The idea that God created the universe out of nothing ( " creatio ex nihilo " ) has become central to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but it is not found directly in Genesis, nor in the entire Hebrew Bible, and is not the preferred option.
12.
The objection that the Absolutely Infinite and Perfect could not have produced imperfect and finite beings, made by the Neoplatonists to the theory of " creatio ex nihilo, " is not removed by attributing the existence of all mundane things to the action of nature; for the latter is only a link in the chain of causes having its origin in the First Cause, which is God.
13.
In theology, the common phrase " creatio ex nihilo " ( " creation out of nothing " ), contrasts with " creatio ex materia " ( creation out of some pre-existent, eternal matter ) and with " creatio ex deo " ( creation out of the being of God ) . " Creatio continua " is the ongoing divine creation.
