Ex Nihilo

• The idea of creation ex nihilo (creation out of nothing), central to modern monotheistic understanding, is a philosophical and theological innovation of the late 2nd century CE and is not explicitly in Genesis 1.
• Other biblical passages cited for creation ex nihilo, such as 2 Maccabees 7:28, Romans, Colossians, and Hebrews, are argued to refer to creation from unformed matter, not from nothing.