Explain what the creation reveals about the nature of God and To what extent is God responsible for everything in creation?

by vlabelle (student)

AS and A Level Religious Studies & Philosophy

Question A). Explain what the creation reveals about the nature of God (35)

Question B). To what extent is God responsible for everything in creation? (10)

Answer A). Parts of God’s nature and attributes are revealed and shown in the Creation Story of Genesis. The first being Creatio Ex Nihilo; this is how God created everything out of nothing, however, this attribute is not made completely clear in Genesis as it could be perceived as God shaping and calming the chaos that was already there. This questions whether God is a Craftsman as he would have used materials already in existence. God as Creator is another attribute portrayed in the beginning of the creation story, meaning that God created the world deliberately – therefore you cannot make something if you already have it.

However, for Augustine these attributes are so far to be recognised as God must also be transcendent to being eternal as this would mean he is outside time and space, therefore making Creatio Ex Nihilo possible.

When God begins creation, both omnipotence and perfection are shown. God says ‘let there be light’ and then there is light – whatever God commands becomes into existence. And then Genesis says that it was Good, showing that whatever God commands is perfect. It also shows God’s goodness, God is the highest standard of good and therefore whatever he commands is good.

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God created the world as an act of love showing omnibenevolence , he is an all-loving creature and created the world for us to live in. (27/35)

Answer B). To an extent, God is responsible for everything in creation because he created the world; everything, and everyone in existence which shows that his power is now a consequence of that. Using the analogy of ‘creating a gun, is just as bad as shooting someone’ some people may argue that God created the gun even as an act of love, is the sole blame for all the bad and evil in the world. They may also argue that as God is omniscient as he would be able to see all of the bad that will come from creating the world and yet still chose to create the gun anyway.

However, Christians may criticise this view with the fact that God gave us free will and therefore cannot be blamed for all the evil in the world. Some may argue that although God saw all the bad that would come from creating the world he also saw all the good that has happened, and is yet to come. Also, some Christians believe that God created the world and then left, so although he all created the world as an act of love and stewardship, he left it for us to look after – as our own responsibility and so cannot be blamed.

On the hand to no extent is God responsible for everything in creation because Atheist would argue that God doesn’t exist and so plays no part in what happens in the world. However Christians would disagree with this.

In conclusion, I believe God is responsible to extent for everything in creation because he created everything knowing what will come of it, but also gave us free will, and may have seen all the possibilities of this. Overall though, I don’t know if God exists so he could not be responsible what-so-ever. (7/10)