ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo so deepened the sense that the union of body and soul is essential to human nature as a creature made and redeemed by God for eternal life. The connection between creation and resurrection goes back beyond the articulation of a specific doctrine of creatio ex nihilo. One of the many reasons for contesting the presence of an unambiguous doctrine of creation out of nothing at this early stage is the fact that some second-century writers, such as Justin Martyr and Athenagoras, assume that God as Creator imposed form on a material substrate. He has recognized that the notion of the soul's immortality is incompatible with the doctrine of creation. So Tatian espoused the notion of creatio ex nihilo and asserted its bearing on resurrection, in conscious opposition to philosophy in general and Platonism in particular.
