Creation

Creation. In theology, the notion that the universe was brought into being out of nothing by a free act of God, hence termed the Creator. This teaching is characteristic of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Though a few Fathers accepted the Platonic view that in constructing the universe God made use of pre-existing matter, by the end of the 2nd cent. the thesis of creation from nothing (ex nihilo) was almost universally accepted in the Church. It was dogmatically formulated at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 and reaffirmed at the First Vatican Council in 1870. The changes in the traditional picture of creation brought about by increased knowledge (astronomical, geological, etc.) since the early 19th cent. affect our view of the order and dating of events (and hence also whether the OT can be regarded as a scientific book), but they hardly touch the fundamental notion of creation. Nevertheless, the traditional picture of creation often suggested a single event at the beginning of time; this has largely given way to an understanding of creation as a continuous process through time. Developments in modern physics (relativity, quantum theory, etc.) suggest that the doctrine of creation is an affirmation of the dependence of the created order on God's sustaining and preserving power.