LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Journal Critique:
“Creation ex nihilo or ex material? A critique of the Mormon Doctrine of Creation.”
Submitted to “Insert Professor’s Name Here”
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
The belief by Orthodox and Protestant Christians that God created the UniverseUniverse out of nothing has always witnessed an incessant debate among different thinkers. Paul Copan is one of those scholars who have been characteristically vocal in this theological domain. Copan is a Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University, Florida. He is also an author and editor and is widely associated with prominent pieces of literature such as; William Craig’s Creation out of nothing and will the real Jesus stand up by Baker 1998. This research seeks to critically analyze and examine Copan’s Ideology of creation and assess the weaknesses and strengths of his concept.
BRIEF SUMMARY
The Mormon’s doctrine of creation rejects the idea that God created the UniverseUniverse out of nothing. Proponents of this doctrine argue that matter existed before creation and that Christians only adopted this dogma following their assumptions of God’s transcendence over the UniverseUniverse. They claim that modern-day saints have perpetually been excluded from Christianity by Protestants due to their belief in the existence of matter before creation. Mormons like B.H Roberts believe that Christians imposed this false doctrine on the scripture and introduced a curse upon those who would teach contrary to it.[1] According to the Mormon Scripture, the book of Abraham 1842 suggests that God created the UniverseUniverse from pre-existing material. It is upon this background that Proponents of the Mormon doctrine argue that God’s only role in creation was to organize pre-existing elements like a magician.
Paul Copan vehemently defends the Christian understanding of creation out of nothing. He firmly holds the view that the UniverseUniverse was created without pre-existing matter. In his critique, Copan aims to explore the Mormon doctrine of creation and to contrast it with the Christian understanding using the New Testament and Old Testament of the Bible as evidence.
CRITICAL INTERACTION
In his exploration of the ‘heretic’ doctrine, Copan begins with the analysis of the Mormons scripture, the LDS. The scripture declares the existence of God responsible for the creation of everything in heaven and earth. Copan suggests that even the LDS scripture is receptive to the biblical creation out of nothing. In his next line of defence, Copan counters the argument that the bible requires the doctrine of creation out of nothing. He asserts that the doctrine was not a creation of philosophers but had been a well-established traditional belief of Christians. To dissect the theory that intelligence and elements have always coexisted with God, Copan posits that it is ridiculous to think that there could be an old universe somewhere in the cosmos. The impracticability is premised on the assumption that the actual infinite and the sequential formation of an actual infinite is possible. He argues that God is the only existing infinite, immortal creature and everything else exist contingently upon God’s sustaining power.
Craig William echoes Copan’s sentiments in his response to Adolf Grunbaum. Craig is concerned about Grunbaum’s argument that the question of creation is simply a problem of language and not the origin of the UniverseUniverse. According to Craig, the challenges of creation is not the language; it concerns whether the UniverseUniverse was temporarily infinite in the past.[2]
In his critique of the Mormon Doctrine, Copan employs the theistic theological perspective to defend the Orthodox Church and their belief in the creation story. Copan is so passionate in his defence of creation to the extent that he forgets to conceal his biases. He, for instance, argues that the actual existence of an infinite world is impractical and at the same time posits that God is the only infinite being in the cosmos. All the same, Copan has diligently proven his thesis with tremendous pieces of evidence from the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Mormon Scripture. He has logically developed his thesis, thereby making the critique informative, compelling and thought-provoking.
CONCLUSION
In his aim to uphold the integrity of the bible, the weakness of his writings has openly become glaring. He for starters has made the unwarranted presupposition that the word create refers to absolute creation out of nothing. However, most of his strengths are seen in his arguments about the impractical existence of an infinite world. Copan’s Journal is incredibly impressive; it challenges Christians to be steadfast in their belief in the scripture. It offers a compelling read to Christians, and I would, without a doubt, recommend it for all theology students. It has, however, left me with more questions than answers. For instance, if God created the UniverseUniverse out of nothing and that there was no pre-existing matter before the creation. Then from where did, God Come? What was his area of residence before the creation of the UniverseUniverse?
Bibliography
Copan, Paul. “Creation ex nihilo or ex material? A critique of the Mormon doctrine of creation.” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 9, no. 2 (2005): 32-54
Craig, William Lane. “The origin and creation of the universe: A reply to Adolf Grünbaum.” British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (1992): 233-240.
[1] Copan, Paul. “Creation ex nihilo or ex materia? A critique of the Mormon doctrine of creation.” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 9, no. 2 (2005): 32-54.
[2] Craig, William Lane. “The origin and creation of the universe: A reply to Adolf Grünbaum.” British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (1992): 233-240.