Creation Ex Nihilo 3 (Greg Thornberg)

Hi Justin,

After our discussion I more fully understand your argument and you agreed that my argument did not lead to the conclusion that God or Christ could not have existed under my logic. Correct me if I'm wrong, but your logic was this: If it is logically possible for Christ to have an eternal preexistence and to enter into our time, then there is no logical barrier to our being able to do the same. I agree...that is if we once exist "prior" to time in the same way as God did, then it would be possible. We also made the distinction that a logical possibility is not the same thing as what must actually be. We then agreed that since prior existence cannot be known apart from revelation, we needed to pursue understanding from Scripture. You wanted to know what the Old Testament and New Testament alone had to say on the matter, I wanted to include the Book of Abraham (BOA) and D&C as well as any possible understanding from the Book of Mormon (BOM). The reason I want to do this is because all of these, according to the LDS Church, allege to be Scripture. Although I am not LDS myself, the reason I wanted to submit them as evidence is because I want to pursue the topic of their authenticity. Most LDS theology about prior existence is dependent namely on the BOA and D&C, so a discussion of their authenticity, and therefore authority, must be forthcoming.

I am glad to see that you acknowledge the logical possibility that prior to the existence of matter (spiritual or physical), God alone may have been all that existed. You concluded in your last post that

Therefore , did creation occur ex nihilo – out of
nothing OR was it created out of something, “spiritual matter”, though
organizing or bringing forth of this spiritual matter into physical
matter either:

(a) There was no matter of any kind other than God
himself that existed before the creation of this universe. And God created all
that there is from nothing.
(b) Matter did exist before creation. This eternal,
spiritual matter was organized and brought forth as our physical creation by the
power of God and perhaps even the spiritual being of each of us existed prior to
our earthly lives.
[Italics are my emphasis]

Unless futher evidence shows otherwise, the logical possibility of God being all that was from the beginning remains. In my next post I will pursue the Biblical understanding of this topic.

GT