Creation Ex Nihilo (Out of Nothing)
Ex nihilo is a Latin phrase meaning “out of nothing”. God didn’t form the world from pre-existing materials he found lying about. God first had to imagine and then create the physical world, starting with subatomic particles, then protons, neutrons, and electrons. From those, he assembled atoms, eventually all the elements in the periodic table.
Until the mid-twentieth century, most scientists (and most people) assumed that matter and the universe had always existed. When scientists realized that time, space, and matter all began at a point in time – that the creation of the universe from nothing began with an immense primordial flash of light – it came as a surprise to the world. And for many, it came uncomfortably close to confirming a Creator.
The world we enjoy didn’t just pop into existence, fully formed. At the moment of creation, all the matter in the universe was an indistinguishable miasma of light and energy. The simplest and lightest atoms, hydrogen and helium, wouldn’t form for another 380,000 years. The rest of the elements in the periodic table would have to wait for the first stars to form, then “burn” for millions of years, finally scattering heavier elements when they exploded in supernovas.
That doesn’t capture all that God did in the beginning. Matter and energy aren’t simple things. God had to imagine, then design and harmonize all the fundamental forces of nature. He had to design all the subatomic particles so that they had the ability to form stable atoms. God thought through exactly how those atoms and their components had to be made so they could then combine to form stable molecules.
We take atoms and molecules for granted, but nothing about matter had to turn out the way it is. Atoms hold their electrons in orbitals that have precise energy levels. The charge, mass, and energy levels of subatomic particles are meticulously calibrated to make atomic elements and molecules possible. Before the Big Bang, God had already thought through every element he would need. He already knew how he would use that palette of elements to create life. God imagined it all, designed it all, and then made it all.
“And God said it was good.” When we consider the details, Creation is beyond just good, it is sobering and awe-inspiring! Our materialistic culture promotes the myth that the universe, our planet, and life are all simply accidents, and that science has proved it. But common sense and honest science tell us that’s nonsense; God left us with abundant evidence for design in nature, and we go into a lot of it in the Nature portions of this website.