Why Does 'Creation from Nothing' Matter | Interviewing John Oswalt (2 of 3)
Channel: Henry Center
Date: 2018-08-08

Lecture Title - Creatio ex Nihilo: Is It Biblical, and Does It Matter?

In this conversation, John Oswalt examines the theological stakes in the Christian affirmation of the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo. Yahweh alone is self-existent, nothing else is. This assertion flies in the face of all the other world-views, which insist in one way or another that it is matter that is self-existent. Thus, the question must arise, did the present cosmos arise out of pre-existing matter, or did I AM produce this cosmos from nothing? Does the Bible give us the answer to the question, or is the idea of creation from nothing only an inference? And does it really matter that much, anyway? In this lecture, Oswalt will lay the biblical foundations for the Christian idea of creation out of nothing and show why a great deal hinges upon it. 

John N. Oswalt (PhD Brandeis University) is Visiting Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary. His publications include The Bible among the Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature? (Zondervan Academic, 2009) and The Holy One of Israel: Studies in the Book of Isaiah (Wipf and Stock, 2014).