Quotes About Creation

Quotes about creation from throughout Christian History.

Letter to Diognetus, A.D. 80-200

God has loved mankind. He made the world on his account. He made all the things that are in it subject to him. He gave him reason and understanding. To mankind alone God imparted the privilege of looking upwards to Himself [a reference to the fact that man alone walks upright, with face lifted toward heaven). He formed him after his own image. He sent him His only-begotten Son, has promised him a kingdom in heaven, and will give it to those who have loved Him. (ch. 10)

Justin Martyr, c. A.D. 150

It was from our teachers … that Plato borrowed his statement that God made the world by altering matter that was shapeless … the Spirit of prophecy signified how and from what material God first formed the world in these words: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unfurnished, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,' and it was so" [Gen. 1:1-3]. So we see that Plato and those who agree with him—and we ourselves—have learned … that by the Word of God the whole world was made out of the substance spoken of before by Moses. (First Apology 59)

Hermas, c. A.D. 160

[God] created the world for the sake of man, subjected all creation to him, and gave him power to rule over everything under heaven. (Shepherd of Hermas II:12:4)

Tatian, c. A.D. 165

Our God did not begin to be in time. He alone is without beginning, and he himself is the beginning of all things. God is a Spirit, not pervading matter, but the Maker of material spirits, and of the forms that are in matter. He is invisible, impalpable, being the Father of both sensible and invisible things. Him we know from his creation, and apprehend his invisible power by his works. I refuse to adore that workmanship which he has made for our sakes. The sun and moon were made for us. How, then, can I adore my own servants? (Address to the Greeks 4)

Theophilus, c. A.D. 170

Of this six days work no man can give a worthy explanation and description of all its parts, not though he had 10,000 tongues and 10,000 mouths. Nay, though he were to live 10,000 years … not even so could he utter anything worthy of these things because of the exceeding greatness and riches of the wisdom of God which there is in the six days work. (To Autolycus III:12)

All the years from the creation of the world amount to a total of 5698 years, and the odd months and days. (To Autolycus III:28)

Athenagoras, A.D. 177

The noblest sacrifice to him is for us to know who stretched out and vaulted the heavens, fixed the earth in its place like a center, gathered the water into seas, and divided the light from the darkness. He adorned the sky with stars and made the earth to bring forth seed of every kind. He made animals and fashioned man. (A Plea for the Christians 13)

Irenaeus, c. A.D. 185

By the hands of the Father—that is, by the Son and Holy Spirit—man, and not merely part of man, was made in the likeness of God. The soul and the spirit are certainly a part of man, but certainly not the man. The complete man consists in the mixture and union of the soul receiving the Spirit of the Father with the adding in of that fleshly nature which was molded after the image of God. (Against Heresies V:6:1)

Discover Magazine, 2009

In our universe the laws of physics seem precisely calibrated to allow the existence of long-lived stars, planets with stable orbits, and molecules that allow complex chemistry. All of these seem to be prerequisites for life. (Adarn Frank, "Cosmic Abodes of Life." Discover May 2009: 51)

Jeremiah Briggs, 2010

I’m beginning to believe that this creation story, for the most part, is about the structure and working order of the Kingdom of God, that it is story of redemption from spiritual darkness and chaos, and that it is not a literal story of the creation of this planet and it’s biological inhabitants. (Jeremiah Briggs Art & Illustration, Mar. 14, 2010)