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<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nMy new theory of creation says God, in love, always creates out of what God previously created. As the ever Creator, God has everlastingly been creating.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s it in a nutshell. But there\u2019s a lot packed into those phrases. So let me explain a bit more\u2026<\/p>\n
My theory says God never creates out of absolute nothingness. Each moment of creation history begins with God creating something in relation to what God previously created. God always creates something new from something old and never ex nihilo<\/em>.<\/p>\n This theory says God has always been creating. God\u2019s work to create in relation to what God previously created has always been going on. To put it another way, God\u2019s creating is everlasting. That\u2019s why I call God the \u201cever Creator.\u201d God\u2019s creating activity had no absolute beginning and is new every moment of a history without beginning or end.<\/p>\n This implies that God has never existed absolutely alone. God has always related to creatures, whether those creatures be complex or simple, whether creation be ordered or disordered. In fact, I believe God essentially relates to creation. God does not just relate within Trinity but also with the creaturely entities God creates. God\u2019s relationality derives necessarily from God\u2019s essence.<\/p>\n My theory says God must create. Creating is a necessary activity for God, because creating is an essential attribute of God\u2019s nature. God has always existed and always creates, because creating is indispensable to the necessarily creative God.<\/p>\n Perhaps most importantly, my theory says love is God\u2019s motive for and means of creating. And love is God\u2019s creative goal. God\u2019s nature is first and foremost love, which means God always loves, and this love is creative, self-giving, and others-empowering. To the question, \u201cWhy is there something rather than nothing?\u201d my theory says, \u201cbecause God always loves, and this love always motivates God\u2019s creating.\u201d From my perspective, love is the key to understanding reality.<\/p>\n One could describe my alternative theory with the Latin phrase creatio ex creatione sempiternaliter en amore<\/em>. This phrase means \u201ccreating out of creation everlastingly in love.\u201d To put it differently: God always and lovingly creates out of that which God previously created, and this creating has always been occurring.<\/p>\n What My Theory Does\u00a0Not\u00a0<\/em>Mean<\/strong><\/p>\n My creation theory that God always and lovingly creates out of what God previously created needs further explanation. Like all theories \u2013 especially new ones \u2013 it is prone to misunderstanding.<\/p>\n In my next blog, I’ll address four misunderstandings. As a teaser for that blog, I’ll conclude by mentioning the four misunderstandings I suspect many will have when first encountering my alternative theory of initial creation:<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My theory does not say or imply that our universe is eternal.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My theory does not mean God is without freedom.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My theory does not mean creation pre-exists God.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My theory says that for God to exist, God does not need creation.\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n I’ll explain each statement in my next blog essay…<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n\t\t