Biblical Evidence Against "Ex Nihilo" Creation

Many Christians interpret the Bible as teaching that God created the heavens and earth "from nothing" or "ex nihilo"(John 1:3, Romans 4:17, 1 Corinthians 1:28, Hebrews 11:3). However, surprisingly, while this detail may seem trivial, it is integrally linked to the understanding of the nature of God and the eternal potential of man. Why? Because if mankind really are children of God and if man can literally become like our Heavenly Father as the Bible promises; then the spirits of man need to have existed forever and not have been created children of God from nothing. Why? Because to become like the eternal God, man would also have to be co-existent and co-eternal with Him. Gods are not created, they ARE OR ARE NOT. Christ is the great I AM THAT I AM or self-existent one. Therefore, the spirits of man would have to have been created children but not gods. Gods in embryo would be our species; what we are, what we have always been. And, becoming spiritual fathers like the Eternal Father would be our destiny. If, however, man were made from nothing as some believe, then man is nothing whatever like the Eternal Father. God is not our father, and we are not really children. We are instead, something closer to pets or toys.

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

The whole debate begins in Genesis 1:1 which the word "create." The word "created" in Hebrew is "bara" which according to most Lexicons means to "form, carve out, cut out, and to plane and polish." The word is used in Hebrew is synonymous with the verb "to build". Therefore, it makes sense that Paul would talk about creation in terms of building when he says that God is "he that built all things". Also, Paul refers to God as the "potter" and us as "the clay." Both examples involve forming and creating from pre-existing materials.

Heb. 3: 4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.

Rom. 9: 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Aside from these examples, there are even more compelling evidences that creation was not "ex nihilo." Where is that? The evidence resides in the several creative miracles of the creator, even Jesus Christ Himself, during His earthly ministry. When Christ formed wine at the marriage in Cana, Christ didn't create the wine from nothing, but created the wine from water. Again, in the feeding of the 4 and 5,000. Christ didn't merely conjure the food, but multiplied the fishes and barley loaves from pre-existing materials.

Despite these examples, there is even a more fundamental evidence against "ex nihilo" creation which was made by Ravi Zacharias a prominent Evangelical apologeticist who believes in "ex nihilo" creation. While explaining how the Evangelical concept of the trinity being 1 and 3 doesn't violate the law of non-contradiction which would say that God can't be 1 and not 1 at the same time; he said that the love of God was not created but because the Son is co-existent with the Father from the beginning, so the love of the Father for the Son was also co-eternal and uncreated. Therefore, only in Christianity does "love precede life" or creation. Only in Christianity is love uncreated and one with God. If God had been alone, then there would have been nothing to love until after creation. And this is why the Bible says "God is love."

But if you have love which was uncreated and co-existent with God, well then you have something. The love of God is like infinite potential energy. And if you have infinite potential energy, then that potential energy can be converted into kinetic energy, and that kinetic energy can be in the form of mechanical, chemical, inertial and thermal energy. And if you have energy then you can have matter; Number 1, because all energy is mediated by intangible force carrier particles (e.g. photons, gluons, bosons, gravitons, Higgs), and number 2, because energy can be converted into tangible matter and visa versa (E = mc2).