COSMOGONY kŏz mŏg’ ə nĕ, a term composed of Gr. κόσμος, G3180, world, universe, and γόνος, that which is begotten, begetting, originating (related to the verb, γίγνομαι, come into being, be produced). That subject which presents views regarding the creation and origin of the universe and the world.

Outline

I. Biblical cosmogony

A. Terms used. Among the more basic OT terms used in descriptions which relate to aspects of the origin of the universe are שָׁמַ֫יִם, H9028, and אֶ֫רֶץ, H824. The former word indicates the “heavens” or “sky,” that region of the “visible heavens” including the far-off area where the stars (Gen 15:5; Judg 5:20), the sun, and the moon (Deut 4:19) are, and meant sometimes to indicate the whole universe (Gen 1:1; Deut 3:24). The term can be used also for that area nearer the earth, the atmosphere, where the birds fly (Gen 1:20) and from which comes the rain (Gen 8:2; Judg 5:4); the heaven is also the place where God is enthroned (Ps 2:4; Isa 66:1). The אֶ֫רֶץ, H824, “earth,” is used in the subject of cosmogony for that material sphere opposite the heavens (Gen 1:1, 2; Exod 20:4), and fig. spoken of as built on foundations or pillars of the Lord (1 Sam 2:8), meaning that it is under God’s sovereign control (cf. Job 26:7), and depicted as consisting of waters and dry land (Gen 1:10; cf. Exod 20:4; Deut 5:8). The corresponding NT words for the concepts are οὐρανός, G4041, “heaven,” or κόσμος, G3180, “world,” on the one hand and kósmos or γή, “land,” “earth,” on the other. In the first category, the ουρανός, “heaven,” is mentioned with the earth as a part of the universe (Matt 5:18; Acts 7:49), the starry heaven (Matt 24:29) and the place of the atmosphere in which are the clouds (24:30) and where the birds fly (Mark 4:32), and the place of God’s residence (11:25). The term kosmos is used sometimes to indicate the earth (John 11:9) and the whole earth (cf. Matt 26:13), that planet into which Jesus Christ came (John 9:39). The γή in a cosmological sense is the earth in contrast to the heaven (Matt 5:18; Luke 2:14), which earth will be replaced eventually by a new one (2 Pet 3:13).

The Heb. verb בָּרָא֒, H1343, means “shape,” “create,” (cf. the Arab word which means “form,” “fashion by cutting”) being used in Genesis 1:1 of God’s creative activity of the heaven and the earth ex nihilo and also employed in the summary statement of divine creation (Gen 2:3; cf. Isa 45:18). It is used to describe the creation of man out of existing material (Gen 1:27; 5:1, 2; 6:7; Deut 4:32). The verb עָשָׂה֒, H6913, “do,” “make,” is also employed of God’s creativity (using existing materials) in fashioning the earth (Gen 1:7), the sun, moon, and stars (1:16), as well as the animals and insects of the earth (1:25), and man (Ps 100:3).

Another word for “create” is יָצַר, H3670, “form,” “fashion,” which is used of divine activity in God’s forming man of the previously created dust from the ground (Gen 2:7, 8), and in His making or creating all things (Jer 10:16), including the heavens (Isa 45:18), the earth (Ps 95:5; Isa 45:18), the mountains (Amos 4:13), and the sea (Ps 95:5). In Genesis 14:19 קָנָה֒, H7864, “get,” “acquire” is employed by Melchizedek to indicate God as “maker of heaven and earth,” as also by Abram (Gen 14:22).

The Heb. term, עﯴלָם, H6409, “long,” “duration,” “antiquity,” is sometimes employed in conveying the concept that the universe was created in time and for long duration (Ps 90:2), “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting thou art God” (cf. Ps 78:69); and in Ecclesiastes 1:4, “A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever” (cf. Ps 148:4-6; 104:5).

In the NT κτίζω, G3231, “create,” is used to indicate that God as Lord (Rev 4:11), according to His sovereign will (4:11), at the beginning in time (Mark 13:19) created all things (Eph 3:9; Rev 4:11; cf. 1 Tim 4:4), which creation included the heaven, the earth, the sea (Rev 10:6), and the special creation, man and woman (Matt 19:4; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10; cf. 1 Cor 11:9). The companion word, the noun κτίσις, G3232, is employed to indicate the act of creating the world (Rom 1:20), as well as the sum total of all that was created (Mark 13:19; cf. Rom 8:19-22) and all which were made at a time called the beginning (2 Pet 3:4); such creation including that of the male and female (Mark 10:6). Another similar noun, κτίσμα, G3233, “the created thing,” is used in 1 Timothy 4:4 where everything created by God is declared to be good. God is stated to be a faithful creator (κτίστης, G3234) (1 Pet 4:19).

The verb πλάσσω, G4421, “form,” “mold,” in our lit. only refers to God’s forming man (1 Tim 2:13), and the noun πλάσμα, G4420, speaks of that which is molded (i.e., a human being) by God (Rom 9:20).

Another Gr. verb, ποιέω, G4472, is employed to indicate divine creative activity in which a sovereign Lord (Acts 4:24; 17:24) made the universe (7:50); including the heaven, the earth, the sea (14:15), and the fountains of water (Rev 14:7). This verb is used to describe God’s creation of the male and female (Matt 19:4; Mark 10:6). It may be observed in John 1:3 that poiéō is not used but γίνομαι, G1181, “become,” which in this context implies ex nihilo creation, “becoming out of nothing” (RSV tr. the word, “made,” John 1:3).

These terms used in the OT and NT testify to a creation which, in its entirety, composed of heaven, earth, and sea in the beginning was made ex nihilo by God and then shaped and destined for long existence. Such a divine creation is looked upon as good (Gen 1:31). The use of the terms finds emphasis on the special creation of man, male and female, made of the previously-created dust from the ground and created in the image of God (1:26).

B. The creation of the heavens and the earth. There are several OT and NT passages which stress creation particularly and therefore deserve special attention.

1. OT passages. Three passages primarily call for special attention in cosmogony: Genesis 1:1-2:4 and 2:5-25 in the early records of God’s revelation and Proverbs 8:22-31 in a poetic section of Scripture.

a. Genesis 1:1-2:4. In this primary account regarding cosmogony a most important feature stressed is divine activity involved in creation. This is brought out in Genesis 1:1 when Elohim, God, is declared responsible for the origin of the cosmos (cf. also vv. 3, 4, 5, etc.) Also the “Spirit of God” in v. 2 is stated to have been active in the creative process. There is no reason why the Heb. ר֣וּחַ (v. 2), needs be tr. “wind” (as in the Chicago-Smith tr.), but rather interpreted as “Spirit” (RSV) in a context dynamic with divine activity. The Genesis account begins with the words בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית, suggesting a time in history in which the divine fiat occurred. Although it has been seen above that the word בָּרָ֣א, used in Genesis 1:1 can be used elsewhere to convey creating out of already existing materials (as in Genesis 1:27) in creation of man; cf. also Genesis 5:1, 2, its context here in which initially only divine existence and activity are evident demands the concept of creation ex nihilo, i.e., the original creation out of nothing, by an eternal God (cf. Ps 90:1, 2).

The elements stressed in the creative process are set forth in two categories: those of physical-material nature, as light (Gen 1:3-5), water (vv. 6-9, 20-23), dry land-earth (vv. 9-13, 24, 25), and the sky or firmament (vv. 6-8; cf. Heb. רָקִ֖יעַ, “extended surface,” “that which is spread out”; LXX, στερέωμα, G5106, “solid body,” “framework,” “firmament,” Vul. firmamentum, “that which strengthens, supports, the sky,” giving the picture stretched out or beaten out like a piece of metal; see Exod 39:3; Num 17:3, 4; Jer 10:9).

The second category of divinely created things consists of physical material imbued with life; namely, the vegetation—plants and trees (Gen 1:11, 12), animals and sea creatures (1:20-22), the birds (1:20-22), the land animals, cattle, creeping things, and beasts (1:24, 25) and man (1:26, 27). God’s personal and perfect work in creating all this is seen in the repeated declaration “God saw that it was good” (1:4, 12, 18, 21, 25), and in the climax summary regarding all things in the created world, “...behold, it was very good” (1:31).

Two factors in the Genesis 1:1-2:4 text are to be considered in interpreting the age of the creation. The first is in Genesis 1:2 where the RSV tr. the Heb. הָיְתָ֥ה, “the earth was without form and void.” Some have suggested that this verb can have a dynamic force and be tr. “became,” thus making the clause read, “the earth became without form and void,” by this interpretation suggesting a period of time between the original creation (1:1) and the time when it became chaotic due to some catastrophic event, possibly involved with sin and divine judgment. This is the Cataclysm Theory (cf. Jer 4:23-26; Isa 24:1; 45:18). However, the Heb. form hāy^etâ here can better be tr. “was” (as the Heb. syntax of a noun clause with the noun first favors. Kautzsch-Cowley, Hebrew Grammar [1910], par. 141, i), thus depicting the universe as created first by God in a state different from that now seen and positing that God subsequently then spent time in the creative days forming and shaping the creation and creating life united with material substance. The second factor concerns the term יֹ֔ום, “day,” which occurs prominently several times in Genesis 1:1-2:4 in connection with the six creative days (1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31) as well as for the seventh day in which God rested (2:2, 3). Lexically, yôm is used in the OT to indicate a working day (Exod 20:9, 10; Lev 23:3) or the hours spent during the day for a journey (whether one day, Num 11:31; 1 Kings 19:4; or several days, Gen 30:36; 2 Kings 3:9). The word is used also to conv ey a general twenty-four hour period of time in the groups of days (Gen 7:4; 8:10-12; v. 11 presents a day and its evening) as well as for a single twenty-four hour unit (Gen 40:20, the third day, Pharaoh’s birthday; Exod 31:15, the sabbath day). In the singular yôm can mean “time,” in the sense of a time of punishment (Jer 50:31), a period of harvest (Prov 25:13), the time (an extended period) of going out of the land of Egypt (Deut 16:3; cf. 1 Sam 29:8), and the day of future punishment (Deut 31:17; Amos 8:3, 9), including the day of the Lord in future judgment (cf. Isa 2:11, 12; Mal 4:3). Yôm can be thought of also in the sense of extended periods of time, even a thousand years (Ps 90:4).

Likewise in the NT, ἡμέρα, G2465, “day,” can mean a day of daylight hours (Matt 4:2), a civil or legal day including the night (6:34); longer periods of time, as a generation (John 8:56), the day of the Lord’s Second Coming and judgment (Acts 2:20); and be used to indicate a thousand years in the Lord’s sight (2 Pet 3:8).

In the interpretation of Genesis 1:1-2:4, yôm can be conceived of as a literal twenty-four hour day or parts thereof, or it can be thought of fig. as depicting long periods of time. If these days were twenty-four hour segments, then the creation (Gen 1:1, 2) can be posited to have taken place a long time before (with or without a proposed chaotic interlude). If the creative days are interpreted fig. to indicate long periods in which God’s creative activity occurred, then the creation ex nihilo (1:1, 2) can be considered as not necessarily occurring much earlier than the creative process which involved the first day. God’s rest on the seventh day (2:2, 3) is to be thought as a long period of time in the light of Hebrews 4:1-11; Psalm 95:11 and Numbers 14:23; thus it can be argued that the earlier six days are long periods. At any rate, the picture of Genesis 1 sets forth that the original creation occurred at an unspecified period in the past.

The pattern of creative days as long periods of time may be thought of as follows:

Eternity

First day—darkness, light, day and night (vv. 1-5)

Second day—the expanse or firmament, heaven (vv. 6-8)

Third day—land and vegetation (vv. 9-13)

Fourth day—sun, moon, and stars (vv. 14-19)

Fifth day—sea animals and birds (vv. 20-23)

Sixth day—land animals and man (vv. 24-31)

Seventh day—God’s rest (2:1-3)

Eternity Future

Some have considered the Genesis 1 story of creation as myth, similar to myth stories of Mesopotamia and elsewhere where some of the same created elements as daylight, sun, water, and sky are mentioned, but there is no proof of connection. Any story involving creation would naturally include some of the observable phenomena of nature. Augustine (City of God, XI, 6, 7) falsely interprets the creative days as the spiritual experience of the creature when the creature returns to praise and love of the Creator; but this interpretation is contrary to the obviously total literal historical account of Genesis 1-3.

Some, as John Davis in his A Dictionary of the Bible (1915), p. 153, set forth what might be called a “Double Symmetry” or “Split Week” view which finds symmetrical parallels between the first day (light) and the fourth day (the luminaries); the second day (waters and sky) and the fifth (sea animals and birds of the sky); and the third day (dry land and vegetation) and the sixth (land animals and man). However, it has been observed, for instance, that the third day with its waters differentiated from the dry land fits as well the fifth day with its sea life and birds. (See J. O. Buswell, Jr., A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion, vol. 1, 142-144.) Further, this “Split Week” view breaks up the order of events which give the impression of occurring in direct succession.

A proposed problem that light was created on the first day but that the sun appears later on the fourth can be solved by positing the sun breaking through the dense atmosphere of the earth on the fourth day at a time naturally later than the separation of the waters of the heaven (on the second day) and the appearance of the dry land, earth (on the third day).

b. Genesis 2:5-25. This passage begins with a statement in 2:4b which combines at least the earlier part of God’s creative activity including the third day: “In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up.” An interesting detail of cosmogony relates to a mist (אֵ֖ד; cf. Job 36:27) which went up and watered the earth, undoubtedly a reference to the situation which pertained in the third day (Gen 1:11) in the growth of the vegetation. These vv. continue with further explanation of God’s previous creative activity, esp. in connection with the creation of man. The elements stressed are: earth, water (Gen 2:5, 6); man (details of his creation, v. 7); woman (her creation, 2:21-23, expansion of Gen 1:26, 27); the relation of man to the vegetable (2:9, 15) and animal creation (2:19, 20); an expansion over (1:26, 28); and man’s spiritual relation to God (2:7, 8; cf. 3:8). “God formed man of dust from the ground” (2:7). This teaches that man was made directly by God of previously created inorganic matter rather than his evolving by process from an earlier living form; and that man was made alive by means of God’s life (the breath of the divine). Likewise, God is posited as directly creating the woman out of the like material body of which the man was formed (2:21-23). This interpretation agrees with Jesus’ statement that “in the beginning he (God) made them male and female” (Matt 19:4).

c. Proverbs 8:22-31. This poetic section personifies wisdom and speaks of her creation or possession (the Heb. is קָנָה֒, H7864, “get,” “acquire”), by God before His creation of the heavens and the earth at the beginning. There follows a description of the Lord in His wisdom creating the universe, the emphasis first being on the earth, with its depths (v. 24, תְּהֹמֹ֥ות, deep subterranean waters cf. v. 27), springs of waters (v. 24, מַעְיָן, H5078, spring), its mountains, hills, and fields (vv. 25, 26); then the heavens (v. 27), with its sky (v. 28, Heb. שַׁ֫חַק, H8836, clouds, pl.); and finally the seas which are confined to their boundaries (v. 29). Genesis 1 and 2 present God as directly responsible for originally creating the universe.

A related passage is Jeremiah 10:11, 12 where God in His wisdom and power is again depicted as creating the earth and the heavens.

2. NT passages. The NT passages which speak of cosmogony present the same viewpoint as the OT, that God created the universe.

a. John 1:1-3, 10. This section of Scripture further clarifies the meaning of the statement, “God created,” by specifying that these words are to be interpreted as including in the divine creative activity the λόγος, G3364, the Word (John 1:1, 2), the one who became flesh (v. 14), being the divine Son (v. 18). The fourth gospel is esp. careful to emphasize the divine and eternal character of the Word by declaring that He was God (v. 1) and was “in the beginning with God” (v. 2). Then John stresses that the Word was the dynamic agency (διά, G1328, and the genitive, “through,” “by means of”) in bringing all things into existence, i.e., creating all things (πάντα ἐγένετο, v. 3), which creative power is to be understood to include every last created object (ἓ̀ν ὃ̀ γέγονεν, “each individual thing which had been created,” v. 3), John 1:10 stresses the thought that Christ began (egéneto) creation and uses instead of “all things” the collective concept “universe” in the word κόσμος, G3180.

b. Colossians 1:15-17. Paul in Colossians gives much the same emphasis but expands the creative power of Christ to include not only the physical creation but also the invisible spiritual created beings. Paul starts by stating that Christ is of the same nature (v. 15, εἴκων, the “likeness,” “image,” “exact reproduction”) as the invisible God, being first (v. 15, πρωτότοκος, G4758, prōtos “first” and tokos, “born,” it being doubtful whether the part of the word tokos has any force at all; cf. Romans 8:29, where tokos certainly doesn’t carry any strict sense of “born”), or, before all of the creation (πάσης κτίσεως). Thus, like the OT passages considered and John 1:1-3, the immaterial personal God including the person Christ is depicted as existing before any of that which He created. Other creation elements stressed in the Colossian passage are the heavens and the earth, all of which in them Christ created together with all the invisible created beings in these regions (Col. 1:16). The purpose for the creation is given in the words, “all things were created...for him” (v. 16). Also Paul stresses again the fact that Christ existed before all His creation and adds, in evidence of His creative power (v. 17a), that He providentially causes all creation to continue to exist or adhere to its constituted condition (v. 17b, συνέστηκεν).

c. Hebrews 1:2, 3 and 11:3. In ch. 1 the writer brings out the truth that the God of the OT in cooperation with His Son, Christ, created the world. The same expression of agency used in John and Colossians (διά, G1328, with the genitive) is used here, but instead of the phrase, “created all things” (Col 1:16, 17), the Hebrews text expresses it: he made (ἐποίησεν), the ages, or the world (αἰών, G172, “that which exists for a long time,” “an age,” but here in a temporal spatial concept, it is to be tr. “world”). In Hebrews 1:3 Christ’s power in sustaining that which He created is set forth in the phrase, “upholding the universe” (or, “all things,” τὰ̀ πάντα) by His word of power (i.e., by His continually powerful authority). In Hebrews 11:3 the expression is somewhat different but carries the same essential meaning: the ages, i.e., the world, or universe (τοὰ̀ὺ̀ς αἰῶνας) was prepared or created (κατηρτίσθαι) by the word of God, i.e., by divine supernatural fiat. The further explanation of creation by divine decree given in the v. sets forth that the visible creation (τὸ̀ βλεπόμενον) was not created out of things which appear (ἐκ φαινομένων), i.e., out of visible things—rather, as stated in v. 3a, by divine word (issuing from divine counsel).

d. Romans 1:19, 20. Paul states that men are without excuse as they in their wickedness turn from God, for the Creator has made known unto them in the physical creation evidence concerning His invisible nature, His power and deity. Paul’s teaching is that God sometime in the past created the world, or universe (the phrase is, κτίσις κόσμου); and that ever since that time the things created (τὰ̀ ποιήματα) bring a clear witness to the rational mind concerning that Creator God as to His invisible nature, power, and deity, the implication being that such a visible creation demands a personal and powerful Creator whom men are to worship and serve rather than turning to worship the creation itself (Rom 1:25).

3. Spatial areas in the creation according to Scripture. In summary, the Scripture includes in its discussion the following areas of creation: the heavens, including the lower heaven of the atmosphere (cf. Gen 1:7, 20; Matt 24:30; Luke 4:25); the higher heaven, the place of the sun, moon, and stars (Gen 1:14-16; Matt 24:29; Rev 6:13), and the place where God dwells in the midst somewhere of His created universe (Rev 4:2, 11; cf. Gen 2:2-4); and the area of the earth and of the seas (1:9, 10; Rev 5:13). The eternal abode of the righteous and the wicked in a spatial heaven (cf. John 14:1-3; Rev 21:2) and in a spatial hell (cf. Matt 11:23; Rev 20:14) respectively is to be understood within the framework of God’s original and/or newly created heaven and earth (cf. 2 Cor 5:1; 12:1-4; Rev 20:14; 21:1-4).

C. Man’s creation—spiritual as well as material. In the OT Genesis 2:7 sets forth the proposition that man was created out of physical materials previously created by God, i.e., “dust from the ground,” but it also adds the thought that God performed a special spiritual creative act in that He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Compare for this concept Jesus breathing on His disciples in their reception of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22, cf. Buswell, Systematic Theology I, 161). This added detail in the creation story of man aids in interpreting Genesis 1:26, 27 where it is stated that man was made in God’s image, in His likeness, referring not to man’s material creation but to his spiritual, rational, and moral creation in God’s image (note: Jesus teaches that “God is spirit,” John 4:24). The NT bears out this interpretation of the special spiritual creation of man (in addition to his physical-material creation) in passages where in obvious perspective of the original sinless creation of man before his sin of disobedience to God in the Fall (Gen 3), the redeemed man’s new spiritual relation to God is spoken of in terms of being created anew, in such as in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation”; Ephesians 2:10, “created in Christ Jesus for good works”; Ephesians 4:24, “put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness”; and Colossians 3:10, “put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

D. Creation in Biblical eschatology. There were creative renewals set forth in pagan thought and lit., as in the stories of the Mesopotamian Enūma Eliš (cf. ANET, 60-72) and the Gr. war of the Olympian gods against the Titans (Hesiod, Theog 617-885; cf. also Titanomachia in the Epic Cycle, Loeb, Hesiod, pp. 481, 482) before creation could be set in order. However, in the Biblical record the sovereign God who sovereignly created His universe (Gen 1; 2) and who in His providence rules over His creation (cf. Ps 18:7-15; Jer 10:13; Matt 5:45; Col 1:17; Ps 2:4, 5), is predicted as destroying this material universe and calling forth a new one. For example, the Lord prophesies through the psalmist that the original universe which He created will perish (Ps 102:25, 26) which Hebrews 1:10, 11 quotes. Further, God predicts in Isaiah’s time that in a future day He will create a new heaven and earth (Isa 66:22, 23), and this theme is furthered in Revelation 21:1, where John, following the great Judgment Day scene, says that he sees in future prophetic view a new heaven and earth, and adds that the first heaven and earth “had passed away.” Peter expands on this theme by describing the explosive way in which the first heaven and earth are to be done away, for “the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up” (2 Pet 3:10; cf. also v. 12). He then goes on to note, as does John in Revelation 21:1, that there will then be created new heavens and a new earth (2 Pet 3:13). Before this final destruction of the original earth Pa ul describes a time on earth when the earth created (Gen 1) and cursed because of Adam’s sin (3:17-19; Rom 8:20) “will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God” (8:21), suggesting that there will be a physical-material renewal of this present earth.

II. Extra-Biblical cosmogony

A. Egyptian. Accounts of creation in Egyptian material are exampled in a text of the 24th cent. b.c. which presents a story involving cosmogony in which the god, Atum-Khuprer, deity of Heliopolis, in the first creation, standing on a primeval hill arising out of the waters of chaos, brings into being the first gods (The Creation of Atum, ANET, 3). In Another Version of Creation by Atum this god is identified with water and the sun disc (ANET, 3, 4).

B. Semitic and other myths. In the Ugaritic lit. (c. 1400 b.c.) from Ras Shamra-Ugarit, Syria, conflict is pictured in primeval times between the gods to gain control over the gods, men, and the earth (Poems About Baal and Anath, ANET, 129-142). In Babylonian lit. (early 2nd millennium b.c.) is depicted the struggle between cosmic order and chaos, which was a serious drama for the ancient Mesopotamians re-enacted at the beginning of each new year (The Creation Epic, known in Akkad. as Enūma Eliš, ANET, 60-72). Hittite viewpoint regarding early creation days is seen in the story of the struggle between the Stormgod of heaven and the dragon Illuyankas, the latter being victorious; but then a mortal man, Hupasiyas, gives assistance and the Storm-god finally wins (The Myth of Illuyankas, ANET, 125, 126). In the Sumer. tradition is to be found the Paradise Myth of Enki and Ninhursag which presents, under the figure of human reproduction, procreation of a series of goddesses, and through the god Enki’s semen the sprouting of different kind of plants (ANET, 37-41), but this is a far cry from a real cosmogony. As a matter of fact, none of the Egyp., Sem. and other stories of creative activity bear any real resemblance to the Genesis creation story which presents the universe produced dynamically by a monotheistic sovereign deity.

C. Greek cosmogony. Early classical Gr. lit. presents a picture of creation in which material elements are responsible for the creation (on the pattern of human reproduction) of all things including a polytheistic system of divinities who with some of these created materials are counted as supreme. In Homer’s Iliad, 19, lines 258-260, Zeus as first and highest of the gods, with the Earth, Sun, and the Erinyes that are under earth are all counted as important gods in bringing vengeance on men. Hesiod’s Theogony (possibly 900-800 b.c.), 116-119, pictures Chaos as first coming into being, and next “wide-bosomed Earth.” In the cosmology of Hesiod, Earth is a disk surrounded by Oceanus, the river, floats on a waste of waters and is the support for hills (see Loeb, ed., Hesiod, Theogony, footnote, line 117). For Hesiod (Theogony 123-125) from initial Chaos came Erebus and Night, from the latter of which was born Aether (i.e., the bright clear upper stratosphere as different from Aër, the air of the lower earth atmosphere) and Day. Earth is pictured as bearing starry Heaven, and in turn cohabiting with Heaven and bearing deep swirling Oceanus (Theog. 126, 127, 133). It is of such created things that “the holy race of deathless gods” are depicted as having been created as Theogony bears testimony: “deathless gods...born of Earth and starry Heaven and gloomy Night and them that briny Sea did rear” (Theogony 105-107, Loeb tr; cf. also Theog. 44, 45 and 108-111). This line of thought of the material universe producing gods and men was evidently set forth in the Epic Cycle (c. 800 b.c.) which spoke of the union of Heaven and Earth producing three, hundredhanded sons and three Cyclopes (Photius, Epitome of the Chrestomathy of Proclus, through Loeb, Hesiod, p. 481).

It is easily seen that these Gr. ideas of creation are quite different from the monotheistic cosmogony of Genesis. Zeus the great god of the Gr. pantheon was not in any large measure connected with cosmology; and he was not the creator of gods and men. It is true, however, that the Stoics identified Zeus with the highest principle of their philosophy, fire, which they also counted as reason, that principle which permeates and makes alive the universe (see M. P. Nilsson, “Zeus,” Oxford Classical Dictionary, 966). Plato, however, in talking about that person called God, speaks of His being the creator of man’s body; he calls God ὁ ποιῶν, “the Maker” (Plato, Timaeus, 76 C).

D. Views in the inter-testamental period. Among the extra-Biblical Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphical writings of the inter-testamental period, there are occasional references to the origin of creation and to details of the creation story. These statements in general follow the pattern of the thought regarding creation given in the Biblical account. The suggestion is conveyed in 2 Baruch 21:4 that God created the heavens and the earth ex nihilo, since God “called from the beginning of the world that which [the earth and the heavens] did not yet exist” (the tr. here and that of other quotations from this lit. are from R. H. Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament). Also 4 Ezra 6:38ff. may be interpreted to posit an ex nihilo creation which is stated to have occurred on the first creative day; the words are: “O Lord, of a truth thou didst speak at the beginning of the creation upon the first day, saying, Let heaven and earth be made!”

In several passages the thought is projected that the Word of God is responsible for the creation of the world, obviously reflecting the recurring statement in Genesis 1, “And God said” (vv. 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 29). Such propositions are to be found: “O God of my fathers...who hast made all things by thy word” (Wisdom of Solomon 9:1); “By the word of God His works are done” (Sirach 42:15); “O thou that hast made the earth...that hast fixed the firmament by the word” (2 Baruch 21:4). The activity of the creative days following Genesis 1:1 seems to be in view in the statement of 4 Ezra 6:38ff. where before a description of the days of creation it is said, “And thy word perfected the work [of creation].” The Pirke Aboth 5:1 document states it differently: “By ten Sayings the world was created,” evidently referring to the ten times in Genesis 1 (if the statement of v. 28 in slightly variant form be counted), the clause “and God said” occurs.

Reference to creation out of pre-existing material is posited in Wisdom of Solomon 11:17: “For this all-powerful hand, which created the world out of formless matter,” possibly a reference to Genesis 1:2. The activity of the six creative days is described (4 Ezra 6:38-59); Jubilee 2:1-16 sets forth twenty-two acts of creation on the six days. In the Qumran Book of Hymns (10:14ff.) is reference made to the third creative day in the statement, “Thou hast created plants for the service of man” (Gaster tr., Dead Sea Scriptures, 176). Compare also Book of Hymns 1:10 where it is stated, “Thou didst stretch out the heavens for thy glory and command all their hosts to do thy will” (Gaster tr., p. 134). In Sirach 16:24-30 additional information is given of God’s activity after His initial creation in the statement, “After making them, He assigned them their portions.”

Following the theme expressed in Genesis 1:4, 10, 12 etc. concerning the goodness of God’s creation, Sirach 39:16 and 33 state, “the works of the Lord are all good” and in the same document, 42:22, it is remarked, “All His works are truly lovely.”

The inter-testamental writers also comment on the enduring nature of divine creation under God’s providence as in Sirach 16:27 where it is stated, “He arranged His works in an eternal order, And their dominion for all generations.”

Reference is also to God’s special creation of man, as seen in such as Wisdom of Solomon 9:2, “O God...by thy wisdom formed man”; and in Fragments of a Zadokite Work, 7:2, “But the fundamental principle of the creation is, ‘male and female created he them.’”

Neither do the inter-testamental writers omit the theme of a renewed creation as seen in 2 Baruch 32:6, “For there will be a greater trial than these two tribulations when the Mighty One will renew His creation.”

Thus it is seen that the inter-testamental writers were conscious of creation and tended to follow the pattern of Genesis 1, making comments and interpretations regarding its details.

III. Biblical cosmogony and modern theories

A. Basic positions. In viewing the origin of the universe modern man has held generally to any one of the following several positions: an atheistic creation of chance in which nature evolves without divine intervention; a theistic evolution in which God is posited as directing creation by evolutionary processes; a pantheistic evolution in which Nature, along with God, gradually develops since God and nature are one; an agnostic evolution in which one is not sure whether there is a God or whether He plays any part in the creation or not; and special divine creation, in which there is a variety of opinion as to how God accomplished His creative works (cf. esp. B. Davidheiser, Evolution and Christian Faith [1969], ch. 4; and T. D. S. Key, pp. 20-22 in Evolution and Christian Thought Today, R. L. Mixter, ed.). These different viewpoints concern the nature of the origin of the universe as well as the several creative acts which followed.

B. Process in creation—views held by Christians. Some of the theories held by modern Christians which have been thought to fit one way or another into the fact of supernatural Biblical creation are as follows:

The Progressive Creative Catastrophism or “Gap” theory by which is posited a gap of indefinite time between Genesis 1:1 and 2 in which time the geological ages developed, and later a literal six days of creation occurred.

The Day-Age Catastrophism theory in which the Heb. word “day” is taken to mean “age,” and such ages may have occurred in the “gap” between Genesis 1:1 and 2, as well as in “days” to follow in which ages God created things suddenly.

The Alternate Day-Age Theory by which is meant that God specially created the various materials in six literal twenty-four hour days in between which were vast geological ages in which these materials developed and adapted, the command, “multiply and cover the earth,” being meant to imply a gap after each day.

The Eden-Only Theory in which it is held that the Genesis creation is basically describing a divinely created Garden of Eden in six literal days, with the rest of the creation activity which is not described in the Bible taking place at spontaneous intervals in the ages before.

The Concurrent or Overlapping Ages Theory which posits that God, not being concerned with time, could have used small as well as large amounts of time for His creation and such creative acts in “days” could have been concurrent or overlapping in time rather than occurring consecutively.

The Revelation Day Theory by which is meant that the creative “days” of Genesis 1 are really twenty-four hour days in Moses’ life in which he received information about God’s previous creative activity; Moses receiving the information about God’s creating light and separating it from darkness, on one day, receiving the facts about the separation of waters on another day, etc.

The Split Week or Double Symmetry Theory which posits that since God is not limited to time, Genesis employs a literary device in which the first three days parallel aspects of the last three days, day one corresponding to day four, day two to day five, day three to day six (see above under Gen 1:1-2:4).

The Progressive Creationism Theory by which it is held that there is no need to posit a “gap” between Genesis 1:1 and 2, that the creative days are to be understood as ages during which in continuous process God from time to time directly and specially made or created the various material things, and finally man as outlined in chs. 1 and 2. There is much to be said in favor of this view. See further discussion under Genesis 1:1-2:4.

C. Origin of the universe. Widespread current interest in the origin and nature of the universe is seen in a lead article of the May, 1970, Reader’s Digest, entitled “Of Stars and Man,” by Ira Wolfert, in which he discusses the immensity of the known universe which is posited to have in it at least ten billion galaxies. In discussing a theory of how infinitesimal particles of atoms composed of protons (positive charges) and electrons (negative charges) got together, Wolfert (p. 50) makes the interesting observation, “How these particles came to be is still a mystery, but they are the original of the ‘dust that turns to dust.’” Man through history has asked the question, Where did the universe come from? Among the ancient Greeks the Ionian philosophers in the 6th cent. b.c. posited the universe derived from simple material which came into being from material causes. Later ideas theorized that creation was eternal, or had a beginning, or was supernaturally caused, etc. (See Mixter, Evolution and Christian Thought Today, ch. 2.) On the other hand, the Bible consistently states, as seen above in this article, that a supernatural personal God directly and specially in time and space created the heaven and the earth and all the things in them. It is to be observed, however, that nowhere does the Bible specifically state at what time in the past the universe was created, nor what the original state of the heaven and earth was when made, nor how long God was involved in the creative activity. The science of astronomy has added information which bears on these questions which the Bible leaves open.

Among modern theories as to how the universe came into being and developed are the following:

The Primeval-Atom theory, a view held by a few in which it is postulated that an allinclusive Primeval Atom suddenly radioactively burst some 10¹⁰ years ago when concurrently time and space came into being and the natural laws came into force—this was the Creation. But this theory raises some serious questions such as, many stars are too young to be a part of such an original outburst.

A second theory is the Steady-State hypothesis held by some in which it is posited that the universe had no beginning and prob. will have no end, since it is in “steady-state,” it being said that there is no observed continuous change in the universe, although there may be observed some small localized progressions. According to this theory, hydrogen atoms are continually being created in space which form clouds and then galaxy clusters which finally recede out of the limit of observation but new clusters are being created to take their place, such a process being posited as going on for an infinite time. This is the theory of Fred Hoyle (The Nature of the Universe, 111, 112). This hypothesis, as well, presents some difficulties, as, for example, the preliminary evidence that the universe is expanding less rapidly than it did many ages ago following the suggestion from the Palomar’s Hale telescope study that the universe is pulsating; furthermore, no satisfactory natural process of creating matter from nothing has been proposed (see H. Shapley, 32, 33 in The Evolution of Life, Sol Tax, ed.; and G. K. Schweitzer, 43, 44, in Evolution and Christian Thought Today, Mixter, ed.).

A third option is the Superdense State Theor