The Christian doctrine of creation, as a distinct and organised body of teaching, emerged not merely out of a developing tradition of biblical exegesis and spiritual-philosophical reflection within the churches, but in particular out of the Christological debates of the early centuries. Many commentators are prepared to see contradictions, such as that between Christian faith in a Creator God and Buddhist dismissal of such a Creator, as creative and developmental. The doctrine of God as Creator and its denial by the Buddha cannot legitimately be used as a theological bogeyman to frighten the children of Christian-Buddhist dual belonging into going obediently to bed. A full appreciation of apophasis leads one to encounter with other religions, and for Christians particularly to that most 'other' tradition, Buddhism. Apophasis is one of the Christian tradition's primary defences against idolatry.