New Testament
Verb: κατασκευάζω (kataskeuazō), GK 2941 (S 2680), 11×. The basic meaning of kataskeuazō concerns preparation (e.g., Mt 11:10), although the vast majority of the NT usage means to build something. In Heb 3:3 Jesus is pictured as greater than Moses, “just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.” God is the architect of the covenants (3:4, “God is the builder of everything”), of which Christ is both the fulfillment and hope. The arrangement of the furniture in the Tent of Meeting was “set up” as a shadow of the Holy Place in heaven (9:2), “arranged” for atonement and worship (9:6) and prefiguring the work of Christ. Similarly, Noah is pictured as preparing for the future saving work of God (11:7, “Noah … built an ark”; cf. 1 Pet. 3:20). Noah’s building the ark depicts both divine sovereignty and human responsibility in the unfolding drama of salvation. See NIDNTT-A, 296.
Verb: οἰκοδομέω (oikodomeō), GK 3868 (S 3618), 40×. In the gospels oikodomeō often has the normal meaning of building a physical structure, such as a house (Mt 7:24, 26), watchtower (21:33), tomb (Mt 23:29), town (Lk 4:29), synagogue (7:5), or barn (12:18). However, it can also refer to Jesus’ “rebuilding” of his own body through resurrection (Jn 2:19–22) and to his “building” of his church (Mt 16:18).
This latter use may explain the striking development of the word in Acts and the rest of the NT: oikodomeō becomes a significant metaphor for the mutual encouragement and strengthening of the people of God. Acts 9:31 notes that the early church was “built up” or “strengthened” by the Holy Spirit (cf. 20:32). Paul describes his own ministry as one of “building” (Rom 15:20). In 1 Cor. 3 and 2 Cor. 7 Paul actually conceives of himself as master builder building the church, which is a temple of God (cf. 1 Pet. 2:5). However, though Paul lays the foundation, he does not see himself alone in this occupation of building. His concern is that Christians will building upon the foundation with proper materials and will “build up” their fellow believers in love (1 Cor. 8:1; 10:23; 14:4, 17; 1 Thess. 5:11). The KJV translation “edify” is a good one for oikodomeō since “edify” itself means to “build up.” See NIDNTT-A, 402–3.
BUILDING (UP)
William D. Mounce, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 87–88.
D. δημιουργέω and κτίζω in Greek and the Linguistic Contribution of the LXX.
In LXX Gk. the main terms used to denote God’s creative work are the simple ποιεῖν (== עשה) and words like πλάσσειν (== יצר) or θεμελιοῦν (== יסד) which correspond to Hebrew metaphors. In addition, the LXX had at its disposal esp. δημιουργός and its derivatives. This word group was constantly used by the pagan world to express its views on the formation of the world. It is interesting, however, that not even on one occasion did the LXX use this group for the creative work of God (→ δημιουργός). Instead it chose a word group—κτίζω and its derivatives—whose use in this sense is new. To understand this, we must investigate the range of meaning and the social level of the two groups and their relation to the Greek and biblical views of creation.
The strict meaning of δημιουργός is “one who does something specific for the whole body.” In Homer it is used of the seer, doctor, builder, herald and singer, then for the one who makes specific articles for common use, i.e., the craftsman, whether he be potter, sculptor, painter, shipbuilder, weaver, dyer, apothecary, or cook. The δημιουργός is the specialist as distinct from the layman, the one who fashions or manufactures something. In course of time emphasis came to rest on the element of direct workmanship on a material already there. Hence Aristot. can say (Pol., VIII, 4, p. 1325b, 40–1326a, 1): ὥσπερ γὰρ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις δημιουργοῖς, οἷον ὑφάντῃ καὶ ναυπηγῷ, δεῖ τὴν ὕλην ὑπάρχειν ἐπιτηδείαν οὖσαν πρὸς τὴν ἐργασίαν, … Fig. the word is used of the author of a direct effect: κακία is the δημιουργός of a miserable life as its direct cause, or the πολιτικός is δημιουργός εὐνομίας καὶ δίκης, which arise by reason of his activity. The movements of the sun and moon are δημιουργοί of day and night. Even when the sense can approximate to that of inventor, it implies the first to make. Thus Plut. says that Athens had no celebrated δημιουργοί of epic and lyric poetry, and if in another place the same writer speaks of the δημιουροί of feasts, he does not mean those who appointed them, but those who won victories which constituted the occasions for them. Their work made the feast, whereas the κτίστης appointed it by his will and command. It is thus plain in what sense Plato can describe μαντική as the φιλίας θεῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων δημιουργός, or Plutarch nature as δημιουργός of sicknesses.
Later δημιουργός was restricted to artisans who were not so highly esteemed socially. There are many proofs of this. Aristot. says: παρʼ ἐνίοις οὐ μετεῖχον οἱ δημιουργοὶ τὸ παλαιὸν ἀρχῶν, πρὶν δῆμον γενέσθαι τὸν ἔσχατον. τὰ μὲν οὖν ἔργα τῶν ἀρχομένων οὕτως οὐ δεῖ τὸν ἀγαθὸν οὐδὲ τὸν πολιτικὸν οὐδὲ τὸν πολίτην τὸν ἀγαθὸν μανθάνειν, εἰ μή ποτε χρείας χάριν αὐτῷ πρὸς αὑτόν. Plato divides citizens into γεωργοί and δημιουργοί, προπολεμοῦντες and ἄρχοντες. Plut. refers to a constitution of Theseus in which the δημιουργοί come last, their only advantage being that they are most numerous; in other places, too, the scorn of the Gks. for the δημιουργός is evident. The same attitude may be seen in Sir. 38:24 ff. It applies even to artists. Thus Aristodemus admired, e.g., Polycletus because of his ἀνδριαντοποιία, but Plut. makes clear what is meant by differentiating between admiration of the works and contempt for those who created them. This applies not merely to players on the flute or those who make ointments, but also quite expressly to artists: οὐδεὶς εὐφυὴς νέος ἢ τὸν ἐν Πίσῃ θεασάμενος Δία γενέσθαι Φειδίας ἐπεθύμησεν ἢ τὴν Ἥραν τὴν ἐν Ἄργει Πολύκλειτος, οὐδʼ Ἀνακρέων ἢ Φιλητᾶς ἢ Ἀρχίλοχος ἡσθεὶς αὐτῶν τοῖς ποιήμασιν. Οὐ γὰρ ἀναγκαῖον, εἰ τέρπει τὸ ἔργον ὡς χαρίεν, ἄξιον σπουδῆς εἶναι τὸν εἰργασμένον. If δημιουργός is also used in Gk. religion and philosophy for the power which fashions the world, this is because the δημιουργὸς τοῦ κόσμου has made the world out of existing material as the ordinary δημιουργός does his products out of his materials. The essential thing for the Gks. is the bringing of the world out of ἀταξία into a κόσμος. Plut. again states his view: Βέλτιον οὖν Πλάτωνι πειθομένους τὸν μὲν κόσμον ὑπὸ θεοῦ γεγονέναι λέγειν καὶ ᾄδειν· ὁ μὲν γὰρ κάλλιστος τῶν γεγονότων, ὁ δὲ ἄριστος τῶν αἰτιῶν· τὴν δὲ οὐσίαν καὶ ὕλην ἐξ ἧς γέγονεν, οὐ γενομένην, ἀλλὰ ὑποκειμένην ἀεὶ τῷ δημιουργῷ, εἰς διάθεσιν καὶ τάξιν αὐτῆς, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐξομοίωσιν ὡς δυνατὸν ἦν ἐμπαρασχεῖν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος ἡ γένεσις, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ καλῶς μηδʼ ἱκανῶς ἔχοντος, ὡς οἰκίας καὶ ἱματίου καὶ ἀνδριάντος. Along similar lines Christian Gnosticism called the one who fashioned the world δημιουργός, in spite of the biblical tradition. The LXX avoided the word precisely because the God of the OT is not just the one who fashioned the world.
The verb δημιουργεῖν is similarly used for workmanship. The τέκτων makes (δημιουργεῖν) the spindle or the πηδάλιον.
κτίζω is used by Hom. for “to make a land habitable,” “to settle it,” “to populate it” (affected object), Od., 11, 263: Amphion and Zethos οἵ πρῶτοι Θήβης ἕδος ἔκτισαν ἑπταπύλοιο; Hdt., I, 149: οἱ Αἰολέες χώρην μὲν ἔτυχον κτίσαντες ἀμείνω Ἰώνων. It then means “to build” or “establish” a city (effected object), Il., 20, 216: Dardanos κτίσσε δὲ Δαρδανίην, Hdt., I, 168: ἐνθαῦτα ἔκτισαν πόλιν Ἄβδηρα. It is common in this sense in NT times, e.g., in Plut. Thes., 2 (I, 1d); 20 (I, 9a); 26 (I, 12d); Romulus, 9 (I, 22d); 12 (I, 24a); Camillus, 20 (I, 139b); Nicias, 5 (I, 526b); Pomp., 39 (I, 639e); Praec. Ger. Reip., 17 (II, 814b); Col., 33 (II, 1126 f.) (“to build up again”). It is also used of the foundation or establishment of groves, temples, theatres, baths, cemeteries, or the institution of festivals or games. In contrast to δημιουργέω, the verb in this case does not denote the actual execution (building etc.), but the basic and decisive resolve to establish, found or institute, which is then followed by δημιουργεῖν. To be sure, κτίζω can also be used for the execution, esp. in the tragic dramatists, Soph. Trach., 898: κτίσαι suicide; Aesch. Choeph., 483 f.: οὕτω γὰρ ἄν σοι δαῖτες ἔννομοι βροτῶν κτιζοίατʼ. In the poetry of Aesch. τροπὴν κτίσαι corresponds to the current τροπὴν ποιεῖν (ποιεῖσθαι) of prose (Empedocles says of artists that they make == κτίζοντε trees, men and cattle). But this use was never popular and it tended to fade out in course of time, whereas the other aspect underwent increasing development. κτίζω is also used for invention, i.e., the basic intellectual act, and for the establishment, e.g., of philosophical schools.
In NT days the word group is used particularly for the founding of cities, houses, games, and sects, and for the discovery and settlement of countries. It denotes specifically the basic intellectual and volitional act by which something comes into being, in the first instance the city. This may also be seen in the derivatives: ἐγκτίζω, “to build cities”; ἐϋκτίμενος, well laid out (houses etc.); ἐΰκτιτος, “finely built”; θεόκτιτος of Athens; νεόκτιστος, “recently built,” of cities; νεόκτιτος, “newly awakened,” of ἐπιθυμία, Bacchyl., 16, 126; αὐτόκτιστος in Aesch. of self-created grottos; φιλόκτιστος, φιλοκτίστης, “desirous of building”; κτισμός, “establishment” of a city; κτιστεῖον, “sanctuary” of a κτίστησ; κτιστόν, “building”; κτιστήρ == κτίστης. κτίσις, κτίσμα, κτίστης, → 1027 f. Only a few compounds are based on the sense “to make,” and they are all used poetically. ἐϋκτίμενος is used in Hom. of all that “on which man’s labour has been bestowed,” and Hom. also uses κτιστός for “made.” If it might thus appear that the LXX chose κτίζω for “to create” because of the possible equation of κτίζω and ποιέω in poetry, everyday usage is against this. If we start with the sense “to found,” it is obvious that from the time of Alexander the Great the term took on a special nuance. Founding is a task for the ruler, esp. the Hellenistic ruler with his autonomous glory and his approximation to divinity. Thus Philo says in Op. Mund., 17: ἐπειδὰν πόλις κτίζηται κατὰ πολλὴν φιλοτιμίαν βασιλέως ἤ τινος ἡγεμόνος αὐτοκρατοῦς ἐξουσίας μεταποιουμένου …, the founding of a city is a matter for the αὐτοκρατὴς ἐξουσία, for the ruler does not himself build the city with his own hands (this would be δημιουργεῖν), but it is his word or will or command which causes the city to be built, and behind his will stands his real power which brings obedience (another spiritual act), → II, 563. If newly founded cities were always linked in some way with something already present, the nature and extent of this link could be decided by the founder, and often the link did not amount to more than a minor juxtaposition of the old settlement and the new πόλις. The city owed its existence as πόλις to the κτίστης, who as such is the recipient of divine honours within it. The dependence of Hellenistic foundations on the κτίστης is often expressed in their names; allusions to the founder are predominant in these.
In this light it is clear why the LXX preferred the word group κτίζω to the more obvious δημιουργεῖν. δημιουργεῖν suggests the craftsman and his work in the strict sense, whereas κτίζειν reminds us of the ruler at whose command a city arises out of nothing because the power of the ruler stands behind his word. δημιουργεῖν is a technical manual process, κτίζειν an intellectual and volitional.
Avoidance of δημιουργεῖν also averts a second misunderstanding. Apart from the general estimation of the craftsman in antiquity, one might have thought that δημιουργός as artist would be quite an apt term for the Creator. But artistic work has in it a strong emanatic element which is not present in the biblical belief in creation. Thus Philo gives a comprehensive explanation of the difference between δημιουργός and κτίστης in Som., I, 76: ἄλλως τε ὡς ἥλιος ἀνατείλας τὰ κεκρυμμένα τῶν σωμάτων ἐπιδείκνυται, οὕτως καὶ ὁ θεὸς τὰ πάντα γεννήσας οὐ μόνον εἰς τοὐμφανὲς ἤγαγεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἃ πρότερον οὐκ ἦν, ἐποίησεν, οὐ δημιουργὸς μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ κτίστης αὐτὸς ὤν.
Of the 46 passages in which the LXX read ברא in the sense “create” (not counting Is. 4:5), only 17 have κτίζειν, and none of these is in Gn., which always uses ποιέω. Indeed, only at Dt. 4:32 do we find κτίζειν for ברא in the Pentateuch. In the prophets, apart from Dt. Is., 5 of 6 passages have κτίζειν (not Ez. 21:30). There are 20 passages in Dt. Is., and here the distribution is: κτίζειν 4 times, ποιεῖν 6, καταδείκνυμι 3, κατασκευάζω and εἰμί 2 each, no equivalent 3 (45:12; 57:19; 65:18a). In Ps. (6 times) and Qoh. (once) κτίζειν is always used. In Sir. we find κτίζειν (40:10), ποιεῖν (15:14) and ὁ κύριος (3:16 בּוֹרֵא). Apart from ברא, for which it is used 17 times (and once in Sir.), κτίζειν is also used for קנה (Gn. 14:19, 22; Prv. 8:22; Ιερ. 39:15 B), יסד (Ex. 9:18), יצר, (Is. 22:11; 46:11; Sir. 39:28 f.; 49:14), θλη (Sir. 38:1; 39:25; 44:2), and occasionally other words (Lv. 16:16; ψ 32:9; Sir. 10:18; 38:4).
Our review shows that κτίζω is used comparatively infrequently for the divine creation in the Pentateuch, namely, 4 times, or 5 with Dt. 32:6 (A). It does not occur in the historical books, but is found 15 times in the prophetic (apart from Da.), 9 in the hagiographa, and 36 in the Apocrypha (including Δα. 4:37). It is not used in either of the creation stories. Since the Pentateuch was translated first, and the other books at varied intervals after, it would appear that the equation ברא == κτίζω, and the giving of theological significance to this Gk. term, came only when the translation of the Torah was complete. For in Lv. 16:16: τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ μαρτυρίου τῇ ἐκτισμένῃ ἐν αὐτοῖς (שכן), and Ex. 9:18: χάλαζαν … ἥτις τοιαύτη οὐ γέγονεν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἔκτισται (== יסד), κτίζω is used quite lit. of establishing or founding even in the sense of making or setting up. Hence it is not surprising that in Gn. 14:19, 22 κτίζω is used for קנה and in Dt. 32:6 (A) כונן is rendered κτίζω (vl. πλάσσω). The obvious conclusion is that κτίζω did not yet have its full content for the translators of the Torah. It denoted actual handiwork, as in Hag. 2:9. In 1 Εσδρ. 4:53 κτίζω does not mean the foundation of a city by a ruler but its actual (re-)building by its inhabitants, cf. Ιερ. 39:15 B* S* (ἔτι κτισθήσονται ἀγροὶ καὶ οἰκίαι καὶ ἀμπελῶνες).
The Hexapla translators use the term differently and regularly employ it for ברא, Thus it occurs in Gn. 1:1 (Ἀ); 1:27 (ἈΣΘ), cf. also 7 times in Dt. Is. in ἈΣΘ, 40:26; 41:20; 43:7; 54:16; 57:19; 65:17, 18. In ψ 50:10 Ἀ uses ἀνάκτισον for the (new) creation of the heart, LXX: καρδίαν καθαρὰν κτίσον ἐν ἐμοί. In Σ Is. 43:15 κτίστης is used for ברא part. In Ez. 2:10 Ἀ misunderstood the Mas. and reformulated the content of the scroll. Instead of קִינִים == θρῆνος, “complaint,” he read קִינְיָן and translated: καὶ γεγραμμένον ἦν αὐτοῦ κτίσις καὶ ἀντίβλησις καὶ ἔσται. The book which the prophet is to swallow thus contains a depiction of creation and of what opposes it (ἀντίβλησις is a hapaxlegomenon) and what will take place (ἔσται). It is thus the kind of apocalypse current in Hellen. Judaism. In Sir. 1:14 we find as a hapaxlegomenon συγκτίζειν (cf. ψ 50:10 Ἀ): μετὰ πιστῶν ἐν μήτρᾳ συνεκτίσθη αὐτοῖς (subj. φοβεῖσθαι τὸν κύριον): To fear the Lord is created for believers in the mother’s womb. Perhaps the Heb. here was יצר (Hatch-Redp., III, 192) in allusion to Jer. 1:5; cf. also Sir. 49:6 Heb.
κτίσις is used of the settling or founding of cities, Thuc., VI, 5, 3: ἔτεσιν ἐγγύτατα πέντε καὶ τριάκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν μετὰ Συρακουσῶν κτίσιν. Poetically it also equals πρᾶξις, the action. This verbal sense is also the only one in Plut. but it does not occur in the LXX, where κτίσις means a single created thing, Tob. 8:5, 15; Jdt. 9:12; ψ 103:24 vl.; 104:21 vl.; Prv. 1:13 A; 10:15 *א (read κτῆσις); Sir. 43:25 (== גבורות), though the sing. κτίσις is also used for the totality of created things, creation, Jdt. 16:14: σοὶ δουλευσάτω πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις σου, ψ 73:18 B; Wis. 2:6; 16:24; 19:6; Sir. 16:17 (how the LXX read the Heb. is not clear); 49:16 (== ? תפארת); 3 Macc. 2:2, 7; 6:2.
κτίσμα, “what is founded,” of cities, houses etc., Strabo, VII, 5, 5: Tragurion Ἰσσέων κτίσμα, i.e., their foundation. In the LXX it occurs only in the Apocrypha (6 times) for a single creature. In Sir. 38:34: κτίσμα αἰῶνος στηρίσουσιν (namely, artisans), κτίσμα can also mean something made, but only in the sense of an “order,” for Sir. often says that God has created (κτίζειν) things, e.g., γεωργία (7:15), wine (31:27), the physician (38:1, 12) and the means of healing (38:4), indeed, everything for the χρεία of men, and the δημιουργός supports (B upholds) the whole complex of this creation. This is a common thought in Egypt, where the gods, esp. Isis, are the founders of culture (→ II, 648), and Hellenistic Judaism seems to have adopted it in its own way.
κτίστης means “founder” and is a common title in the Hell. period (cf. already Hdt., V, 46: συγκτίστης), e.g., Plut. Camillus, 1 (I, 129b) or 31 (I, 144e); Mar., 27 (I, 421d): Camillus or Marius the second (third) κτίστης of Rome. A city owes, if not its very existence, at least the decisive thing about it, to the will or personality of the κτίστης. By his will and power the Hell. ruler also institutes a festival; he is its κτίστης (as distinct from δημιουργός, → 1026).
Like κτίσις and κτίσμα, κτίστης has no fixed Heb. equivalent, for in Heb. בֹּרֵא retains its verbal nature; thus God is not called Creator, but reference is made to His creation. κτίστης occurs 8 times in the LXX (7 in the Apocrypha) and here it becomes a divine attribute or designation: 2 S. 22:32: מי־אֵל מִבַּלְעֲדֵי יְהוָֹה וּמִי צוּר מִבַּלְעֲדֵי אֱלֹהֵינוּ == 2 Βασ. 22:32: τίς ἰσχυρὸς πλὴν κυρίου; καὶ τίς κτίστης ἔσται πλὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν; shows how in the LXX God’s being as Creator was a demonstration of His power and differentiated Him from idols.
E. Creation in the New Testament.
1. Terminology.
The most common NT word for creation is κτίζειν and derivatives, followed at a fair distance by → ποιέω and ποίημα;; ̈ποίησις and ποιητής do not occur in this sense. Then follows πλάσσω with πλάσμα, while the noun δημιουργός occurs only once (δημιουργέω not at all), namely, at Hb. 11:10 with τεχνίτης. Κατασκευάζω occurs in Hb. 3:4 in a play on words, and θεμελιόω in Hb. 1:10 in a quotation.
In the NT κτίζω and derivatives are used only of God’s creation. κτίζω, “to create”; κτίστης, “creator,” occurs only at 1 Pt. 4:19, since the NT, like the Heb. and older parts of the LXX, prefers a part. to the noun (R. 1:25; Col. 3:10; Eph. 3:9; cf. Lk. 11:40; Ac. 4:24; 17:24; R. 9:20; Hb. 3:2) or uses a relative clause (Rev. 10:6; cf. Ac. 14:15). κτίσμα, “creature,” the individual creature, 1 Tm. 4:4; Jm. 1:18; Rev. 5:13; 8:9; κτίσις a. “creation” as an act, R. 1:20; b. the “creature,” R. 8:39; 2 C. 5:17; Gl. 6:15 (7); Col. 1:15; Hb. 4:13; 1 Pt. 2:13 (→ 1034); c. “creation,” i.e., the totality of all created things as a comprehensive term, Hb. 9:11: οὐ ταύτης τῆς κτίσεως; Rev. 3:14; cf. also Mk. 10:6; 13:19; 2 Pt. 3:4: ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως. Acc. to context the ref. is often to the human race (as frequently in the Rabb. → 1016), Mk. 16:15; Col. 1:23, though it may also be to nature (R. 1:25: 8:19–22, both organic and inorganic). This usage, which occurs also in the LXX, poses quite a riddle, since there are no par. in Gk. or Rabbinic usage.
2. God as Creator of the World.
That God has created the world, i.e., heaven and earth and all that therein is, is found in a series of statements in the NT whose aim is not usually to make a declaration about the nature of creation. The more precise ideas behind these statements must be worked out from them. First, we must mention a common reference back to the beginning of the world, Mk. 10:6: ἀπὸ δὲ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως (== Mt. 19:4: ὁ κτίσας ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς), cf. Mt. 19:8: ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς and R. 1:20: ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου, also Mk. 13:19: ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως ἥν ἔκτισεν ὁ θεός (par. Mt. 24:21: ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς κόσμου), 2 Pt. 3:4: ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως, cf. Rev. 3:14: ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς κτίσεως τοῦ θεοῦ, Hb. 1:10 == ψ 101:25: σὺ κατʼ ἀρχὰς … τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσας, and Jn. 8:44: ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, 2 Th. 2:13; 1 Jn. 1:1; 2:13 f.; 3:8, and the common expression ἀπὸ or πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, Mt. 13:35; 25:34; Lk. 11:50; Jn. 17:24; Eph. 1:4; Hb. 4:3; 9:26; 1 Pt. 1:20; Rev. 13:8; 17:8, cf. also 1 C. 11:9.
These phrases show that creation involves the beginning of the existence of the world, so that there is no pre-existent matter. Paul states this in R. 4:17 with his (θεοῦ) καλοῦντος τὰ μὴ ὄντα ὡς ὄντα (→ 1010). Here and in 2 C. 4:6: ὁ θεὸς ὁ εἰπών· ἐκ σκότους φῶς λάμψει, creation is by the Word. Hence creation out of nothing by the Word explicitly or implicitly underlies the NT statements.
Everything is created, τὰ πάντα, Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16; Rev. 4:11, or specifically, Rev. 10:6: (ὃς ἔκτισεν) τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ, cf. Ac. 4:24 and 14:15: τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς (cf. Rev. 5:13), or comprehensively, Ac. 17:24: τὸν κόσμον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ, or according to a different enumeration, Col. 1:16: τὰ πάντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, εἴτε θρόνοι εἴτε κυριότητες εἴτε ἀρχαὶ εἴτε ἐξουσίαι. That this excludes emanation as well as pre-existent matter is obvious, but is should be noted expressly that οὐρανός includes heaven in the sense of the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer. This request also shows that in the NT, too, creation establishes a confrontation of Creator and creature: the will of the Creator is done in heaven. In adoration the four creatures render to the Creator worship, praise and thanksgiving, lauding Him as the Thrice Holy who is distinct from all creation, and in a clear symbolical action the four and twenty elders lay down their crowns before the throne of God, thereby confessing that they have them from God, and join in the worship of the creatures, declaring that it is right (ἄξιος) to render praise and honour and power to God because He is the Creator, Rev. 4:8–11. Even these who stand closest to the throne are nothing in and of themselves; they fulfil the purpose of their existence by offering worship and praise to God. This praise is a personal, voluntary action, an utterance as distinct from natural being. Thus the Son affirms the εὐδοκία of the Father, who as Creator is → κύριος, the legitimate Lord of heaven and earth, Mt. 11:25 f.: ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, πάτερ, κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἔκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν, καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις· ναί, ὁ πατήρ, ὅτι οὕτως εὐδοκία ἐγένετο έμπροσθέν σου. The confrontation of Creator and creature, which is inherent in the proclamation of the Creator, makes the creature a creature of will. To be a creature is to be willed, and to be willed is to be willed for a goal. It is to be summoned to will, to the willing for which the creature was created. Thus Paul in his comprehensive statements is forced by the theme itself to conjoin the whence and the whither, and he sets himself with his doxology in the place of what was created εἰς αὐτόν, R. 11:36: ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα· αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ἀμήν (cf. 1 C. 8:6). For Paul the goal of all history is that the Son also should be subject to the Father; this subjection is a personal relationship, not an absorption, which enables us to understand the conclusion of the verse (1 C. 15:28): ὅταν δὲ ὑποταγῇ αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα, τότε καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ υἱὸς ὑποταγήσεται τῷ ὑποτάξαντι αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα, ἵνα ᾖ ὁ θεὸς πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν.
Important testimony is borne to God the Creator in Rev. Rev. 4 and 5 stand at the beginning of the revelation proper in a planned order. The vision of the glory of God’s throne comes before the vision and interpretation of historical events. Over all the course of history is enthroned in eternal rest and radiance the One “who sits on the throne.” If lightnings, voices and thunderings proceed from the throne (v. 5), the actual description is marked by majestic repose. He “who sits on the throne,” and whom the divine does not dare to name more precisely, appears as ὅμοιος ὁράσει λίθῳ ἰάσπιδι καὶ σαρδίῳ (v. 3). In comparison with pseud-epigraphical and Rabbinic writings, it is striking that there is no reference to a consuming glory. The image proclaims “the message which we have heard … that God is light, and that in him there is no darkness.” The precious stones indicate this more clearly than the fiery brightness of the sun, for a precious stone is such only when its clarity and radiance are completely unspotted and unclouded. Since Rev. 4 sees in God the Creator (v. 11), the lesson is that no shadow of obscurity falls on God’s glory as Creator. The vision also points to the One who alone is worthy to be described by the predicate ὁ καθήμενος as the one Lord and King from whom all things derive their being and nature. But it also portrays Him as surrounded not only by representatives of organic nature (ζῷα) but also by elders, i.e., by those whom the One who sits on the throne has adjudged worthy of participation in his government of the world, who as elders, comparable to men, share therein freely and consciously as persons. God the Creator creates personal being. Before His throne burn seven torches, i.e., seven spirits. God’s Spirit of life (ψ 103:30) permeates and sustains all created things in the multiplicity of creation. All that God has created is life; even so-called inorganic nature is full of life. The lightnings, voices and thunderings, however, remind us of fallen creation (4:5).
3. Fallen Creation.
Hb. 9:11 says that Christ διὰ τῆς μείζονος καὶ τελειοτέρας σκηνῆς (than that of the OT) οὐ χειροποιήτου, τοῦτʼ ἔστιν οὐ ταύτης τῆς κτίσεως, has entered into the sanctuary. Everything made with hands belongs to this creation. The opposite is αὐτὸς ὁ οὐρανός (Hb. 9:24), i.e., the place of God’s presence. Paul in Eph. 2:11 calls Jewish circumcision χειροπίητος, and the implied contrast between the two circumcisions is explained in R. 2:28 f. in terms of the fact that one takes place ἐν τῷ̀ φανερῷ ἐν σαρκί and the other is a περιτομὴ καρδίας ἐν πνεύματι, οὐ γράμματι. Behind this distinction is the Pauline antithesis of the flesh and the spirit, and flesh is here, in the terminology of Hb., what belongs to this creation. What is made with hands is in space, and what is in space belongs to this creation. In Rev. 20:11 John sees how heaven and earth vanish before the One who sits on the throne and no longer find any place, cf. 6:14; Hb. 1:10–12 had already said the same thing in OT phrases, contrasting the transitoriness of heaven and earth with the eternity of the Son of God (Hb. 1:12, cf. 13:8). What is in time also belongs to this creation. In the NT, then, heaven is used in a twofold sense, first, as the dwelling-place of God, and secondly, as רָקִיעַ, which shares this visibility and transitoriness. With this is linked the further fact that all things are created, including the angels and powers; indeed, even in respect of the Son Hb. 3:2 speaks of God as ποιήσας αὐτόν. Nevertheless, the angels do not belong to this creation. The song of praise in Rev. 5:8–14 is sung by the four living creatures, the 24 elders, then innumerable angels, and finally πᾶν κτίσμα ὃ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ὐποκάτω τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς πάντα. The song attracts to itself concentrically widening circles, and the outermost of these is this creation, which embraces heavenly powers but not angels. What theosophy, anthroposophy etc. might classify as suprasensual belongs to the sphere of this creation because it is accessible to the media of time and space, in contrast to what is effected by the Spirit of God. It is also true, on the other hand, that Satan does not belong to this creation. R. 8:19 f. sets the same limits for this creation. κτίσις here refers to the whole of creation. since this is properly subject to φθορά and ματαιότης; for from a natural perspective the only purpose of the plant and animal world is to produce descendants who will also produce descendants, an inconceivable miracle (Gn. 1:12) and yet also a gigantic circle of futility: ματαιότης; and alongside this is φθορά, death, which is implied in temporality. The κτίσις is subject to ματαιότης and φθορά διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα. To see here a reference to Adam raises serious objections because it seems strange that the innocent should be punished for the guilty. Only on this view, however, does the statement cease to be a more or less independent declaration or digression and bear true reference to a remarkable fact, the first intimation of the ἐλευθερία τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ θεοῦ. The result is that this creation is all that which on man’s account (including man himself) was subjected to vanity. Hence it is better not to speak of a fallen creation but of a creation which is subjected to corruption. In this respect, too, Satan does not belong to this creation.
Does the διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα need further elucidation? The vanity to which creation is subjected on account of Adam is given with the form of temporality. Time, however, is a disjunction of cause and effect. Hence there is space for the ἀνοχὴ τοῦ θεοῦ and for repentance. But the ἀνοχὴ τοῦ θεοῦ, the form of this world, also offers the possibility of offence. It raises the question: Where is now thy God? This means that temptation arises in this world; if we had no need of money, there would be no unrighteous mammon. This creation stands under the dominion of the god of this world. Perhaps the διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα takes on particular significance in face of this fact. If the climax of the exposition of R. 1–11 is the statement in R. 11:32: συνέκλεισεν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς πάντας εἰς ἀπείθειαν ἵνα τοὺς πάντας ἐλεήσῃ, and if this note runs through the whole of the first part of the epistle, one may perhaps understand it not merely of the historical direction of humanity but also of the form of this creation, which is designed to convict man ineluctably of his sin, so that it both displays the Godhead εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἀναπολογήτους (R. 1:20) and also tempts man as κόσμος. This creation, then, is always to be viewed in two ways. On the one hand, it is the locus of the revelation of God’s glory. In the NT, too, the heavens declare the glory of God. On the other hand, the form of this world is σάρξ in the Pauline sense. Man can perceive God in nature only in Christ. Only in Him does the knowledge of God in nature find its norm and attain clarity and certainty. Only the Son can say: “Consider the lilies of the field …” (Mt. 6:28), and in indissoluble connection with Christ the apostles lead us from the revelation of God in nature (Ac. 14:17; R. 1:19f.) to the acknowledgment of the guilt of man before God (R. 1:20).
In Rev. 5 Jn. sees the angel who cries through the heavens, on earth and under the earth, and asks who is worthy to open the book with seven seals. This book contains God’s will for the world. But this will is sealed; there is a ban on creation which neither human nor angelic power can lift. If, however, victory over Satan is declared in the victory of the Lamb through His death, this implies that this creation lies under the power of Satan and that the Lamb has liberated it. Now the seals can be opened and the contents of the book seen, and this causes πᾶν κτίσμα in heaven and on earth, both organic nature and inorganic, to break out in rejoicing, since the opening of the book means a new heaven and a new earth, Rev. 21:1; 2 Pt. 3:13. The ματαιότης which rests on all creation will be lifted. This will involve the lifting of all the orders which are imposed with time and space, Mk. 12:25 and par.; 1 C. 15:26, 42 ff.
From what has been said, it is plain that creation was created ἐν Χριστῷ with all the powers which rule it, 1 C. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Hb. 1:2, 10; Jn. 1:1 ff.; Rev. 3:14. Its meaning is to be found in the redemption of humanity through Christ. He sustains all things, Hb. 1:3; the counsel of God is comprehended in Christ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, Eph. 1:4; 1 Pt. 1:20; cf. Jn. 17:24; Mt. 25:34; Rev. 13:8; 17:8.
The form of this world is on man’s account both in the sense that man has fallen and also in the sense that he is called to glory. This form of the world gives man the time which he can and should utilise. He may use everything that sustains him as a member of this creation and he may receive with grateful heart everything that points him to the Creator. Of the things necessary to life nothing is common or unclean, as we learn both from Jesus (Mk. 7:14 ff. and par.), who sanctified all meats (Mk. 7:19 d), and also from Paul, who laid down the principle: οἶδα καὶ πέπεισμαι ἐν κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ ὅτι οὐδὲν κοινὸν διʼ ἑαυτοῦ (R. 14:14), and who always applied this principle when ascetic tendencies arose, whether in relation to food (1 C. 8–10; esp. 10:25f.; Col. 2:22a; 1 Tm. 4:3b–5; Tt. 1:14 f.; cf. Hb. 13:9) or in relation to marriage (1 C. 7; 1 Tm. 2:15; 4:3a; cf. 1 C. 11:9). What can be received with thanksgiving is not to be refused (1 Tm. 4:4). Thanksgiving means that the gift is received as a gift, creation is acknowledged as creation, and the Giver and Creator is honoured. This attitude keeps to the narrow ridge between the two precipices which are a constant threat in religious history, either to worship creation instead of the Creator, and thus to be absorbed in creation, or to reject it in asceticism (or despise it in libertinism). Both of these attitudes are unnatural since they both treat creation as something which it is not; for in itself creation is neither a final norm nor is it evil. What distinguishes the ἀρχὴ κτίσεως (Mk. 10:6) from the present state is basically the σκληροκαρδία of men (Mk. 10:5).
4. Man as Creature and the New Creation.
From what has been said it is evident that man and his destiny are the goal of this creation. On his account it is subject to corruption, in him evil has its true starting-point and centre, while the evils of creation outside man, ματαιότης and φθορά, are only consequences.
Man as the creature of God is ψυχὴ ζῶσα, 1 C. 15:45, and the ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος, to follow the masterly translation of the A. V. (cf. Luther), is the natural man. The basis of his natural existence is the unfathomable mystery of natural life. This involves sharp tensions. The living breath of the eternal God is taken from man in death. He is created to have dominion over the world, and yet this aim is a final incomprehensible torment. He is created as the image of God and as such he should subject himself to God’s will as a free person, but he is the slave of impulses. The origin of evil in man is wrapped in impenetrable obscurity. How the creature of God could fall, how it can do so afresh with every sinful act, is quite incomprehensible to us, though even in principle we can see that it is human enough. Evil reaches right down into the hidden roots of our existence, and Satan is a pneumatic magnitude (Eph. 6:12) which cannot be grasped by flesh and blood. The only factual procedure is not to try to solve the riddle of evil.
Man is the creature of God. This means that he has no claim on God. Paul depicts this in the image of the vessel and the potter, R. 9:20 ff. The figure relates not merely to the historical situation of man but to the total relationship of man to God. For this reason, the NT never advances the interrelation of Creator and creature as a basis of prayers for grace.
The phrase “this creation” is also applied to man. As ψυχὴ ζῶσα man belongs to this creation, for ψυχή is its principle of life. πνεῦμα is the principle of life of the world of God. Thus there is an antithesis between the ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος and the πνευματικός, between birth of flesh and birth of the Spirit, between the old man and the new creature. εἴ τις ἐν Χριστῷ, καινὴ κτίσις· τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθεν, ἰδοὺ γέγονεν καινά, 2 C. 5:17; οὔτε γὰρ περιτομή τί ἐστιν οὔτε ἀκροβυστία, ἀλλὰ καινὴ κτίσις, Gl. 6:15. The use of the verb shows that κτίσις here is not just a term for “being,” “man,” as in the Rabb., but that it bears the full signification of the word, cf. Eph. 2:10: αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν ποίημα, κτισθέντες ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἐπὶ ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς, Eph, 2:15: ἵνα τοὺς δύο κτίσῃ ἐν αὐτῷ εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον, Eph. 4:24: ἐνδύσασθαι τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, Col. 3:10: ἐνδυσάμενοι τὸν νέον τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν κατʼ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν, also Jm. 1:18: βουληθεὶς ἀπεκύησεν ἡμᾶς λόγῳ ἀληθείας, εἰς τὸ εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἀπαρχήν τινα τῶν αὐτοῦ κτισμάτων. All God’s work of creation is by His Word and Spirit, but this new creature has its existence in the Spirit; the new life is now “hid with Christ in God,” Col. 3:3. Man’s existence is new in virtue of the new relation to God; his position before God determines his being. The relation has been renewed by Christ. The decisive thing in the new creature, then, is not an alteration in man’s moral conduct but the acceptance (in faith) of a new relation to God. This new relation is bound up with Christ, through whom it has entered into and become history. Naturally, the new relation neither can nor should be without effect on man’s conduct, R. 6:1 ff.
With the entry of the πνεῦμα into this world in the person and work of Christ, Mt. 12:28, the new world breaks into its course. Wherever God’s action is effective for man’s salvation, God is creatively at work. The uniting of divided humanity into one new man, Eph. 2:15, is also a κτίζειν. The goal is a new creation in antithesis to the totality of this creation. The full revelation of the new creation, which will manifest the refashioning of both man and the world, will not come until Christ reveals Himself, Col. 3:4, when this heaven and earth will pass away, the new heaven and earth will appear, and death and corruption will be abolished. Then Christ will reveal Himself as πνεῦμα ζωοποιοῦν in the totality of the world, and the glorious liberty of the children of God, R. 8:21, will be displayed on the mortal bodies of those who belong to Christ, and on all κτίσις.
Special difficulties are created by 1 Pt. 2:13: ὑποτάγητε πάσῃ ἀνθρωπίνῃ κτίσει διὰ τὸν κύριον. The main proposal is that κτίσις here means “order” with special ref. to the order of the state represented by the βασιλεῖς and ἡγεμόνες. Thus far, however, this usage is not supported by any examples from secular Gk., the LXX, or the Rabb. The only remote par. is κτίσμα in Sir. 38:34. But here the ref. is to the order of culture whose material foundations are sustained by artisans, not to the order of the state. An attempt should first be made to explain the verse in Pt. in terms of known usage. In this respect, exposition of the context of the verse is of decisive importance. The πᾶς without article (πᾶσα ἀνθρωπίνη κτίσις == every kind of human κτίσις) points to wider connections. It is also plain that the slogan ὑποτάσσεσθαι is often deliberately adopted in a broader context. 2:18; 3:1; what is said to husbands in relation to their wives in 3:7; what is said comprehensively to all in 3:8f., i.e., the admonition to serve one another, which implies a kind of free subjection to others. In this light 2:13 might well be the title of the whole section 2:13–3:9. If this is so, it is a mistake to construe κτίσις as the order of the state or any other order or ordinance. The ref. is not to an order; it is to men. A linguistic par. for κτίσις in this sense is to be found in the Rabb. בְּרִיאָה (→ 1016), which could denote the individual without any danger of misunderstanding. ἀνθρώπινος is added here to ensure that the phrase is correctly understood in the Gk.-speaking world. Peter’s admonition to the congregations is that they should be subject to men of every sort. He works this out in terms of the subjection of free men to authority, of slaves to their masters and of wives to their husbands, and also in terms of the regard that husbands should have for their wives and of the readiness of all humbly to subordinate themselves to one another, to be ταπεινόφρονες (3:8), which implies mutual subordination even to the point of blessing enemies who curse, cf. the fact that Paul in Phil. 2:3 uses as an exact par. the phrase τῇ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ ἀλλήλους ἡγούμενοι ὑπερέχοντας ἑαυτῶν.
Foerster
Werner Foerster, “Κτίζω, Κτίσις, Κτίσμα, Κτίστης,” ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–), 1023–1035.
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