Patristic philosophy. It shows how it took its distinctive shape in the late fourth century and gives an account of its subsequent development until the time of John of Damascus. The book falls into three main parts. The first of them starts from an analysis of the philosophical project underlying the teaching of the Cappadocian fathers, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. This philosophy, arguably the first distinctively Christian theory of being, soon becomes near-universally shared in Eastern Christianity. A few decades after the Cappadocians, all sides in the early Christological controversy take its fundamental tenets for granted. Its application to the Christological problem thus appeared inevitable. Yet it created substantial conceptual problems. Parts II and III of the book describe in detail how these problems led to a series of increasingly radical modifications of the Cappadocian philosophy. The chapters of Part II are dedicated to the miaphysite opponents of the Council of Chalcedon, while Part III discusses the defenders of the Council from the early sixth to the eighth centuries. Through this overview, the book reveals this period as one of remarkable philosophical creativity, fecundity, and innovation.

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