Stworzenie z niczego, czyli słów kilka o monografii Jacka Zielińskiego „Koncepcja creatio ex nihilo w myśli Apologetów greckich II wieku”

The monograph of Jacek Zieliński, The Concept of Creatio ex Nihilo in the Thought of the Greek Apologists of the 2nd century, published by Wroclaw’s Atut in 2013, discusses an important problem of the theory of creation from nothing. It also asks an important question, how far the elements of the concept, articulated in its final form only by Augustine of Hippo can be found in the writings of the Christian apologists of the 2nd century. It is an important question, especially that the Bible in its canonical form, the early extra-biblical Jewish literature or – even more – Greek tradition does not unambiguously advocate the concept creatio ex nihilo. Hence the question how, when and why the concept was articulated, since it played such an important role in the Christian thought of later centuries. In addition, the book of Jacek Zielinski is important in Polish market, because there are only a few serious publications dealing with the issue. The article gives a description and short analysis of the book, pinpointing its strong sights and showing areas, which could be strengthened in this and — hopefully — following publications on creatio ex nihilo by Jacek Zieliński.

Can God Be Timeless Without Creation and Temporal Subsequent to Creation?

Erik J. Wielenberg argues that William Lane Craig’s understanding of creatio ex nihilo (creation out of nothing) is logically incoherent. According to Craig’s account, God was timeless or atemporal without the universe, but created the universe (including time itself) and entered into time (or became temporal) at the moment of creation. Wielenberg argues, however, that this account entails that (i) the first cause of time is both timeless and temporal at the first moment of time, and (ii) the beginning of time is both caused and uncaused. In this article, I respond to Wielenberg’s objections and show that they are unsuccessful.

Zakir Naik’s Concept of Divinity-Cosmology: Criticism-Reconstruction of the Modern Natural-Cosmological Theology

Zakir Naik voices the evidence of God’s existence by employing the Big Bang Theory while proving the truth of al-Qur’ān. His positive reputation and controversy also create an impact on his da’wa journey. This study aims to bring out criticism and reconstruction on the concept of Zakir Naik’s cosmology and argument of God’s existence. The author, therefore, uses the Big Bang theory, al-Kindī’s Natural Theology, and Peter Kreeft’s Kalam Cosmology Argument. The result of the research shows the irrelevance of Zakir Naik’s explanations to the Big Bang theory itself, in addition to his lack of exposition about the theory. His idea, in fact, only centers around the proof of God’s existence as well as the truth of al-Qur’ān. Philosophically, this suggests that his concept of creation is inadequate. This, moreover, indicates that the explanation of the infinity of causality and the Infinite Regress critiques are too classic. The article attempts to reconstruct the Big Bang Theory to be more pertinent and profound and also to reform atheism cosmology. The attempt includes strengthening the position of Creatio ex Nihilo based on al-Kindī’s Natural Theology and its comparison to the other theory, such as Emanationism. Additionally, it is to extend the argument of causality and the criticisms toward Infinite Regression with the argumentation development based on al-Kindi’s Theology and Peter Kreeft’s Kalam Cosmology.

“Speak your word and break!”

By tracing an alternative aesthetics of decomposition and fragmentation, this article offers a new understanding of the literary and poetological strategies Knut Hamsun uses to create a disintegrating text cosmos wherein the idea of ‘creation out of nothing’ (creatio ex nihilo) is one key to artistic originality. The article explores the interdependence of different notions of decline and shows that the image of the (biblical) fall is particularly important to the poetics and aesthetic structure of Hamsun’s Hunger (Sult, 1890). Around 1900, ideas of wholeness crumble, a decomposition which is reflected in the well-established philosophical and anthropological experiments of Nietzsche, Bourget and Simmel. Taking some of their aesthetic assumptions as a point of departure, the present paper argues that Hamsun’s novel offers an aesthetic variation on the decline of unity-based concepts, ranging from the subject to religious belief as well as to traditional storytelling.