From Nothing: A Theology of Creation

by Ian A. McFarland

Too often the doctrine of creation has been made to serve limited or pointless ends, like the well-worn arguments between science and faith over the question of human and cosmic origins. Given this history, some might be tempted to ignore the theology of creation, thinking it has nothing new or substantive to say. They would be wrong. In this stimulating volume, Ian A. McFarland shows that at the heart of the doctrine of creation lies an essential truth about humanity: we are completely dependent on God. Apart from this realization, little else about us makes sense. McFarland demonstrates that this radical dependence is a consequence of the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo, creation from nothing. Taking up the theological consequences of creation--theodicy and Providence--the author provides a detailed and innovative constructive theology of creation. Drawing on the biblical text, classical sources, and contemporary thought, From Nothing proves that a robust theology of creation is a necessary correlate to the Christian confession of redemption in Jesus Christ.

Genres: Theology, Christian

232 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2014

Reviews

[Jon Coutts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apart from some essays by John Webster this is the best treatment of the doctrine of creation that I can recall reading. It reiterates the traditional doctrine with clarity and precision, does so in conversation with modern science (e.g., evolution, ecology-concern) and contemporary anxieties (e.g., sovereignty, the problem of evil), and as such forwards the doctrine in newly constructive ways.

I love the conclusion: "In the face of the myriad threats to creaturely well-being, there is nothing self-evident about this belief [that God is working to overcome evil], and Christians therefore have no grounds for looking down on those who do not share it. If they wish to persuade others of its truth, they need to act in ways that display their trust in God's creative work, striving to honor the integrity of all creatures in the conviction that no creature exists except as God gives it being: sustaining, empowering, and guiding it to the end that God intends for it. And if asked why God does this: it is simply and solely because God sees every creature as good. There is no other reason, no other motive, no other factor in play. Nothing."

[Anna Grace Galkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

McFarland offers an extremely engaging and thorough introduction to the doctrine of creation. Several concepts have lingered with me since, including the interdependence of Creation ex Nihilo upon God’s transcendence and imminence. Very enjoyable!

[Sooho Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Nothing is an impressive work of constructive and systematic theology: Ian A. McFarland, Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University shows his creative craft and meticulous scholarship in this original work on the theology of creation. Prior to this, McFarland has made significant contributions to theological anthropology. Actually, the impetus for From Nothing came from his wrestling with how to ground, theologically, the worth and uniqueness of each person. He then rediscovered the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo -- creation from nothing -- as a fitting starting point. All persons -- and all of creation -- are equal in one significant quality: they are all created from nothing by God. The first half of the book is devoted to each of the bolded words above: God, create, and nothing. A common critique leveled against creatio ex nihilo is that it makes God (1) arbitrary and (2) deistic, and McFarland argues quite the opposite. One of his anchors is the immanent trinitarian dynamics of God: the Father eternally begetting the Son and eternally proceeding the Spirit. These eternal productions show that God is productive. It would be tempting to imagine the Son and Spirit as creative products of the Father -- as if they are separate entities. But nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, the Son and Spirit are the Father's full "self-givings"; whatever the Father has the Son and Spirit have with equal fullness. Creation, on the other hand, is ex nihilo ("from nothing") and therefore is utterly unlike God. Thus the distance between God and creation is not of space-time but of kind of being. A favored analogy McFarland uses is the distance between an author and her fictional characters: they are not in the same space-time but fundamentally different ones. This then easily welcomes the deistic critique: God is too distant -- to the point of absence. Surprisingly, though, McFarland argues against deism by stressing more of God's transcendence: because God is infinitely distinct from us, he is infinitely near to us. Here's another analogy to make sense of this critical point: No matter who or where one is on our planet, she will feel the force of gravity (near) equally. Gravity is not of the same "stuff" as matter and therefore interacts with humans differently than, say, wind (gaseous matter). For example, one can go indoors to escape chilly winds, but going indoors does not change the force of gravity she feels than staying outdoors. It could be said then that material walls do not obstruct gravity's pull on us. Likewise, because God is not of the same "stuff" as us (he is God, and we are not-God; we are from nothing, and he is Life), nothing obstructs his nearness to us. (Where this analogy fails, however, is that a significant amount of matter could change the course and force of gravity, but this is not the case for God-world relation.) What's more, God wants to be near us; he is Love, not deistic. And, yes, the triune God created the world ex nihilo, but also because of his love, not of arbitrariness.

Most of the argumentation above is in part one. Part two discusses evil, providence, and glory. Personally speaking, part one is better. 

cf. www.sooholee.com

[Dave Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

McFarland is an exceptional theologian who, in this book, tackles some of the hardest questions the Christian theological tradition has to offer. His reflections are incredibly careful, sometimes meticulous, but rarely dry. Compared to many constructive theologians, he is rather deeply rooted in orthodox sources and has an undeniably Neo-orthodox streak. Yet he is also powerfully connected to 21st-century values regarding diversity, ecology, justice, and the importance of history.

As a longtime interlocutor with process theology myself, I would like to have seen a more extended treatment of that view, especially in the conclusion. I agree that John Cobb, et al., offer the greatest contemporary challenge to creation ex nihilo. Given the questions that pop up along the way concerning the incarnation and eschatology, it's no surprise that his next two books center on those topics.

I didn't get as jazzed reading his theology of creation as I tend to get when reading his work in theological anthropology, but that may be due to my own struggles to keep up with McFarland's line of argumentation at times (he's clearly further down the road of theological maturity than I am). All that having been said, I still enjoyed wrestling with these questions with him as my guide. I wouldn't recommend this book to a layperson and would hesitate to assign most of its chapters to master's-level students. But doctoral students, their professors, and other seasoned theologians will find in From Nothing a proposal worth the investment of time and energy it requires.

[Peter Kiss · Rating 1 out of 5]

A muddled blob of meandering nothingness. The book really went nowhere for much of it, and it was all built on some high brow, intellectualism that scoffs at the idea that that Bible actually has something to say about real creation (as in how and when God created). The author takes evolution for granted, and thus his theology is truly built on secular philosophy. An unstable foundation for a theology of creation. To top it off, the other scoffing remarks in the introduction about how there's no such thing as a Christian worldview really make me not see the value in this book.

[Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best book I read in 2017, and perhaps one of the best books I've read on a theological doctrine. Dr. McFarland does an excellent job in recapturing the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo while also integrating those truths, on the one hand, as a central expression of Trinitarian doctrine, and, on the other hand, the implications of the central and continual value of creation.

[Tyler Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is hard read and covers much more than a defense of creation ex nihilo. I deeply appreciated the chapter on the doctrine of God and its connection to creation; the chapter on the doctrine on Providence was masterful! The rest: not so great. The chapter on evil from the wisdom literature was particularly odd and unhelpful.

[Mark McDonnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lot of good stuff, but some bad

I liked most of the book. Chapters 1-6 were solid, well-thought out, and informative, but chapter 7, as McFarland suggested, did not belong. Chapter 7 and the conclusion really lost me and soured my opinion of this piece. Before 7, I was planning on leaving 5 stars.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This is a book I will read again because I felt like some of it I needed to let wash over me instead of trying to understand everything. The chapter on evil might be one of the most helpful and honest things I’ve read on the topic. A couple of things about this author’s writing style were a bit distracting to me, but other parts of his style were helpful.

[Faith Key · Rating 4 out of 5]

"but the Christian encounter with creation does not end with wonder and praise at its present state. it ends with hope: the sure and certain conviction that the future of creation includes a fullness of blessing for creatures beyond what is visible in the present."

the discussions about Trinity & evil are excellent. self note to revisit.
i started losing the plot with the last chapter.

[Ryan Linkous · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty brilliant stuff here. McFarland tries to ground creation in the Trinity. I vehemently disagree with many of his presuppositions about Scripture (I’m more conservative), but he does some pretty neat stuff. Only read through ch. 5.

[Jonathan Trousdale · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book for anyone who engaged in evangelism

This is a great and thorough account of the argument for creation ex nihilo: the doctrine that God created all things from nothing.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent overview of the doctrine of creation from nothing. McFarland is a dense and deep writer, plumbing the depths of church history and the doctrine of God to show us the implications of the doctrine of creation.

[Phil Aud · Rating 5 out of 5]

McFarland’s "From Nothing” is a robust theology of creation with it’s focus on the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo (creation from nothing) and it’s important implication for how we understand theology and the world which we share with the rest of God’s creation. The introduction provides a fantastic overview of how the doctrine came to be. Here the author explores the doctrines defense by two very different theologians: Basilides (who was a gnostic), and Theophilus (who was not). The difference in their understanding is crucial. Basilides believed that God was not intimately involved in the creating of the world, but rather created a “seed” from which the world, “of its own accord, without any divine stimulus or intervention” (8) emerged. This allowed God distance from the matter which, according to Platonic thought, was evil. Theophilus, on the other hand, believed that God was directly involved with the creation of the world. McFarland explores not only the opponents of the doctrine in the early church but in our day as well (primarily among process theologians).

As the author’s theology unfolds you will find a rich Trinitarian theology that shapes every angle of his tightly woven thesis. McFarland (who is a professor at Emory) is obviously deeply rooted in the Patristic’s and seems, in particular, to have regular interaction with Aquinas. The first section of the book explores the three elements of the doctrine by chapter: 1. God; 2. Creates; 3. From Nothing. Here we find the great distinctions between the unknowable God who makes Himself know, and His creatures. We also find the great similarities between creatures, in particular our similarity in being created. Our creation is not, however, from a God who is removed from His creation (as Basilides proposed), but is the outcome of Trinitarian love. One of the implications, according to the author, is that humans are not "ontologically closer" to God than any other creature, rather, our distinction is our function (drawing heavily from Maximus the Confessor at this point).

For those concerned with God seeming tyrannical (not least process theologians), McFarland explicates on the understanding of power from (again) a Trinitarian perspective. “Divine power is not something that needs to be taken or hoarded, which is how we fallen and finite creatures tend to conceive of power; rather, it is exercised in giving. God is supremely powerful as the one who bestows power” (96, 97).

In the second section of the book the author explores potential theological challenges that ex nihilo might present to the reader and carefully walks through each of them. In the final chapter he speaks of “glory” and writes, in particular, on icons and eucharist.

“From Nothing" is very dense book but is certainly worth the time and effort if you are interested in the theology of creation. Different from many books on the topic, it is very much a Christian perspective (rooted in John rather than Genesis, for example), and provides a wonderful Trinitarian framework.

[Erin Goettsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly read this for the final section on icons and worship and the eucharist - it's interesting and thoughtful, but dense.