We often think of the act of creation as a singular event, a cosmic poof and then… nothing. But what if the story isn't quite that simple? What if creation is less of a noun and more of a verb?
That’s the question that the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria grappled with centuries ago. He lived during the first century, and he offered a really fascinating perspective on God’s ongoing role in the universe. Philo wasn't just talking about the initial act of bringing the world into being; he believed that God is eternally creating the world.
Think about that for a moment. Not was creating, but is creating.
Philo argued that there was never a time when God wasn't creating. Ever since the very beginning, God's thoughts of creation were constantly with Him. After all, God is always thinking, always active, always creating. We read about this in Philo's De Providentia and De Opificio Mundi.
He suggested that God, without needing any counsel—because who else was there, right?—used only His own powers to bring our visible world into existence. So how did God actually do it? Philo introduces a concept called the Logos. Now, Logos is a Greek term (λόγος) that’s hard to translate directly, but in this context, it represents something like God's divine reason, His word, or His creative principle. Philo saw the Logos as an instrument that God used to divide the formless expanse and shape the world we know (Philo, Legum Allegoriarum). It's kind of like the divine blueprint, the tool God used to sculpt reality.
Philo also pondered the nature of time and existence. He acknowledged that even if the world is now immortal through God's providence, there was a time when it wasn't. But God, of course, is eternally existent. Always has existed, and always will. This idea really emphasizes the difference between God's eternal nature and the created world's temporal existence. We see this discussed in Philo's Quis Rerum Divinarum Heres Sit and De Decalogo.
So, what does this all mean? Philo's view challenges the idea that God simply wound up the universe like a clock and then stepped back. Instead, he presents a vision of a God who is intimately involved in the ongoing creation and sustenance of the world. The work of creation, in Philo's eyes, is not a one-time event but a continuous process. It's a dynamic relationship between the Creator and creation.
This brings up a profound question: If God is constantly creating, what does that mean for us? Are we, in some way, part of that ongoing creative process? Are we co-creators with the Divine? It's a thought that invites us to consider our own role in shaping the world around us and perhaps even in shaping ourselves.