saidsimply

Moses believed in Creation Ex Nihilo.

We will show in the outset of Genesis, a creation from non-being.

‘In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water.’ – Brenton’s Septuagint

If pre-eternal matter were true, then what is God creating/making in verse 1, when we creates ‘the earth’?

If he is ‘organizing’ / ‘forming it’ then what of it being ‘unsightly’ and ‘unfurnished’?

To argue pre-eternal matter, you must make ‘made’ mean organizing, and ‘unfurnished’ mean organized. You must ask if it’s possible to organize, without organizing, virtually making the text unintelligible, and disserving Moses’ precision of words.

However, if we take ‘made’ to mean, from nothing, then we see harmony restored in the writings of Moses. unfurnished and unsightly matter is the result of God’s first creations of heaven and earth, and as he goes on, he forms and organizes it through his Spirit, and his Word.

Any biblical reference to a chaotic matter is consequently resolved as-well, firmly planting ‘unfurnished earth’ as the referent. To say nothing of later interpretations from the Orthodox church fathers such as St Athanasius or St Basil, who only further establish Moses’ initial meaning.

I believe Moses was clear.