HARVEY ASKS:<\/p>\n
A Mormon scholar says the Christian belief that God created the universe ex nihilo<\/em> (\u201cout of nothing\u201d) is \u201capostasy in action\u201d and typical of the pagan Greek thought Mormons<\/a> believe corrupted the early church. But Mormonism unites with ancient Greek philosophers in thinking matter is eternal and had no beginning. Explain? (Paraphrasing\u00a0the posted question<\/em>).<\/p>\n THE GUY ANSWERS:<\/p>\n This may seem esoteric but \u201ccreation\u201d debates always get interesting. One of the most famous sentences ever written is \u201cIn the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.\u201d Those words open the King James Version, the Bible authorized for Mormon use, and most translations agree. Yet Mormon thinking is closer to the Jewish Publication Society version, which puts the familiar wording into an optional footnote while the main text reads \u201cWhen God began to create heaven and earth\u2026\u201d The traditionalist Reformation Study Bible<\/em> says \u201cwhen God began\u201d is a \u201clinguistically possible\u201d but \u201cless likely\u201d translation but either way the Hebrew text is\u201dfully consistent\u201d with creation ex nihilo<\/em> and argues that\u2019s also New Testament teaching (John 1:3, Hebrews 11:3).<\/p>\n The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> (a.k.a. Mormon or LDS) rejects ex nihilo<\/em> creation along with many other tenets in traditional Christianity. Instead, Mormonism believes that creation means God merely \u201corganized\u201d but did not originate matter, which had\u00a0existed eternally in the past. The basis is found in unique scriptures the LDS church<\/a> adds to the Bible:<\/p>\n \u201cMan was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither can it be\u2026. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected\u2026\u201d (Doctrine & Covenants 93:29,33). \u201cThere is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes. We cannot see it; but when our bodies are unified we shall see that it is all matter.\u201d (D&C 131:7-8). LDS materialism includes the teaching that God the Father \u201chas a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man\u2019s\u201d (D&C 130:22).<\/p>\n As for the creation: \u201cThe Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth\u201d (Abraham 4:1). (The Guy will leave aside treatment of LDS belief in the \u201cplurality of Gods,\u201d the term the church prefers to \u201cpolytheism.\u201d) A major theologian, Prophet and President Joseph Fielding Smith, stated a related concept that\u2019s not official dogma but is taught in LDS student manuals: \u201cIt is true that Adam helped to form this earth. He labored with our Savior Jesus Christ. I have a strong view or conviction that there were also others who assisted them. Perhaps Noah and Enoch and why not Joseph Smith, and those who were appointed to be rulers before the earth was formed?\u201d (Doctrines of Salvation<\/em> 1:74-75).<\/p>\n The Greeks enter in because the very existence of the LDS church depends upon the conviction that after Jesus\u2019 apostles died a \u201cgreat apostasy\u201d soon corrupted Christianity. Thus God considered the creeds of all existing churches to be \u201can abomination\u201d and commissioned\u00a019th century American Prophet Joseph Smith and his successors to restore true doctrine and priesthood authority. Some Mormons say pagan Greek philosophy, especially Neo-Platonism and Middle Platonism, was the chief culprit that corrupted Christianity in the 2d century.<\/p>\n The Guy referred Harvey\u2019s question to Roger D. Cook of Brigham Young University\u2019s philosophy department. Cook says most LDS scholars today think the great apostasy occurred prior to the mid-2d century when Christians began heavy reliance on Greek thinking. Cook sees 2d century philosophy as a \u201cmajor factor in the elimination of many pure and unsullied doctrines\u201d but only \u201cthe final blow,\u201d not the single cause. Cook says Mormons who blame ex nihilo<\/em> belief on Platonism are incorrect because Christians developed this idea independently of Greek philosophy.<\/p>\n To Cook, ex nihilo<\/em> defies reason because \u201cone cannot get something from nothing. That seems to defy logic.\u201d He also says the 2d century produced \u201ca radical redefinition of the early Christian concept of God\u201d that the LDS church has restored: The Church Fathers \u201creplaced their own tradition of God as a celestial man, clothed with a perfect material body, with Greek philosophical notions\u201d about a non-material God with the abstract attributes that have been part of conventional Christian theology ever since. Sidelights:<\/p>\n \u2014 Christians often say ex nihilo<\/em> fits with modern science\u2019s universe originating with the \u201cBig Bang.\u201d But LDS astronomer Hollis Johnson says that\u2019s no longer so due to newer theories in physics and speculation about multiple universes besides the one we know.<\/p>\n \u2014 An LDS expert in Arabic, Daniel Peterson, finds \u201clittle or no reason to suppose\u201d Islam\u2019s Quran involves ex nihilo <\/em>and \u201cat the very least\u201d nothing requires that interpretation. But he admits \u201cthe vast majority if not all of the commentators\u201d in Islam embrace ex nihilo <\/em>anyway.<\/p>\n All this is vastly complicated and The Guy confesses this only skims the surface. So note that articles by Cook, Johnson, Peterson, and other scholars who defend LDS beliefs are searchable at http:\/\/maxwellinstitute.byu.edu<\/a>. For orthodox Christian responses on ex nihilo<\/em> and other LDS items see http:\/\/mit.irr.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HARVEY ASKS: A Mormon scholar says the Christian belief that God created the universe ex nihilo (\u201cout of nothing\u201d) is \u201capostasy in action\u201d and typical of the pagan Greek thought Mormons believe corrupted the early church. But Mormonism unites with ancient Greek philosophers in thinking matter is eternal and had no beginning. Explain? (Paraphrasing\u00a0the posted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1275,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n