F7 reasoning: Creation out of nothing

Reasoning steps: Creation out of nothing

Verdicts: F7 · Creation out of nothing. Method: conventions, scoring and proximity eras. Scripture is the primary measure; fathers are weighed by era (Era I to c. 150 = 1.0, II = 0.8, III = 0.6, IV = 0.4).

F07.1: Creation out of nothing

Step F07.1.1: Scripture

Gen 1:1; John 1:3 (‘all things were made through him’); Col 1:16; Heb 11:3 (‘what is seen was not made out of things that are visible’); Rom 4:17 (calls into existence the things that do not exist); Rev 4:11.

Step F07.1.2: Patristic evidence

Hermas (Era I): God ‘made all things out of nothing’. Theophilus (Era II): ‘out of things that are not He makes whatever He pleases’. Irenaeus: God formed all things ‘out of what did not previously exist’. Sources: hermas-f07-s1 · theophilus-f07-s1 · irenaeus-f07-s1.

Step F07.1.3: Weighing decision

Unanimous from Era I, against pagan and Gnostic eternal matter. Verdict: consensus.

Confidence: High.

Step F07.1.4: Source-proximity weighing

Scripture (benchmark): All things were made through the Word (John 1:3; Col 1:16) and the visible from what is not visible (Heb 11:3); Scripture assumes no co-eternal matter. (Scripture confidence: high)
Assessment: Scripture and Era I agree; all nine confess God the creator of all things.

F07.2: Is creation good, and evil not a substance?

Step F07.2.1: Scripture

Gen 1:31 (‘very good’); 1 Tim 4:4 (’everything created by God is good’); Rom 8:20–21 (creation subjected to futility, to be set free). Scripture never treats matter as evil.

Step F07.2.2: Patristic evidence

Irenaeus (Era II) against the Gnostics: God formed all things ‘according to His pleasure, in the exercise of His own will and power’. Augustine (Era III) against the Manichees: ’evil has no positive nature; but the loss of good has received the name evil’. Sources: irenaeus-f07-s2 · augustine-f07-s1.

Step F07.2.3: Weighing decision

Unanimous against Gnostic and Manichaean dualism. Verdict: consensus.

Confidence: High.