The Bible tells us that God created.
(Gen 1:1 KJV) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.After that we have a brief rundown of the steps of creation. In that checklist there is one that stands out, the creation of man. What makes it different is that man is created in the image of God.
I come to this from musings on the nature of free will and the conflict between the idea of free will and God’s omni’s. The paradox presents us with a mystery. How can man have free will and be responsible for his choices while God knows and controls everything?
I think the resolution comes from this statement about the image of God.
The universe as a whole is deterministic. The laws of physics apply and, except for the direct intervention of God, the story of creation plays itself out as programmed. God does not break in with a “miracle” very often, but is free to do so when He deems it appropriate.
Humanity, on the other hand, is given the mystery of free will. In physics the only thing that keeps us from being able to determine an outcome is a lack of computing power and observational skills. God’s perception goes to the level that He can see all that but in some way that we cannot understand, He goes so deep into the matrix of existence that we cannot begin to comprehend and gives us that divine quality of making choices. Only an all-powerful God can allow genuine free will.
All choices are not pure free will. We always need to make allowance for heredity and environment. We need to realize that there are other people with free will and when you have two free agents nothing is certain. Now make that billions of free agents and your mind is well on the way to being blown. But while free will is not without its manipulators, it still exists and negates all attempts to demand perfect projection.
At one end you have a universe that runs by rules. At the other end you have human beings given the power of choice. In between you have the animals and I would guess they are a combination of the two.
Human beings are made in the image of God. We will spend an eternity delving into what that means.
homo unius libri
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