Gary Pollard
(Continuing modernizing translation of this work by one of the early church fathers)
To confirm from the inspired writings that these things are true, consider what is written in the book of Maccabees, where the mother of the seven martyrs encourages her son to endure suffering. She says, “Son, look at the heavens and the earth. Look at everything in them. When you see these things, now that God created them when they previously didn’t exist.”
Likewise, in The Shepherd of Hermas, in the first commandment, it is written, “Most importantly, believe that there is one God who created and arranged all things. He created all things from nothing.”
Perhaps the words of the Psalms also point to this same truth, “He spoke them into existence. At his command, everything was created.”
For the phrase, “He spoke, and they were made,” seems to refer to the substance of things that exist, while “He commanded, and they were created,” seems to describe the qualities and forms by which that substance was shaped.
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