God as Creator

Key words & concepts:

• omnipotent
• omnipresent 
• omniscient 
• omnibenevolent 
• transcendant 
• immanent
• creatio ex nihilo
• creatio ex deo

Bible texts: Genesis 1, 2 and 3 - clearly show creation's dependence on God. Also Psalms and Book of Job. Biblical writers never question God's existence.

Creation is a deliberate act of God. 

God is supreme creator of all existence and life 

• Creation narratives are vital for the whole relationship between God and humanity
• Different traditions in different parts of the world seem to share common themes - why Christian creation myth sounds like the Babylonian's 

• Written from priestly tradition
• Formulaic style
• Repeated phrases
• Divine command - 'let there be...' etc
• Creatio ex nihilo is assumed (no explicitly explained)
• The origin of the world was no accident 
• God made everything - everything He made was good
• Highest creative act was humanity
• Humans are given the job of stewardship
• Created in God's image 
• Given the 'breath of life' - souls

• Older than Gen 1
• Focuses on people
• God in relation to His people - shows immanence 
• Written in more narrative style
• Describes God anthropomorphically
• The human race is the centre of creation (anthropocentric) 
• The Fall in Gen 2 explains why creation is imperfect 
• Theme of a Creator God is developed throughout the Old Testament in Psalms and Job

• 'If God is good, why does He let innocent people suffer?' 
• Job loses possessions, family and suffers greatly, shaking his faith (dysteleological suffering)
• God intervenes and in seeing God, Job's faith is restored because he trusts God
• 'God is almight, far away and above humanity' - God is seperate from the world and divine in ways we are not
• God is also 'near, He hears and He cares' - God listens and intervenes when necessary 
• Job realises he has not right to question God's actions because God created everything 

• 'God sets man above all other creatures' - Psalm 8 
• 'The grandeur, the detail, the perfection and the completeness of God's work in creation' - Psalm 104
• 'The sun is like God/all pervading rays' - Psalm 19
• 'God is the sustainer' - Psalm 19

Liberal view of the creation story:

• Babylonian influences
• Torah was based on the writings of J, E, D and P. Priests edited existing texts to create a cohrent Jewish text to keep faith strong amongst the exiled Jews

Conservative view of the creation story:

• Torah was written by Moses before the Babylonian exile
• Babylonian religion is clearly polytheistic whereas Judaism is monotheistic 

Similarities:

• Non-corporeal
• Pure
• Eternal
• Intelligible
• Unchanging

Differences:

• Dualism/different worlds
• Characteristics such as anthropomorphism
• Judeao-Christian God is personal and worshipped