54COVENANT
COVENANT. From the Latin convenire,
meaning “to come together.” The cove-
nant is a key element in Judaism, which
traces its lineage and inheritance to the
covenant between Abraham and God.
There are also covenants between Adam
and Eve and God, Noah and God, and a
renewal of covenantal relations with Judah
and Moses. A covenant is sometimes dis-
tinguished from a contract. A covenant
tends to define the life of the participants
who internalize their role in a covenantal
relationship. Contractual relations can be
less definitive of one’s identity and refer to
more impersonal agreements.
CREATIO EX NIHILO. Latin for “cre-
ation from nothing.” Classical Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam have affirmed that
the creation is created by God and not
from some pre-existing material. This is
often referred to as creatio ex nihilo,
though the expression can be misleading
insofar as it suggests God made the cre-
ation from some thing (in which “noth-
ing” is taken to refer to something). The
classical theistic claim about creation may
also be expressed in terms of creation
from God.
CREATION. In religious traditions,
creation refers to all that is created. For
monotheists, creation includes every-
thing except God. In classical theism,
God’s creation is seen as originative (the
cosmos has a beginning) and ongoing
insofar as the cosmos exists due to the
continuous conserving power of God as
Creator. To describe the natural world as
a creation implies that it has one or more
creators. The idea that God created the
cosmos also suggests a strict distinction
between creator and creation.CREATIONISM. Popular term for the
view that all species on earth were created
separately by God rather than diverse
species evolving from simpler, common
organisms. A “literal” reading of Genesis 1
appears to support creationism, while
Genesis 1 may alternatively be read as
affirming the goodness of diverse kinds
in a created order compatible with evolu-
tion. This latter view sees creation as
good, in part, for its diversification in
keeping with the medieval precept bonum
est multiplex (good or goodness is multi-
ple or is a multitude). See also INTELLI-
GENT DESIGN and SCIENCE AND
RELIGION.CREATOR. God is conceived of as the
creator of the cosmos in theistic religious
traditions. In classical Jewish, Christian,
and Islamic theology God creates freely
and therefore God is not necessarily a
creator, though some classical theologians
claim that God is essentially good, it is
of the nature of goodness to be self-
diffusive, and therefore God’s nature
strongly inclines or makes fitting God’s
being the creator.