> > The creation of life in Gen.1 is _mediated_ - "Let the waters
> > bring forth swarms of living creatures..." (v.20), & in the next verse
> > this is described with the verb _bara_.
>
> Creation ex nihilo is based on the independent sentence, as agreed upon by
> most conservative Hebrew scholars of Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God
> created heavens and earth", not from preexisting matters as Plato's
> Timaeus.
Conservative Hebrew scholars agree that this is the proper
translation of v.1. To say it teaches _creatio ex nihilo_ (cen) goes
beyond questions of Hebrew grammar. The whole of Ch.1 is _consistent_
with cen because the acts of creation here depend entirely upon God:
More is involved that the question of whether or not there is
pre-existing "stuff".
None of which changes the point I made: Creation of living
things in Ch.1 is _bara_, depending for its occurrence entirely upon
God, & is mediated _via_ the earth & waters as God created them.
George L. Murphy
gmurphy@imperium.net
http://www.imperium.net/~gmurphy