Explain how the bible shows God as creator

by tommo1st (student)

AS and A Level Religious Studies & Philosophy

Thomas Hurley

Philosophy Homework

Questions

Explain how the bible shows God as creator (25 marks)

In the bible God is described as the creator of everything. This is accepted without being questioned rather than being a matter of discussion. The nature of God as creator is most clearly seen in passages from genesis, Job and Psalms. God is described as the creator meaning he designed and produced everything. According to Christian tradition, God caused the Universe to exist, he is responsible for the Universe coming into existence and existing at every moment. God is also responsible for everything that will ever exist in the Universe. God is seen as a craftsman in Job 28, this is where he is described as the designer who laid the very foundations of the earth. God is pictured as being in control of the sun and the moon even though we know through science that they follow regular patterns of behaviour.

In genesis 2, God making Adam from dust is like a potter shaping clay. As he is a creator, he is viewed as being in control in the bible. In Isaiah, God is described as sitting above the earth and having the power to reduce the princes to nothing. The same idea is shown through the genesis creation stories when God throws Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. In Christian belief, God created the world out of nothing. The idea of God creating the universe out of nothing is referred to as Creatio Ex nihilo. However, there are some hints in the earliest writings of the Bible that God shaped pre-existing unformed matter. To many people today, the idea of creation ex nihilo is appealing because it fits in with the idea of the universe and time, all beginning at the big bang.

Within the bible God is given a huge range of titles, such as almighty or warrior, which tells us something about the nature of God. These titles are not to be interpreted as literally. Instead the image of God being a potter is telling us about Gods nature as a designer or craftsman. Omniscience means all knowing. From the Bible God is shown to be all knowing. God the creator is aware of his creation and knows exactly what happens. There are numerous examples in the Bible of God being aware of what happens such as when Eve eats ...

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Omnipresence is a quality of God which means he is present throughout his creation. Omnipresence is linked to the idea of omnipotence in the Bible. Within the Christian tradition, God the creator is seen as sustaining all his creation and being present through all of time. The idea of omnipresence links in with the idea of God being responsible for everything that exists and continues to exist. It also links in with God being omniscient, within the Bible, omnipresent and aware of what happens as well as being the creator who is separate. The extent of Gods presence is continually repeated in the creation stories, God is present in creation when he moves over the earth according to Genesis.

The existence of evil whether it is caused by humans, nature or illness raises questions about the world we live in. The fact that evil exists would suggest that God is not in control. Even if he was in control why would he choose for evil to exist, this suggesting that God is not omnibenevolent (this means that God is not all good).

“God is responsible for everything that happens in the universe.” Discuss.

Omnipotence refers to God being all powerful, the word of God is final and anything he may interpret will be reality. As god is the creator of the universe, he would be linked with that. If a person designed a car and sold it to a member of the public, that person will be held responsible if it turns out that the cars design had a fault, this would be used as an example to illustrate how God is responsible for the universe. If natural disasters occur such as earthquakes, like the faulty car, God is responsible for any problems that earthquakes cause. It would be argued that God did a terrible job of creating the earth as there are numerous volcanoes, earthquakes and hurricanes, could it be possible that the world would be better if God is omnipotent. A weakness to this statement is that God is not like any human being and cannot possibly be compared to a car designer.

People believe that God created natural laws to apply to the earth, all of these natural disasters and their consequences are the result of the world working in a regular way. The world is created and within it change and development can occur. If this wasn’t the case and change couldn’t occur or develop, evolvement would not take place and species would never die out. If the world had no change or development there may never be any deaths and equally no births. God being responsible for everything in the Universe obviously only creates a dilemma if you believe in God. Science can in no way explain why the Universe exists. It can speculate but there is no physical or logical way to escape the Universe to investigate. Believing in or rejecting God as the creator, responsible for everything that happens in the universe is a faith choice for all people