Is there a problem of creatio ex nihilo? A reply to Pao-Shen Ho

Pao-Shen Ho attempts to argue that the Christian doctrine of creatio ex nihilo (creation out of nothing) violates modal logic and is necessarily false. More precisely, Ho argues that, if God creates the universe out of nothing, then the non-existence of the universe is both possible and impossible,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal for philosophy of religion
Main Author: Erasmus, Jacobus (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V [2020]
In: International journal for philosophy of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Creatio ex nihilo / Modality / Logic
IxTheo Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
NBC Doctrine of God
NBD Doctrine of Creation
Further subjects:B Pao-Shen Ho
B Creatio ex nihilo
B Kalam Cosmological Argument
B Creation out of nothing
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:Pao-Shen Ho attempts to argue that the Christian doctrine of creatio ex nihilo (creation out of nothing) violates modal logic and is necessarily false. More precisely, Ho argues that, if God creates the universe out of nothing, then the non-existence of the universe is both possible and impossible, which is logically incoherent. I point out, however, that Ho commits the (all too common) modal scope fallacy by confusing the scope of necessity in the argument and, therefore, Ho's argument is unsound.
ISSN:1572-8684
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal for philosophy of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s11153-019-09741-y