Selected Essays And Book Reviews

Lesson 28 - The Seven Vital Aspects Of The Doctrine Of Creation

Mr. Erickson describes seven aspects to the doctrine of creation which helps explain the doctrine and also to set it apart from all the other beliefs about our origins. These seven aspects are as follows.

  • 1. Everything that is not God has derived its existence from God. This is the author's way of saying that there is not another ultimate reality, meaning that dualism is incorrect. In the work of creation, God did not work with any preexisting materials. Instead, He created the matter and then fashioned that matter into our present-day universe.

  • 2. The act of divine creation was totally unique, not anything like the creative works of mortal, limited man. When a man creates something, as in art, he is limited by the qualities of the materials and also by his own imperfections. In the creation of the world, God was not limited by anything external to Himself.

  • 3. Nothing which God made in His work of creation possesses any evil. There was nothing evil in Him, and nothing that He made had evil in it. Therefore, God cannot be blamed for the evil which exists in this world.

  • 4. The doctrine of creation places the responsibility of evil on man's shoulders. When we sin, it is because we have exercised our own free will to do so. Consequently, we must accept the responsibility for our own actions.

  • 5. The doctrine of creation, in that God's work was not intrinsically evil, provides validity and authenticity to the incarnation of Christ. The Docetists denied the literal, physical body of Christ because they said that the material world is evil. However, the material world was not created evil. Therefore, God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, could inhabit human body, yet not be evil.

  • 6. The doctrine of creation provides a connection and affinity to all the other parts of His creation. Thus, we are all members of the same family, and God loves and cares for that family.

  • 7. The doctrine of creation excludes monism, which is the idea that the world emanated from God. Instead of emanating from Him, the Bible teaches that God merely spoke everything about the world into existence.

    • According to Mr. Erickson, man and nature are lower than God, and God intended for it to be that way. However, because He loves us, He takes the initiative to reveal Himself to us and to enter into a relationship with us. 

    					Tom of Spotswood

"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 
(I John 5:12)

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